Ali Akbar Sadeghi x Ali Bakhtiari | "Akbar [Recent Ten Years]": Dastan's Basement

Dastan's Basement proudly presents an exhibition of works by Ali Akbar Sadeghi (b. 1937). "Akbar, Ali Akbar Sadeghi X Ali Bakhtiari, Recent Ten Years" opens on Friday, January 31, and will run until February 21. Curated by Ali Bakhtiari, the show showcases a decade of creative interaction between the two figures for the public viewing.

The collaboration between Ali Akbar Sadeghi and Ali Bakhtiari began in 2014 with the research and compilation of a three-volume book documenting Sadeghi's life and works. Over the years, this partnership extended to other significant projects, including the exhibition “Karnameh, Visual Culture of Iranian Children” (2016), the joint publication of “Asheghnameh” as part of the ABBookness project (2016), a retrospective of Sadeghi’s life and works at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (2017), the publication of the “Myth and Math” print portfolio for the retrospective exhibition (2017), and the creation of silkscreen prints from the “Camouflage” collection (2022–2023).

This exhibition features pieces of relief etching from the “Myth and Math” series, silkscreen prints from the “Camouflage” series, and the book “Asheghnameh”. This romantic-epic book reimagines classic Persian tales with themes of love, war, separation, and reunion through symbolic imagery. Sadeghi's signature playful and whimsical style is vividly present in “Asheghnameh” and one can see its manifestations through the titles of the silkscreen prints, such as “The Major War”, “The Minor War”, and “The Warrior of Love”.