Ever optimistic about the power of art to trump armament, we’re delighted to spread the word of this Iranian art exhibit inside Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace Museum. Iran has loaned treasures from the Paleolithic through the Islamic Safavid and Qajar periods. Through 05 February 2010.
Photo: Skip Lombardi
And for just a few more days, you can catch Falnama: The Book of Omens, extraordinary Persian, Turkish, and Mughal Indian paintings used in fortune-telling, in Washington, DC, at the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery through 24 Jan 2010.
In this winter of Iran’s internal discontent, we hope for an intelligent and peaceful resolution of its domestic conflicts as well as its arguments with those outside its borders. Exhibits like these emphasize Iran’s influence on the arts of the entire Islamic world.