Whether it’s garden parties or romance in the park, the dream of retreating to places that are suffused with beautiful memories is no new thing. Gardens and parks have always been alluring locations. Places where you can enjoy a barbecue with friends, escape the crowds of the city, or relax under the trees or a gazebo and gaze out onto the verdant landscape. This is particularly true in arid regions like Iran, where cultivated gardens with cooling courses of water and the shade of the trees form idyllic refuges. This social function of gardens as well as the major significance of the culture of gardening as an independent art form find rich expression in Persian poetry and illuminated manuscripts. 

As an accompaniment to the exhibition Iran: Five Millennia of Art and Culture, this special display in the book art cabinet of the Museum für Islamische Kunst weaves together the culture of the gardens of Iran and the “longing for the countryside” of today’s city-dwellers. Persian illustrated manuscripts demonstrate in intricate detail and vibrant colours the enchantment of gardens. In this display, they are juxtaposed with the promise of freedom of urban garden allotments, holiday shacks, and the altered significance of parks and gardens in the era of the pandemic.