Throughout last year, artists Yalda Yazdani and Christoph Wieland, curated and presented the Qashqai Female Voices project, an exhibition and accompanying programme of events designed to highlight the cultural heritage of Qashqai women in southwest Iran.

The project follows on from the HerMaP Iran programme which ran from 2019-2023.  Coordinated by HERITΛGE in partnership with the Goethe-Institut (Germany) and the Centre for Fine Arts Brussels – Bozar  and co-funded by the European Commission, the multiphase programme aimed to promote tangible and intangible cultural heritage in Iran.

Based in different locations in Germany, the project bought together European and Iranian artists to highlight the rich tradition of this increasingly marginalised group of women. Qashqai women have preserved and passed on their culture through their songs which not only tell their stories but also accompany their everyday endeavours such as carpet weaving.

“The voices of Qashqai women resonate with the patterns they weave into their carpets—deep, timeless, and full of stories. Each song carries the weight of their life journeys across vast landscapes, reflections on love, loss, and resilience. Through their music, like their weaving, they preserve history, resist silence, and shape the identity of generations. These voices must not fade; they deserve to be heard, honored, and felt,” said artist Yalda Yazdan who was part of  our Iran programme and along with Christoph Wieland created the Algorythms of Beauty Project.

The programme encouraged children and adults to engage with these stories utilising a combination of workshops, concerts, exhibitions and lectures, whilst presenting the interplay between the Qashqai’s unique musical culture and traditional crafts.

Institutions including the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum in Cologne hosted the project and using a traditional nomadic tent as a stage, welcomed people from all over Germany including those from the Qashqai, and more widely Iranian, diaspora.

Read more about our HerMap Art Projects here.

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