Tehran Honors Fatimiyah With Art and Theater

Date: 18 November 2025 - 22:04

News ID: ۱۴۵۹۶۹

TEHRAN — At the Abolfazl Aali Gallery this week, painter Hussein Eynibakhsh unveiled “Whiter Than Jasmine,” a quietly ambitious exhibition built on six years of research, reflection and careful negotiation with religious aesthetics.
The works draw on episodes from the life of Fatima al-Zahra (AS), one of the central figures in Islamic devotion, and on early Islamic history more broadly.
Painted without facial depiction—an intentional adherence to longstanding religious sensitivities—the pieces rely on gesture, silhouette, color and symbolic composition to articulate scenes that are meant to  be felt as much as seen.
The exhibition opened in the presence of several cultural officials and artists, including representatives from the Center for Visual Arts in Hozeh Honari. Seyyed Shahabeddin Shakiba, the center’s director, said the show reflects a renewed effort to support young artists whose work engages with religious history.
He described Eynibakhsh’s canvases as the result of “ongoing dialogue with the wider visual-arts community,” noting that the center hopes such collaborations will surface new talent and expand the contours of contemporary sacred art in Iran.
For Eynibakhsh, the project is both personal and scholarly. Each painting, he said, is based on “authentic narrations, Qur’anic verses and documented accounts,” with particular attention to compositional integrity under religious guidelines.
Some works took nearly nine months to complete; others were finished in a matter of weeks. Yet the exhibition’s emotional core emerges most clearly in the written statement accompanying the show, in which the artist describes the difficulty—almost the impossibility—of depicting a figure so central to Islamic spirituality.
In the statement for the exhibition, written by Eynibakhshi, it reads: “I am supposed to write something, but how difficult it is to write in praise of a lady who is the reason for the creation of the heavens and the earth.
“How difficult it is to write in praise of a daughter who was the joy and love of the greatest divine messenger. How difficult it is to write in praise of a wife who was the full strength of the greatest man in the world. How difficult it is to write in praise of a teacher who taught her children the path of freedom and martyrdom. And how difficult it is to write in praise of you… Mother! How can one speak of you, write of you, or portray you? The pen falters in the mystery of your being, and the canvas loses its color before the imprint of your presence.
“Ah, the alley of Bani Hashim… Ah, the moment of farewell… After you, the jasmines are no longer white.”
The exhibition runs through December 2.
Across the city, another cultural event tied to religious history is preparing to open: “The First Unknown,” a new stage production at Sanglaj Theater, one of Tehran’s oldest and most architecturally distinctive performance venues.
Written by Alireza Nasouti and directed by Alireza Omrani, the play premieres December 2 to coincide with the commemorations of Fatimiyah, a period of mourning in Shia Islam marking the martyrdom of Fatimah al-Zahra (AS).
Unlike the intimacy of Eynibakhsh’s canvases, the Sanglaj production relies on scale. The cast is large—more than two dozen actors—and is supported by an extensive backstage team, including designers, vocal directors, technicians and a media unit.
A full choir, led by Muhammad Ali Faratin and composed of young vocalists from across the city, provides live accompaniment, underscoring the production’s ceremonial undertones.
The play’s premise is rooted in a fraught historical moment: the aftermath of the Caravan of Karbala’s return to Medina, when a group from the city travels to Damascus to demand political change. The script, though historical, leans toward moral and spiritual interpretation rather than strict reenactment, a style consistent with many Iranian religious theater traditions. Producers say the show was designed specifically for Fatimiyah and will run for only nine performances at 7:30 p.m., with early ticket sales already underway.