Mehregan Fall Fête
Ladan Akbarnia, Ph.D., Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art, The San Diego Museum of Art
Mohammad Barrangi (Iranian, b. 1988), Migration, 2018. Reverse transfer printmaking on raw canvas. The San Diego Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by Gita Khadiri and Fred Khoroushi, Patrons of the Arts of Iran, and Persian Cultural Center, 2021.50. © Mohammad Barrangi
This year’s Mehregan Fall Fête, the San Diego Museum of Art’s annual fundraiser in collaboration with the Persian Cultural Center (PCC) for the Arts of Iran collection, took place on October 7, ringing in the autumn with the soulful and mesmerizing voices of Maliheh Moradi and Mina Deris of Voices Unveiled, singing to music composed and played by Ehsan Matoori, and supported by musicians Aidin Ahmadinejad, Mehrpouya Daneshvar, Daniele De Cario, Connor Kent, and Hailey Waterman.
Attendees were greeted by a marvelous pair of 2 x 1.5 meter reverse transfer prints on plywood featuring composite figures containing a collage of female bodies with rooster legs, magic squares, or the heads of ceremonial standards associated with rituals commemorating ‘Ashura. On display for a week until October 13, the diptych marked the culmination of a three-day live art installation by UK-based artist Mohammad Barrangi, whose Migration (2018) is the first work of contemporary art to be acquired by the Museum thanks to funds raised by PCC and Patrons of the Arts of Iran in 2020. Barrangi and artist Shadi Yousefian, whose moving installation Fading Memories (2021) was on view in the Arts of Iran gallery, were both in attendance as special guests and met with several members of the community before and after the performance.
As always, this event would not have been possible without the longstanding partnership between SDMA and PCC; the continued championing of the Arts of Iran collection by SDMA Trustee Gita Khadiri; the support of SDMA’s Maruja Baldwin, Executive Director Roxana Velásquez, and PCC President Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian; and the unfailing program organization of Anahita Babaee and the teams at both PCC and SDMA. Funds raised from this year’s event will support the acquisition of Iranian works for the SDMA collection, including a commission for an astrolabe by scholar and craftsman Taha Yasin Arslan.
To learn more about the San Diego Museum of Art and the Arts of Iran collection, please visit www.sdmart.org.
