TEHRAN — A photography exhibition documenting Iran’s recent wartime experience has opened at the Iranian Academy of Arts, bringing together 250 images selected from around 8,000 submissions.
Titled 40 Days of Glory, Resistance and Victory, the exhibition opened on Monday at the academy’s Saba Gallery. 
It has been organized by the Islamic World Peace Forum, in cooperation with the Islamic Culture and Communication Organization, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the Iranian Academy of Arts and other cultural and artistic institutions.
The exhibition presents photography as a form of contemporary historical documentation, with its organizers emphasizing the role of images in recording civilian experiences, public solidarity and the consequences of conflict. 
They describe the photographs as a visual record that could provide material for researchers, artists and future generations studying the period.
The 250 selected works were chosen from approximately 8,000 photographs submitted to the exhibition’s secretariat. 
The organizers say the project seeks to document the Third Imposed War, portray resistance and national solidarity, and record the effects of the terrorist aggresion through documentary photography.
The exhibition is divided into several thematic sections, including resistance and victory, “American peace”, Iran’s wartime heritage, the children of Minab, and popular mobilization and national solidarity. 
An international section is also being presented online, with photographs made available to audiences in different countries.
Davoud Ameri, secretary-general of the Islamic World Peace Forum and chairman of the exhibition’s Policy Council, said the exhibition is intended to present an accurate account of the conflict and of Iranian resistance. 
He said the 250 photographs represent only part of the material submitted and that the exhibition will subsequently travel within Iran before being presented internationally online.
Majid Shah-Husseini, president of the Iranian Academy of Arts, stressed the role of art in preserving the memory of war. 
Referring to the history of American war cinema, he said that film and photography have an important role in shaping public understanding of conflict. He also called for artists and filmmakers to document the recent events, including the U.S. war crimes in Minab.
A catalogue documenting Iran’s earlier 12-day war was also unveiled at the opening ceremony. The organizers presented the new exhibition as part of a broader effort to preserve a visual record of recent conflicts for future artistic and historical interpretation.
40 Days of Glory, Resistance and Victory will remain open to the public at the Iranian Academy of Arts through September 22, coinciding with Iran’s Sacred Defense Week.