Comrades, I’m stuck working on some university bullshit and thus I am bored. So, let’s shoot the shit. I am an Iranian computer engineering graduate student (have a bsc degree in CompSci) and I have noticed that my country Iran is completely… opaque, so to speak, to even leftist of various denominations from the outside. So, let’s talk comrade to comrade. Ask me shit about the daily soulcrushing grind of life in Iran…
How’s art over there? Persia has such a long and rich history of art. There’s speculation some techniques we attribute to the Renaissance may have originated in the Middle East. Do universities offer degrees in art and art history? Are there painters and sculptors who make a living from their work? How much shit has been stolen by North America and Europe vs. stuff that gets loaned out on tour?
A few years ago I saw some Iranian paintings made around 1200 to 1550 AD at a museum here in the US and was impressed at how well preserved the ink was. 800-year old ink on paper doesn’t usually hold up that well, but the pigments were still incredibly vibrant with little to no cracking.