Iran: Wonders of Nature exhibition opens at University’s Wardlaw Museum

A new exhibition, Iran: Wonders of Nature, is open  at the University of St Andrews’ Wardlaw Museum, exploring how the environment has shaped Iranian history, visual culture, and identity over the last 5000 years. 

The exhibition includes objects from the vast Sarikhani Collection, the University’s own collection, as well as loans from Edinburgh University. Many are on display in Scotland for the first time. 

Bringing together artwork from ancient times, the Zoroastrian and Islamic eras, and the present day, Iran: Wonders of Nature is structured around themes ranging from mythology and cosmology to the cultivation of gardens, revealing the centrality of nature in the Iranian perception of its place in the world. 

Dr Yusen Yu, who works in the University’s School of Art History and is a partner in the curation of the exhibition, said, “Among the many ways to tell the story of Iranian art, this exhibition shows how art and nature are intertwined. Nothing epitomises this theme better than a Persian garden, where poetry is enjoyed accompanied by music and wine amidst trees and streams.”

Dr Yusen Yu continued, “The exhibition invites the audience to explore the garden and beyond, from the land, the sea, to the sky. It is about beauty, pleasure, excitement, curiosity and, above all, an Iranian way of living.”

Items on display include a Sasanian silver and gold hunting dish, a model of a bird goddess dated at approximately  2000 BC, and a three-metre-long scroll created for King George III with words from the poem Orchard by the mediaeval poet Saadi, forming the shape of intricate writing and leaves. 

Cross-cultural influences in Iranian artistic tradition are also on display  with examples including a bowl that merges the Chinese mythical bird fenghuang with an interpretation of the Simorgh, a creature that appears in the Persian epic poem Shahnameh. Meanwhile, Zoroastrian and Abrahamic imagery of the creation myth are united in a 14th century copy of al-Biruni’s Chronology of Ancient Nations. 

The exhibition finishes with a work of art  by the exiled Iranian artist, Parastou Forouhar in 2011, entitled The Time of Butterflies. 

Matthew Sheard, project manager of the exhibition, said that Forouhar “brings the story we wanted to tell into the 21st century, displaying what appear to be butterflies but which hide a more serious message about the brutality of the current Iranian regime when you look closely. It’s a fitting example of how nature continues to play a part in Iranian exploration of identity.”

In response to questions about why the town of St Andrews and the theme of nature were chosen as the site and focus of this exhibition, Sheard explained that “Nature as a theme was selected for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is key to Iranian identity, and has always played an important role in how Iranians see themselves and the world. That allowed us to explore Iran from a different angle, covering millennia of history without the exhibition getting bogged down in historical detail. We wanted such stunning objects to speak for themselves, and this theme allows them to do that.”

Sheard continued that “tackling the climate crisis is part of the University Museums’ strategy. We often do this in very obvious ways, such as researching how exhibitions can influence visitors to make more sustainable lifestyle choices. In this case, the topic allows us to very subtly encourage visitors to rethink our relationship with the natural world by seeing its importance to different cultures and peoples and asking visitors to reflect on nature in the same way.”

The careful curation and arrangement of these objects serve as a reminder of the importance of material culture in the study and appreciation of the rich and varied history of one of the world’s oldest civilisations.  

The exhibition remains on display from Sunday 28 January until Sunday 12 May 2024 at the Wardlaw Museum, with free entry. 

Image by Stephan Law