First Non-Museum Public Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian Work Donated to MAHAK Charity
MAHAK Charity announced a new museum and library named after Iranian artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, as well as unveiled a large mirror work donated by the artist, marking the first public display of her work outside of an arts institution
.jpg?EbCQ0z4A "Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian reveals her donated 2014 mirror mosaic work to MAHAK Charity")
Known for her intricate Iranian mirror mosaic technique Aineh Kari combined with traces of Western geometric abstraction, seminal Iranian artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian has donated a large-scale work to MAHAK, a non-governmental Iranian children’s charity that offers support to youths with cancer.
The 2014 work, constituting two Muaqrnas and 20 triangular mirrors, aims to draw attention to social responsibility through the arts, an area where Farmanfarmaian has focused efforts. The work is also positioned to reflect light conceptually and literally as a means of catharsis. “We believe that art is the best way to indicate how great Iranian people are in changing the impossibilities into possibilities,” said Dr Farbood Farhi, MAHAK board of trustees member, in a statement at the unveiling on 13 July. “We at MAHAK, every day witness the realisation of great dreams which are entangled to the great efforts of our supports as a result of which we can provide the best treatment and support services to cancer-stricken children.”
.jpg?5qGUPr6o "2014 mirror mosaic work by Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian")
In appreciation of the philanthropic gesture, MAHAK founder Saideh Ghods shared its newly opened museum and library will be named after the artist, and hopes both will grow into a treasury of Iranian artworks. “MAHAK owes the civil society and Iranian people for all of its achievements,” he continued in the statement. “The installation of this masterpiece at MAHAK is a memorial to mark the valuable role of women who are the custodians of Iran, like angels.”
Farmanfarmaian’s works are within the collections of international institutions such as the Metropolitain Museum of Art, New York, and Tate Modern, London. In addition to numerous exhibitions across galleries, the late-2017 opening of her eponymous museum in Tehran made history as the first Iranian museum dedicated to a female artist.