Muharram Artworks on Display at IAF

A visual art exhibition featuring works on rituals and customs in Iran during the mourning month of Muharram is underway at the Iranian Artists Forum in Tehran.

Paintings, sculptures and photos by young and veteran artists are on display, Honaronline reported.

Pen drawings of 97-year-old self-taught artist Zabihollah Mohammdi are among the works. Other artists contributing to the exhibition include Mojtaba Mousavi, Hossein Khosrowjerdi, Kazem Chalipa, Amir Kabirnejad, Kourosh Golnari, Iraj Eskandari and Nasser Palangi.

Part of the exhibit is dedicated to a collection of historical photographs from the traditional Ta’zieh performances and mourning rituals in the month of Muharram during the Qajar era (1786-1925). The photos are on loan from the Tehran-based City Photo House Museum.

Muharram is the period of mourning and commemoration marking the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Shia Imam and the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The Imam and his 72 family members and companions were martyred by the army of Yazid, the Umayyad caliph, in the historic Battle of Karbala (in Iraq) in 680 AD.

Muharram rituals have long been intertwined with Iranian culture and are often also manifested through the arts.

Located at Honarmandan (Artists) Park, N. Mousavi Street, Taleqani Avenue, the IAF will be hosting the show through September 24.