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Release of an Online Documentary on the Museum für Islamische Kunst’s Major Iran Exhibition

06.09.2022
Pergamonmuseum

Inside – Music & Performance – Reflections of an Exhibition, now available online, is the Museum für Islamische Kunst ‒ Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and London’s Sarikhani Foundation’s self-produced documentary on their joint special exhibition Iran: Five Millennia of Art and Culture. This large show was on view at the James-Simon-Galerie until March 2022. In addition to providing impressions of the exhibition and interviews with its organisers, Pujan Shakupa and Stefan Stark’s film follows three contemporary artists who present diverse perspectives on Iran and its history through modern dance, live music and performance.

Over thousands of years, a fascinating cultural landscape developed in Iran. The region, situated between deserts, mountain ranges and bodies of water, was home to great historical civilisations, but many are unaware of its artistic achievements. In the special exhibition, 360 objects from the age of the first advanced civilisations around 3000 B.C. to the end of the Safavid Empire in the early 18th century were used to illustrate the outstanding significance of Iran as a centre of intercultural exchange.

Documentary Film Provides Insights into the Wide Spectrum of Iran’s Cultural History

Inside – Music & Performance – Reflections of an Exhibition relies on aesthetics to allow art, music and performance to fuse together while also providing insights into the curatorial concepts behind the exhibition. Incorporating a mix of performances and text recitations, the filmmakers tap into the diversity of Iran’s cultural history, making it accessible to a broad audience. Moreover, the documentary intends to depict the many sides of Iran and reveal the topicality of its millennia-old culture.

The Sarikhani Collection, directed by Ina Sarikhani Sandmann, is a private collection in London belonging to the Sarikhani family. The collection comprises c. 1000 objects ‒ primarily ceramics, metalwork, textiles and manuscripts ‒ spanning a vast period from 4000 B.C. to the 19th century.

Inside – Music & Performance – Reflections of an Exhibition was made possible by the Freunde des Museums für Islamische Kunst im Pergamonmuseum e. V. and the Sarikhani Foundation.