Takhti: A modern Iranian hero
Asahi Shimbun displays
19 February – 19 April 2009
Room 3
Admission free
This exhibition focuses on a single, recently acquired work by
Iranian contemporary artist Khosrow Hassanzadeh. The display
coincides with the major exhibition Shah ʿAbbas: The
Remaking of Iran.
Hassanzadeh lives and works in Tehran and is an artist drawn
very much to his Iranian heritage, which provides him with his
principal sources of inspiration. The work offers a contemporary
perspective on Iranian history, religion and culture. At the heart
of this vibrant and colourful work is an image of the wrestler
Ghulamreza Takhti who is encased in a shrine-like structure,
surrounded by gently flashing lights and a series of deliberately
placed objects, each one of which links into the Iranian past.
Takhti was no ordinary person. He was a Jahan Pahlavan,
a ‘World Wrestler’, who won Olympic medals and who died tragically
young at the age of 37 in 1968. His death was officially listed as
suicide, but there is still some mystery attached to it. Idolised
during his lifetime, his memory is cherished by all Iranians and
every year the anniversary of his death is commemorated at the
cemetery in southern Tehran where he is buried.
The affection that Iranians feel for him rests not only on his
prowess as a wrestler but on his personality, his courage, his
sense of fair play and his kindness. He is particularly remembered
for his activities following the earthquake of Buyin Zahra near
Qazvin in 1962 when he and his friends loaded up trucks with
blankets and food and distributed these, together with money they
had collected, among the poor. An often repeated story concerns his
fight with the Russian Alexander Medved during which Takhti nobly
avoided touching Medved’s leg because of a recent injury. For
Iranians this kind of heroic behaviour epitomises chivalrous
qualities known as javanmardi.
Hassanzadeh emphasises the reverence felt for Takhti by placing
him within a structure that echoes the hejleh, temporary
shrines that are put up all over Iran to commemorate the dead. As a
young man Hassanzadeh fought in the Iran–Iraq war
(1980–8), a terrible war in which many died on both
sides and which had a profound effect on the artist. Those who died
are revered as martyrs, this connects to the very heart of Iranian
Shi’ism in which martyrdom plays a central role. Khosrow
Hassanzadeh said: "Takhti represents a time that has passed in
Iran, a time that I miss, a time destroyed by war, economics and
politics".
The pahlavan tradition, which is a favourite theme in
Hassanzadeh’s work, is again deeply imbedded in Iranian history. It
has ancient roots stretching back to the age of the epic heroes of
the pre-Islamic era. One of the best known of these is Rustam, a
man of great stature, who could slay beasts with a single blow and
whose tales of bravery and heroism are found in the Shahnameh, the
King’s Book of Kings. He is the Jahan Pahlavan of
the ancient world.
A part of the rituals surrounding pahlavan is the
wearing of specific items. One of these is an armband known as a
bazuband which Takhti always wore and which is visible in
the portrait. This was a bracelet worn on the upper arm containing
protective amulets. As Rustam was the Jahan Pahlavan of
the ancient world, Mahmoud of Kharazm, better known as Pouria-ye
Vali, was the Jahan Pahlavan of the Islamic era. He was a
Sufi and a poet (d.1322) and to this day wrestlers and those
practising in the zurkhaneh swear an oath of allegiance to
Pouria-ye Vali and sing his verses.
Although the practice of wrestling and exercises has a long
tradition, the place where the training took place, the
zurkhaneh, literally the House of Strength, seems only to
have come into being as an institution in the Safavid period
(1501–1722) around the time Shah ʿAbbas ruled. It was
under the Safavids that Shi’ism became adopted as the official
religion of Iran and from then on the rituals of the
zurkhaneh are intricately woven with Shi’ism. In
Hassanzadeh’s art work, the strength of the connection with Shi’ism
is emphasised by objects which include, at the base of the work,
the split sword of ‘Ali known as Dhu’l Faqar. There are
also plaques with the names of ‘Ali and his eleven descendants
(known as Imams) revered by the Shi’a. There is a hand with the
names of the Prophet’s family. Takhti himself felt powerful
reverence for ‘Ali about whom he said: "I learnt from Imam ‘Ali
that one has to stand up to any injustice and that one has to make
an effort to gain victory... and to rely on God when entering the
platform".
Takhti is therefore a hero in a land of heroes and Hassanzadeh’s
magnificent work offers a powerful insight into the culture of a
country whose ancient traditions form such a key part of life
today.
The display is complemented by a number of objects from the
Museum’s collection.
The acquisition of this work adds to the growing collection of
modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art in the Museum. This
collection was showcased in the 2006 exhibition Word
Into Art: Contemporary Artists of the Modern Middle
East. The British Museum is committed to contemporary
collecting and seeks to acquire works that relate to the existing
collection and speak of their time.
For further information or images please contact Katrina Whenham
on 020 7323 8583 or kwhenham@britishmuseum.org
Notes to editors
- In January 2010 the exhibition will travel to the Whitworth Art
Gallery, Manchester as part of the Partnership UK programme.
- To coincide with the exhibition there will be two other related
displays:
Shah ʿAbbas: The remaking of Iran (19
February – 14 June 2009) in the Round Reading Room and a coins and
medals display entitled The splendour of Isfahan: coins
from Iran (5 March – July 2009) in Room 69a.