Monthly media and arts column

When news headlines flash across our papers and TV screens, they are generally dominated by political activity and human tragedy.

Representations of countries as political hot-spots or needy victims can shape our assumptions about them to the extent that we forget about the cultural and artistic expressions of the people who live there.

Iran and Turkey are two countries that will be in the headlines over the coming year for political reasons. George W. Bush stated in his State of the Union address that Iran needs significant international pressure to halt its plans for nuclear development and Turkey's long-fought for chance to join the EU will soon be discussed in Ankara.

Yet both countries have a huge wealth of artistic history that contributes to their national identity today. Their roles in the Middle East may be at the heart of their prominence in the headlines, but the cultural artefacts of Turkey and Iran contain fascinating insights into the modern lives of their peoples.

Less faith, more design

The much-publicised 'Turks' exhibition at the Royal Academy in London this spring (on until April 12) is about trying to understand Turkish culture, and the story of Turkic-speaking peoples across a thousand years from 600-1600 AD. It demonstrates that modern Turkey is a historical melting pot of many dynasties, religions and peoples whose sphere of influence has stretched from Algeria to China. As the critic, Waldemar Januszczak, said in his article in the Sunday Times, the Turks were not only Muslim but also originally, 'Christians, Buddhists, Jews ... pagans, shamanists [and] nomadic animists.' The dominant theme of the show is less about faith and more about design. Immense photos of Uzbek mosques flood the first gallery with tiled blues, greens and yellows. Carpets, vases, armour and a pair of immense iron doors are covered with complicated patterns. The drawings of the mysterious Mohammed of the Black Pen leap across the page in the forms of mischievous demons and lazy shepherds. Books of Persian poetry are intricately illustrated with gold leafed detail. The overwhelming impression is of lively creativity and exuberant flair in artistry rather than any insistence on Islamic influence.

The experience of visiting the RA would suggest that this exhibition is not simply about modern European politics. There is just too much here that escapes neat categorisation.

Iranian creativity

The Islamic Republic of Iran does not get much coverage in the British press as a culture with a history of intense creativity and artistry. Yet their poets are so revered and ingrained in the mindset of the modern Iranian that the sensual beauty and licentious behaviour of their heroes passes without rebuke from the clerics. Many zealot admirers of the 14th-century poet Hafiz get past this by insisting that by 'wine' he meant devotion, 'sleep' as meditation, 'beauty' the perfection of the supreme being, and 'mirth' and 'inebriety' meant religious ardour. But this may be stretching it too far. At the tea-house in the gardens of the tomb of the poet Hafeez ay Shiraz, old men with long white beards in alcoves still instruct young devotees in the meanings and traditions of the writings.

As the headlines flash with news of heavy water reactors and Bush's state of the union intentions, remember too that the Persian kings of the books of Daniel and Esther had their winter palace at Persepholis, in the southern part of Iran. The ancient bas-relief and architecture within these beautiful ruins reminds the visitor of the diversity of the history that underlies modern politics today.

Concerns of women

If you want to look for a more modern representation of Muslims behind the politics, watch the film '10' (2002) by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami (not to be confused with the Bo Derek title!). A female taxi driver spends the day ferrying friends, relatives and other women around Tehran, discussing some superficial and some intensely personal matters with them. A picture is built up of the concerns and feelings that the women have about their lives, yet there are some surprising revelations along the way. They don't moan about the regime under which they live, but have plenty to say about unfaithful men. One woman shaves her head (undetected under her headscarf) out of the desperation of being in love with a man who doesn't want to marry her. A prostitute laughs drunkenly about the married men that she sleeps with and the driver herself insists to her eight-year-old son that she needed to divorce his father so that she could have more independence. This picture of Iranian life is far more in keeping with the thoughts and concerns of British women than we might at first think.

No stereotypes

We need to avoid stereotypes and misrepresentations of other cultures that headline reporting may lead us to adopt. It is important to read between the headlines and to observe cultures in action beyond the machinations of the politicians.

Art behind the headlines in Turkey and Iran

Less faith, more design

Iranian creativity

Concerns of women

No stereotypes

Eleanor Margesson

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