A 400-year-old country house in Highgate is hosting its third annual Iranian Nowruz festival.
Lauderdale House is hosting a three-week series of exhibitions, events and guest talks to celebrate the ancient Iranian new-year festival centred on the spring-equinox, which falls this year on Friday 20 March.
A time of hope and reflection, this year’s Nowruz comes at a particularly resonant time amidst the unfolding war and unrest inside Iran and the wider region.
Describing the festival, local artist and writer Mehrdad Aref-Adib, who is returning to curate the Nowruz exhibition at Lauderdale House, said: “It’s like having Christmas, Easter, and all the other good bits altogether in two weeks. It brings us together.”
Aref-Adib has lived in London for more than forty years after he sought political refuge in the UK following Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, which saw the installation of a hardline theocratic regime which remains in power to this day.
He said: “It’s home, though. At the same time, Iran is home too. You have to deal with it and it’s sometimes difficult, especially at periods like this, because you get worried.”
Tens of thousands of people are thought to have been killed in violent crack downs against protesters in Iran earlier in January, and the country has now entered it’s third week of a large-scale war commenced by the United States and Israel.
Aref-Adib said some had suggested this year that the Nowruz festivities at Lauderdale House, which feature young Iranian artists and talks from key speakers on Persian arts and culture, should be cancelled given the ongoing tragedy in Iran, but that the team had ultimately decided to press-ahead.
“It’s a sharing time, and it’s a time and place for community to come together,” he said.
“Another thing is that Nowruz is for the kids as well. We don’t want them to go through mourning or anxiety. I think it’s good to keep kids, kids. The fact that there’s a community all celebrating is actually giving them something to look forward to.”
This year Lauderdale House has worked with artists to put on a special ‘Haft-sin trail’ blending Nowruz tradition with the British easter-egg hunt, for children to enjoy in the palatial gardens of the House.
Aref-Adib said: “Lots of Iranians come here because it makes them think of a Persian garden – it’s paradise. The word comes from “pardis”, which means walled garden in the Persian language. People do love the fact that it has got beautiful walled gardens. It’s just a sanctuary.”
The exhibition will also see various special events including a Persian-inspired Jazz-night, and talks by various authors discussing the future of Iran.
Ongoing exhibitions feature contemporary artwork by five UK based Iranian artists, as well as an exhibition of Mehrdad’s own print-work inspired by his tumultuous youth and flight from his homeland.
Katherine Ives, director of Lauderdale House, said the events are about creating a place of refuge.
“What we’re trying to do with the festival is create very much a safe place for people to come and step outside their concerns,” she said.
“It is a cultural celebration, and Nowruz is very much about bringing people together.
“We’re asking people to put their worries aside for an hour and to come find some solace, enjoyment and creativity.”
But the weight of the ongoing tragedy in Iran cannot be avoided by many with connections to the country including Aref-Adib.
He said he had spent 12 years developing a close relationship with a young Iranian tour guide at Golestan Palace, which has been damaged in the latest strikes.
“I can’t get hold of him now, he’s like my son, you know? It’s just horrible. So we have to balance the grief and anxieties that we have at the moment with celebration,” he said.
“It’s one of the ways we find strength to go on.”
Featured image credit: Ned Robinson
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