Mossadegh Foundation Lecture Series, University of Geneva
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From Cypress to PlatanusTrees in the Persian Arts, Literature and Cultural Memory
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
University of Geneva
Organiser |
 Image: Detail of "Nushirvan Promulgates His Reforms", Folio 602v from the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970.301.68 |
PROGRAM
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
9:30–10:00 | Welcome and General Introduction
Negar Habibi and Shervin Farridnejad
10:00–12:00 | Trees in Persian Material Culture from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century
A Motif In Between: Trees as Central Decorative Elements on Iranian Mina’i and Lustre Ware Bowls
Richard McClary, University of York
Beneath the Garden Tree: Specimen Tree Forms in Persian Manuscript and Carpet Designs
Moya Carey, Chester Beatty Library
Between Branches and Meaning: The Silent Language of Trees in Persian Lacquer Painting
Elika Palenzona-Djalili, University of Bern
12:00–13:30 | Lunch
13:30–15:30 | Arboreal Imagery in Persian Illustrated Manuscripts and Visual Culture
Verdant Thrones: The Tree as a Symbol of Authority in Persian Painting
Negar Habibi, University of Geneva
Rooted in Splendour: The Meaning of Trees in Timurid Gardens as Represented in Illustrated
Manuscripts
Shiva Mihan, British Museum
The Poet Sarv: Thriving as a Motif in the Literary and Visual Cultures of the Safavids
Mahroo Moosavi, Max-Planck Institute, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz
15:30–15:45 | Break
15:45–17:00 | Trees in Contemporary Iran
When Roots Remember: The Tree as a Place of Memory in Iran
Sepideh Parsapajouh, CNRS-CéSor
Dissemination or Pruning: The Figure of the Tree in the Novels of Shahrnoush Pârsipour and
Nasim Marashi
Julie Duvigneau, INALCO
17:00–18:00 | Keynote Lecture
Blossoms on Fire, Branches of Wisdom, and Trunks of Desire: Trees and the Human Condition
in Medieval Persian Poetry
Domenico Ingenito, UCLA
18:00–18:15 questions
18:15-18:30: Conclusion
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Private Visit to the Ariana Museum and its Persian Collection (for speakers only)
- Free Entrance -
University of Geneva
Bd des Philosophes, 22
Salle 211RAVAIL
