Azadeh Akhlaghi's staged photograph of the 1912 death of Zeynab Pasha, the Mother of Tabriz

Peabody Museum of Archaeology & EthnologyHarvard Square, Cambridge

From Iran: A Visual Testimony

Now showing15 May 2026 – 21 March 2027$20

Azadeh Akhlaghi restages eleven pivotal deaths from Iran's history, 1908-1979, as meticulously researched tableaux shot on location - sixteen photographs plus archival material.

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On now All of October 2026

About seventy women sit on carpets and talk in a Tehran doctor's office on 1 December 1911, sunlight coming through the windows, getting ready to march on parliament. Nobody photographed that day. Azadeh Akhlaghi cast actors, shot it on location in Iran and put herself in the scene, as she does in every one. Look for her red shawl.

Sixteen photographs cover eleven episodes, from 1908, when the Shah shut down the first National Assembly, to the revolution of 1979. Three are triptychs, the largest just over 3 by 15 feet. A silent video loop runs 19 minutes 40 seconds, and an interactive display shows the archival research behind each scene. The museum warns that the images depict violence and death.

The Boston Globe's Mark Feeney called them "stunning" and wrote "One look, and you keep looking", but questioned whether staged scenes count as testimony. Entry is the $20 museum ticket, sold only at the desk, which also covers the Harvard Museum of Natural History.

Editor's pick

Azadeh Akhlaghi restages eleven deaths from Iranian history, 1908 to 1979, with actors, and puts herself in every scene; look for her red shawl. The Boston Globe wrote "One look, and you keep looking", but doubted staged scenes count as testimony.

Look for

The First Iranian Women's Movement
Dozens of women gather on carpets in Dr. Kahhal's Tehran office in 1911, sunlight through the windows, preparing an armed march on parliament.
The Great Iranian Migration
Refugees carry their bags across snowy mountains on the Iran-Ottoman border during World War I; Harvard Magazine called it the show's most visually arresting picture.
The Mother of Tabriz
A mother grieves two sons executed by occupying Russian troops on Ashura, her daughter beside her and Akhlaghi herself as the woman consoling her.
The Bombardment of the Parliament
Figures scatter across the parliament grounds in Tehran under rising smoke, the June 1908 attack where the show's timeline begins.

Good for

Going Solo
Nerding Out
Rainy Days

Skip if

You want documentary photographs: every scene is staged with actors, and the museum warns of violence and death.

With kids

The museum warns that the photographs depict violence, oppression and death; they are staged but show real events. Youth tickets (ages 3 to 18) are $15, under-3s free.