As many of you know, I have been associated with Zoroastrians and Iranians in general for some time. I studied Persian and Zoroastrian mythology and theology for many years, and wrote several published articles on Zoroastrianism. I am even trying to learn the Farsi language, from Persian friends and customers at my workplace and through language teaching books.

Zoroastrianism is the first monotheistic religion, proclaimed by the prophet Zarathushtra in ancient Iran perhaps about 1200 BCE. It is still practiced by a small number (perhaps 200,000) people around the world, especially in India and Iran. Through its millennia of history, this religion has adapted motifs and myths from many different sources. The gods of ancient Persia were re-envisioned as subordinate figures, somewhat like angels or good spirits, who did the will of the One God, Ahura Mazda, whose name means "Lord of Wisdom."

One of the theological features of Zoroastrianism is the embodiment of virtues and the divine presence in the material world, in a set of seven abstract personifications. These are known as the Amesha Spentas, or "Bounteous Immortals." These and other holy figures are not worshiped, but are venerated in the faith as connections between the world and God. Historically, they have not been shown as images, as Zoroastrianism has not been a very visual religion. But there is no prohibition on religious images as there is in Judaism and Islam. Between 1996 and 2000, I portrayed the seven Immortals as abstract but iconic figures, using influences from Modernist art, Deco, Byzantine, and ancient Persian art. I gave each one a theme, a color of the traditional rainbow, and a title. They can be viewed here, at my main webpage.

About a year ago, an Iranian Zoroastrian friend of mine asked whether I would like to show these images in Iran. He had access to art galleries and a community of art-loving people in both Tehran and in Yazd, which is one of the few Iranian cities with a large remaining Zoroastrian population. As it would be currently dangerous for me to go personally to Iran, or to send the original art there, I sent my friend a CD with high-resolution scans of the pictures, which would be made into prints to exhibit there.

Every cultural event in Iran must be inspected and passed by the Islamic authorities. In order to have the art show at all, the mullahs must allow it. They did not allow it in Tehran, but said it would be fine to show the Seven Immortals in Yazd, which was more remote and also more Zoroastrian. So my friend planned the show for a gallery in Yazd, to be held this March around the time of the Persian New Year, "NoRuz."

Paradoxically, though the Islamic authorities allowed the show, (Persian nationalism was also a factor) the Zoroastrian priests didn't like it at all and protested. They did not like the idea of images of anything in their religion and culture. Zoroastrianism, they claimed, was a purely abstract and image-free religion. This sounded more like Islam than Zoroastrianism to my friends (and to me). During my work on the Immortals, I was able to show one or two of them to an influential Parsi Zoroastrian Indian high priest at a scholarly conference. He said that there was no prohibition against images in the religion as long as they were not worshipped like idols. In fact, images of Zarathushtra are common, especially in Indian Parsi Zoroastrianism.

My friend decided to go against the resistance of the Iranian Zoroastrian priests and he printed and showed the prints in the gallery. They were not for sale, but were viewed by many enthusiastic people both Zoroastrian and non-Z. I knew that the show existed, but did not hear from my friend until he returned from his months-long stay in his native land. I finally got an e-mail from him a couple of weeks ago saying that not only was the show well-received by the people, but that he would be dedicating a room in the Yazd gallery just to those pictures and to other Zoroastrian images. I have sent my art all over the world, but this is the first time that it has been seen in Iran. It's definitely an incentive for me to make more art on Persian Zoroastrian mythical themes.

Posted at 3:14 am | link