While visiting the British Museum in London recently, I almost gasped when I wandered into a side room and saw what stood there. Earlier in the day, I had sat with my parents and sketched out what we planned to see at the museum. The Rosetta Stone (of course), Ancient Iran, Medieval Europe, several short tours. We knew we would also wander a bit, but I was still shocked when I turned the corner and saw Heech in a Cage by Parviz Tanavoli.
Not only is it a stunning sculpture and a clearly identifiable Farsi word, but I immediately recognized the sculptor from his work Heech, which I saw the year before in the private library at Niavaran Palace in Tehran.
I hadn’t expected to walk into a museum in England and find something so closely connected to my experiences in Iran. It felt incredibly meaningful, but maybe it was just … nothing. 😉
Curious about Tanavoli, his work, and the meaning of heech? I’d recommend the Longread’s article The Mountain Carver.
Expat Linguist 