The Tale of King Anushirvan and the Wise Old Man

This independent project began with a Persian story I grew up hearing about King Anushirvan and an old man who plants a tree for future generations. The story speaks about wisdom, justice, responsibility, and the relationship between generations. I use it as a starting point for exploring the history, visual culture, and material world of Sasanian Iran.

I am interested not only in the story itself, but also in how historical figures such as Anushirvan were remembered and reimagined through Persian literature and storytelling. Rather than treating the tale as a direct historical record, I am exploring the cultural values and ideas that shaped the image of Anushirvan as a wise and just ruler.

My research focuses on the visual and material culture of the Sasanian period. I am studying archaeological evidence, museum collections, historical sources, architecture, landscapes, royal imagery, textiles, ceramics, coins, clothing, and other material objects. I pay particular attention to materials, patterns, motifs, colors, and visual details that can help me understand the environments and social worlds of the period.

A central part of this project is exploring how historical research can inform contemporary visual storytelling. I use what I learn about Sasanian architecture, clothing, objects, landscapes, and social life as a foundation for developing characters and environments for the story. At the same time, I distinguish between documented historical evidence, scholarly interpretation, and artistic imagination.

My interest in this project also comes from my long-standing connection to Iranian folktales and oral storytelling. I am fascinated by how stories survive across generations, change through retelling, and become part of cultural memory. Through drawing and visual experiments, I am exploring how these narratives can be researched, preserved, and reimagined through contemporary image-making.

As the project develops, my goal is to transform research and visual experiments into a children's storybook. I hope to create a work that introduces audiences to the cultural and visual world of Sasanian Iran while demonstrating how historical research, storytelling, and contemporary visual practice can come together to keep cultural heritage alive.

Visual research

Storyboard: planting the tree