How to Eat a Pomegranate, (2008)
How to East A Pomegranate, 2008,
82h x 40w cm,
Private Collection.
Francis Kyle Gallery
It is a memory of eating pomegranates with friends in Iran one Christmas, probably 2005.
I am thinking a good deal about Iran now
About the pot and the exhibition
The pot pictured here was made in 2008 for an exhibition planned for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Esfahan in 2009. I signed the contract, made all the pots and arranged and paid for the transport and booked my flights. My mother and her best friend, Jennifer, were to come too. They booked a tour. At the last minute, my visa was withdrawn. 'Sensitivities' was the reason quoted. The Museum had refused to co-operate with government and inform them of my every action. Esfahan's museum staff were brave.
About Iran, 2008/09
The regime was already running scared. Spring 2009, when we were due to be there and the exhibition was to open, was the year of the 'stolen election,' and what followed was the first big popular uprising since 1989. '89 was mainly students, 2009 was a far bigger deal. Election campaigning had started by the time my visa was withdrawn. At the time, I thought they just didn't want foreign witnesses.
My exhibition wasn't cancelled and my visa withdrawn because the gallery staff were scared of a few activists which is what happens in Britain. Quite the contrary, it was cancelled by the government because the museum challenged them. It takes courage to do that - the mullah government is one that routinely murders dissidents.
Courage
Imagine a museum or gallery in the UK being courageous enough to stand up to a regime like Iran's?! The idea is laughable. Iranians are brave though and that is why I post this now in honour of all my Iranian friends and family and all those brave women and men, yet again risking their lives as they pour out on to the streets to demand that the mullah government quit.
January 2026 - the uprising now
I have no idea what will happen. My family - the one I live with now - is Kurdish Iranian. We are glued to our phones - for as long as our two year old permits, anyway. Yes, we've been here before and, also, each time, it is a little different. I didn't know, until about a week ago, about the serious and existentially threatening water crisis. I did know that the economic crisis was similarly threatening and inflation completely out of control.
I also knew that Israel's attack on Iran's military and 'security' structures hit hard and very effectively. This is certainly impeding the many and various security forces that the mullah regime has. They are not as effective as they were but they are still there.
The calls for Pahlavi the younger.
There are countless other changes, shifts, uncertainties and, above all, a lack of alternative leadership which results, at least in part, in the calls for the Pahlavi return. During the many times I was in Iran, between 2002-08 I never came across anyone interested in restoring the Pahlavi: Minorities - Kurds, Baloch, Azeris - certainly have little time for them but Iranian people are capable of tolerating something they don't greatly like if it could lead, by degrees, to improvement. The stated intention is that Pahlavi forms an 'interim government' until civil society structures and political parties are in place to hold a general election.
Dangers
It is a risky strategy, dependent on military, police and security support and therein lie many of the risks. Pahlavi is not a strong or charismatic figure and not wholly popular either. It seems he will be tolerated, rather than universally welcomed. Change and the removal of the mullahs will be universally welcomed though and change is always a risk. Friends tell me that they are terrified of 'repeating the same mistakes,' they are referring the deal struck in 1979/80 by the revolutionaries with the mullahs.
A call for understanding
It is dispiriting to see that so many on the Western Left, particularly, have already dismissed this current uprising either because they simply assume jihadists will take over, 'like everywhere else in the 'savage' Middle East or because they have decided that it is somehow orchestrated by Donald Trump. Iranians know their own minds and they know what they want. Over the years I visited and got to know Iranians inside Iran, I learned that freedom had precise meanings: a free press, freedom of speech, belief, and movement - these came across particularly strongly. Frequently cited too were the rule of law, freedom from entrenched corruption, and free elections.They also wanted a free market economy but many were well aware that that system can be cruel at times and prices would likely rise. Iranians talk very freely about money, Iranians talk very freely about money, the cost of living, and earning and spending power - far more than the British do. They're also vastly more financially literate than most in the Anglosphere. What they do not want is an authoritarian government that aims to control every aspect of people's lives. I did not detect any desire for a restoration of the monarchy either and certainly not one with totalitarian instincts such as the old Shah had. Even dedicated Iranian monarchists living in the UK are willing to concede that 'mistakes were made.' Pahlavi the younger is intended as an 'acting head of state,' a figurehead and nothing more.
Pots and Pomegranates
So here is a family, friends of mine that I haven't seen for eighteen years, eating pomegranates. The small children will be adults now. The teenager on that pot who spilt pomegranate juice all over everything and longed to dance for a living will be a fully fledged adult, probably with children of her own. She'll still be dancing though. The other women on that pot may well have adult children now and the women I knew will be grey haired and as beautiful, generous and elegant as ever. The water in that town was the best I have ever tasted. I hope it still is, chronic shortage notwithstanding. Yazd is one of the main growing centres for Pomegranates and they, too, no doubt, will be as sweet and juicy as ever. Some things don't change.
Carpets and patterns
Carpets in every Iranian home dominate the domestic space. Furniture is sparse, all must give way to the carpet. That is why their patterns dominate the pots I made back then. It was in Yazd that I learnt how to eat the majestic pomegranate properly and made a short film which I showed in an exhibition in London much to the delight of audiences who, like me, had always been utterly perplexed by the fruit.
Mum and Jennifer
My 87 year old mother and her equally ancient friend both got their visas and went to Iran anyway. Seeing Esfahan had been mum's dream. I put them in touch with all my friends and they toured the cities I had come to know so well. They had a blast and, as far as we could tell, were probably the last Brits left in Iran that year and for some time later. I am considering a return visit myself now and I am wondering if I might be able to show some work in the Esfahan Museum of Contemporary Art - a small detail in a much bigger picture but a respectful salute to the brave museum staff.