Shirin Neshat: The Book of Kings / Faurschou Foundation, Beijing

Shirin Neshat’s solo show The Book of Kings at Faurschou Foundation in Beijing, China features a new body of photography works and a video installation by the internationally acclaimed Iranian artist. The project is inspired by the 60.000 verse epic poem, Shahnameh (Book of Kings), by the 11th century Islamic conquest of Persia. Interweaving history, poetry, music, philosophy and politics, the series is set against the backdrop of the recent Arab Spring, and the Iranian Green Movement, which brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets across Iran in June 2009 in protest against corrupt power. As Shahnameh cast the Islamic conquest of Persia as a tragedy, so The Book of Kings commemorates the countless masses of unknown citizens who courageously sacrificed themselves in the name of justice across the Middle East and Arab World.

Shirin Neshat: The Book of Kings / Faurschou Foundation, Beijing. April 13, 2013. Video by Diana Coca.

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