Ahvaz Museum of Contemporary Arts returns to cultural stage with ‘Land of the Sun’
Iranian cultural authorities and Khuzestan provincial officials will launch the ‘Land of the Sun’ visual arts exhibition in Khorramshahr on May 30, marking the symbolic revival of the long-dormant Ahvaz Museum of Contemporary Arts through a showcase of modern artworks, rare wartime photographs and unseen cinematic archives.
The exhibition, backed by Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Khuzestan Governorate and the Visual Arts Center, is being staged by the Neshan Institute as part of broader efforts to restore the museum to public life after nearly a decade of inactivity that had widened the gap between generations of artists in the southwestern province.
Set against the scarred yet resilient landscape of Khuzestan, the event gathers selected works from the collections of the Ahvaz, Abadan and Khorramshahr contemporary art museums. The exhibition revolves around the themes of Ramadan war, the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, modern art and media.
Among the highlights are previously unseen photographs from the Ramadan war frontlines and the liberation of Khorramshahr, alongside behind-the-scenes images from films by acclaimed Iranian director Ahmadreza Darvish.
Some works will be unveiled publicly for the first time in Iran, organizers said.
Hossein Barati, director general of Khuzestan’s Culture and Islamic Guidance Department, described the reopening of the Ahvaz museum as a top institutional priority under a recent agreement between the culture minister and the provincial governor.
“After years of closure, local and national authorities are determined to return this venue to the cultural circuit,” Barati said.
Naser Chenani, deputy director for cinematic and visual arts affairs at the provincial culture office, said the exhibition could emerge as one of Khuzestan’s most influential cultural events in recent years.
Curated by a selection committee including graphic artist Farzad Mousavi and academics Maryam Hosseini and Azarnoush Gilani of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, the exhibition will also run simultaneously in Abadan and Khorramshahr.