From Iran: A Visual Testimony
From Iran: A Visual Testimony
Special Exhibition May 15, 2026–March 21, 2027
"...stunning and heroically scaled..." – Boston Globe
"...masterful" — artscope
“...cinematic spectacle and intellectual rigor…sweeping images that are telling in their detail..." — What Will You Remember?
Created over the course of fourteen years, Iranian photographer Azadeh Akhlaghi’s project stages and photographs pivotal moments from Iran’s tumultuous twentieth-century history. Drawing on meticulous archival research and her background in cinema, she casts professional and nonprofessional actors and photographs each scene from multiple angles to reimagine historical events as complex tableaux, set in real locations in Iran.
The Mother of Tabriz
Tabriz | December 1911–October 1917
After Russia forced the dissolution of Iran’s parliament in December 1911, Russian troops occupied Tabriz and carried out brutal reprisals. Photographs of the massacre, later published by E. G. Browne, shocked the world. Among the victims were two boys executed on Ashura, whose mother’s grief inspired The Mother of Tabriz. The mother appears on the right. She is accompanied by her daughter and is consoled by a woman (depicted by Akhlaghi herself).
The First Iranian Women’s Movement
Dr. Kahhal’s Office, Tehran | December 1, 1911
After the reopening of the Second Parliament, Iran invited American financial adviser Morgan Shuster to reform its finances. In November 1911, Russia issued an ultimatum demanding his expulsion, triggering mass protests. According to Shuster, armed women marched on parliament in defiance. This photograph imagines their preparation, organized by early women’s equality activists linked to Danesh newspaper.
In sixteen images—three presented as large-scale prints—Akhlaghi depicts eleven pivotal incidents highlighting the cycle of successful and failed efforts by Iranians to reclaim control of their country between 1908—when the Shah quashed the first National Assembly—and 1979, when the monarchy was overthrown and Islamic rule began.
Detail featuring Azadeh Akhlaghi in The Conquest of Tehran
Zahir al-Dowleh’s Residence, Tehran | August 20, 1909
The exhibition’s video loop depicts incidents that illuminate recurring cycles of successful and failed efforts by Iranians to reclaim control of their country. An interactive display invites visitors to explore archival materials behind Akhlaghi’s interpretations and offers a behind-the-scenes look at her process. In each scene, Akhlaghi places herself within the image as both participant and witness, offering visual testimony to her country’s turbulent history.
Gallery Video
**The photographs in this video contain depictions of violence, oppression, and death that people may find difficult. The photographic images are staged, but they depict real historical events in the history of Iran.**
(Silent, runs 19:40)
Read an interview with Azadeh Akhlaghi
The Harvard Gazette spoke with the artist in the story "Iranian history in Tableaux."
About Azadeh Akhlaghi
Azadeh Akhlaghi (b. 1978, Shiraz) grew up in Mashhad, Iran, and studied computer science at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia. She later returned to Iran, worked as assistant director to filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami (2005–2008), and made short films before turning to staged photography in 2009. She won the 2009 UN-Habitat Youth Photography Competition and was a finalist for the 2016 Sovereign Asian Art Prize. Her work By an Eyewitness has been exhibited internationally, including in the United States, London, Paris, Shanghai, Seoul, and Tehran.
Top image: Detail from The Conquest of Tehran
Zahir al-Dowleh’s Residence, Tehran | August 20, 1909