Let’s talk about... Baharestan carpet Curated by Tere Recarens

Anahita Nassir is a Spanish-Iranian political scientist with a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Her main areas of academic interest are Iran and how it fits geo-strategically in a changing world. From 2003 to 2012, she was the coordinator at Casa Asia and she currently works at Fundación IBO on development cooperation. She participates as an analyst on Iranian affairs in different media outlets to explain the situation in Iran, an unknown and fascinating country.

In her talk “The protests in Iran, beyond the veil”, Anahita will give us a context to understand the main causes that have led to the current condition of women in Iran and their importance in the fight for human rights.

It's not possible to define a Persian carpet without taking into account the symmetric distribution of its interior garden. With this in mind, we will talk to Ali Emadi and, together with Tere Recarens, we will reveal yet another mystery of the Baharestan carpet.

Ali Emadi (1982, Isfahan, Iran) received his master’s degree in Architecture in 2009. His main focus was the history of Iranian architecture and how to use sustainable technology in the modern world. He has exhibited his sketches in solo exhibitions in Isfahan. He is currently working at UPC for the department of architecture as a Ph.D. candidate in Barcelona, Spain, in 2023.

Born in Khoy, a city in northwest Iran, Katy Evoghli spent much of her childhood in Shiraz. The path she has followed through various latitudes of ancient Persia allowed her to access all the cultural diversity of a multi-ethnic land. In 1979, her family moved to Spain. Evoghli completed her musical education at Spanish conservatories, so the rich Persian musical tradition she received in Iran was enriched by classical European training.

Katy Evoghli’s sweet and masterly voice, with qualities of a typical Iranian timbre, combined with the melancholy, mysticism and intimate joy that pervade Persian music and lyrics, transport listeners to deep beauty of a fascinating and unknown culture.

Nowruz, the Persian New Year, is the most celebrated day in Iran, and it is also the first day of spring. Then there is Sizdah Bedar, which means the thirteenth day of the year. On this designated day, people go out for a picnic in nature. We will organise this picnic in the MACBA Atrium, run by Sabores de la vida, a Barcelona store specialising in international and especially Persian products. We will be accompanied on voice and guitar by Soheil Keshavarz, which means star of agriculture, and who will sing us modern music and songs from this revolution.

A picnic that will take place on the Baharestan carpet, from which Tere Zelzeleh will reveal some secrets to us. Bahrestan carpet is a poem that surrounds the garden, as if it were a stream, and flows into a central pond. Chahar bagh, which means four gardens, are the gardens that Tere will explain to us: about mythology, the Sassanian era, modern politics and Iranian feminism. Among other things, she will also tell us how she found the Spring carpet.