Projects and Grants – Soudavar Memorial Foundation

Publications

Discover our comprehensive collection of scholarly publications on Persian and Iranian studies.

Birth of the Persian Empire

Of the great ancient civilisations, that of Persia is the least known and the most enigmatic, this book explores the formation of the Persian empire under the Achaemenid Persians. It...

A Safavid Armenian Monument: Architectural Hybridity at the Vank Cathedral in Isfahan

This book explores the Vank Cathedral in Isfahan, a relatively well-known yet poorly understood structure. The cathedral’s design, construction and interior decoration display both Safavid and Armenian architectural and artistic...

Early Islamic Iran

How did Iran remain distinctively Iranian in the centuries which followed the Arab Conquest? How did it retain its cultural distinctiveness after the displacement of Zoroastrianism – state religion of...

Building Iran: Modernism, Architecture & National Heritage

This is a guide to a juncture in Iranian history when foundational issues of national purpose and cultural heritage – secular reform and religious tradition – were being reframed. Architecture...

Shâhnâmeh: Le Livre des Rois

The first complete translation in verse of the Persian poetry masterpiece in French, the book is illuminated with fifty miniatures from a 16th-century Safavid manuscript, as well as original drawings...

Die azurblauen Zeilen

Die azurblauen Zeilen; Eine Sammlung von Gedichten des Sohrab Sepehri mit autobiografischen Beitrag includes a collection of Sepehri’s most distinguished poems, as well as a translation of his autobiography, and a...

Images of Islamic Science: Illustrated Manuscripts from the Iranian World (Volume I)

This is the first volume of a UNESCO project published under the auspices of Institut Français de Recherche en Iran, Fondation Max van Berchem and the Islamic Azad University, this...

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Conferences

Academic conferences, lectures and symposia exploring Persian and Iranian studies.

The Idea of Iran: From Khorasan to the Eurphrates

Conference

Lecture Series, March-May 2005

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Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs

Conference

Approximately 270 objects—including ceramics, glass, stucco, works on paper, woodwork, textiles, and metalwork—from American, European, and Middle Eastern public and private collections are shown. Many of the institutions have never...

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From Persepolis to Isfahan: Safeguarding Cultural Heritage

Conference

This conference focused on protecting the cultural heritage of Iran. As is well known cultural heritage worldwide is under threat, and from many countries there are stories of damage to...

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Empires & Revolutions: Iranian-Russian Encounters Since 1800

Conference

This conference explored the myriad encounters which have taken place between Iranians and Russians since the early nineteenth-century up to the present. It included some discussion of diplomacy and foreign...

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Looking Back: The Formation of a Zoroastrian Identity

Conference

One of the world’s oldest religions, Zoroastrianism originated amongst Iranian tribes in Central Asia during the second millennium BCE and spread to Iran where it became the principal faith until...

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Photography and Cinematography in Qajar Era Iran

Conference

In memory of Farrokh Ghaffari (1921-2006), the Soudavar Memorial Foundation made a special grant in 2011 available for archival research on Qajar cinematography in preparation for this symposium (August 27-28,...

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Sixth Annual International Qajar Studies Association (IQSA) Conference: Entertainment in the Qajar Era

Conference

As far as written records and oral traditions indicate, entertainment in the Qajar era touched on all aspects of life, both public and private. Contrary to Western opinion about this...

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Symposia Iranica: The Biennial Graduate Conference on Iranian Studies-2017

Conference

Symposia Iranica is the biennial international postgraduate conference on Iranian studies. It brings together students and early career researchers to celebrate, encourage and stimulate their interest and engagement with the...

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Exhibitions

Explore our curated exhibitions featuring art, photography, music and multimedia experiences.

Epic Iran

Exploring 5,000 years of art, design and culture, Epic Iran (V&A) shined a light on one of the greatest historic civilisations, its journey into the 21st century and its monumental...

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Iran Modern

Iran Modern (6 September 2013 - 5 January 2014) was the first major museum exhibition mounted with loans from the United States, Europe, and the Middle East to focus on...

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Hunt for Paradise: Court Arts of Safavid Iran, 1501-1576

The Asia Society presented a major exhibition of spectacular works of art from the influential Golden Age of Persian art in Iran. The first comprehensive international exhibition of the exquisite...

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Ardeshir Mohassess: Art & Satire in Iran

Ardeshir Mohassess was born in Iran in 1938 and began drawing early in his childhood. He was a self-taught caricaturist and graphic artist whose drawings express the ironic and absurd...

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Glass, Gilding & Ancient Design: The Art of Sasanian Iran (224-642)

This exhibition presented masterpieces illustrating the splendour of the court arts of the Sasanian dynasty, which ruled the ancient Near East from the third through seventh centuries. The extraordinary luxury...

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Between Word & Image: Modern Iranian Visual Culture

Between Word and Image provided an opportunity to view modern Iranian art and to consider urgent social issues, such as the politicisation of Islam. Cultural histories of the post-1945 Middle...

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Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian - Infinite Possibility, Mirror Works and Drawings: 1974-2014

This is the first U.S. museum exhibition of mirror works and drawings by Iranian artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (b. Qazvin, Iran, 1924). Considered in relation to the Guggenheim’s historical commitment...

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FARHAD MOSHIRI: GO WEST

The Soudavar Memorial Foundation made a contribution to the first solo exhibition of the works of Iranian-American artist Farhad Moshiri at the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, in 2107. Encompassing several...

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Global/Local 1960-2015: Six Artist from Iran

Global/Local in Grey Gallery, New York - January 2 - April 2, 2016 highlights three generations of artists who look to their Persian heritage as a source of inspiration while...

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Cultural Heritage

Preserving and promoting Iran's rich cultural heritage through research, conservation and education.

Taq Kasra: Wonder of Architecturee

Taq Kasra: Wonder of Architecture is the first-ever documentary film on the world’s largest brickwork vault in Ctesiphon (near Baghdad in present-day Iraq). . The present ruins are those of the...

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British Library Persian Manuscripts Project

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, holding around 170 million items from many countries, in many languages and in many formats, both print and digital:...

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Encyclopædia Iranica

The Encyclopædia Iranica is dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. The academic reference work will eventually cover...

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Achemenet

The Achaemenid or Persian empire dominated much of the modern Middle East and Central Asia from the 6th century BC down to its conquest by Alexander the Great in the...

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Excavations at Daskyleion (Dascylium), Anatolia, Turkey

From 2003 to 2005, the Soudavar Memorial Foundation supported the excavations at the site of one of the most important Achaemenid satrapal capitals of Western Anatolia, which was also renowned...

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Atelier d'Ethnomusicologie: 'Festival IRAN, Perles Musicales'

This festival was organised with the scientific and artistic collaboration of Jean During and Mme. Leyli Atashkar. It is conceived to represent the diversity of regional music in Iran with...

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Derbent: What Persia left behind

Registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the 6th-century Derbent (Darband) fortification complex is considered the largest defensive structure of Sasanian Persia (Iran) in the Caucasus. It is now located...

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Film, Arts, & Media

Lorem

Balouch Voices

Cultural Heritage

The UNESCO Award at the 17th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, "Balouch Voices" by Muhammad Ehsani delves into the music and culture of the Baluchistan region of Iran. Afro-Iranian music...

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Derbent: What Persia left behind

Cultural Heritage

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Logic of the Birds

Arts, Films & Media

This experimental multi-disciplinary theatrical production based on Attar’s Language of the Birds, directed by Shirin Neshat, Shojaz Azari, Ghasem Ebrahimian and featuring the performer Sussan Deyhim, Logic of the Birds was commissioned...

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Lion Tombstones and their Sculptors

Cultural Heritage

Originally conceived as a book, this documentary is about lion tombstones among the Bakhtiari nomads. In the majority of cases it was seasonal stonemasons who mostly made lion tombstones for...

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Atelier d'Ethnomusicologie: 'Festival IRAN, Perles Musicales'

Cultural Heritage

This festival was organised with the scientific and artistic collaboration of Jean During and Mme. Leyli Atashkar. It is conceived to represent the diversity of regional music in Iran with...

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Achaemenid imprint over Daskyleion (Turkey): A large-scale archaeological project to reveal the Persian paradise

Cultural Heritage

During the Achaemenid Empire, Daskyleion was the capital of the Hellespontine Phrygia satrapy, located in the northwest of the Anatolian peninsula. The ancient Greek testimonies describe Daskyleion as the place...

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Environmental Projects

Conservation initiatives and sustainable development projects in Iran and surrounding regions.

Water Shortage Management in Touran Biosphere Reserve, Iran

Although Iran’s wildlife faces many grave threats, none is as urgent as that of the Asiatic Cheetah. Its critically endangered population, estimated to be of only 50 species, is scattered...

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TEHRAN FILTERING GARDEN FESTIVAL

A project for the re-use of the capital’s abandoned qanats conceived by Sara kamalvand of Hydrocity

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Iran's Natural Heritage: A Catalyst Symposium to Spark Measurable Change

In partnership with Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF), the Persian Wildlife Foundation (PWF) and in association with the London Middle East Institute (SOAS), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED),...

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