Iranian installation to go on display at Doha’s “Gifts of Sultan” exhibit

TEHRAN,March 3(MNA) -- An installation work by the Iranian artist Sadeq Tirafkan will go on display during an exhibition entitled “Gifts of the Sultan: The Arts of Giving at the Islamic Courts” at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. The exhibition, which will be held from March 19 to June 2, has been organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibit was held at the museums in 2011. Some 200 works from various periods spanning from the 8th century to the present day will go on display during the showcase. Featured in this collection are artifacts on loan from some of the world’s greatest collections of Islamic art including the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul, the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin and the British Museum. The objects on display are split into three sections. The “personal gifts” section includes pieces of clothing, jeweler and precious tableware. The “religious gifts” section focuses on objects that are either intrinsically religious in nature or were given to or by religious figures. “Gifts between states” is the largest section and includes a vast array of objects ranging from crystal wares and royal insignia to examples of architecture. The exhibition also includes works by contemporary artists Sadeq Tirafkan, Shahia Sikander, Ahmed Mater and Gunseli Kato, all of whom were invited to create new works for the exhibition with “gifts” as a central theme.