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Multitude 10

2008
Not on view
Sadegh Tirafkan explores Iranian identity through photographs he has staged, shot, or found. In "Multitude 10," he splices together dozens of photographs showing Iranian schoolgirls in the traditional rupush, or Islamic uniform. Over this, he prints a battle scene from the Shahnama of Firdausi. This pairing of the contemporary with the historical presents Iranian identity as a complex and contradictory one: on the one hand, independent and forward-looking, on the other, stubbornly traditional. Here the past is juxtaposed with the present in such a way that the warriors of the Shahnama are looking down upon the young schoolgirls exercising in a school yard.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Multitude 10
  • Artist: Sadegh Tirafkan (Iranian, Karbala, Iraq 1965–2013 Toronto)
  • Date: 2008
  • Geography: Made in Iran
  • Medium: Digital photo collage, lambda print
  • Dimensions: H. 29 1/8 in. (74 cm)
    W. 44 1/8 in. (112 cm)
    Framed:
    H. 33 3/4 in. (85.7 cm)
    W. 48 7/16 in. (123 cm)
    D. 15/16 in. (2.4 cm)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Purchase, 2011 NoRuz at The Met Benefit, 2013
  • Object Number: 2013.258
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Sadegh Tirafkan
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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