The Lions & Their Tamer

Quest for Love, Immortality and Truth

Lions have always been attached to Persian symbols and artworks.  A review of Parviz Tanavoli’s life, whose sculptures are presented in famous museums such as Metropolitan and British Museum, will help us discover the mystery of Persian Lions.
In every human heart, there exists a lion. In some, this inner lion is sleeping and won’t be awake, but in others the lion is wide awake and alert and leads the heart to the journey of love. In fact, all around the world, it is believed that this love and quest is clenched between the lion’s teeth. It’s where growth and flourishing happens and the truth is born. Parviz Tanavoli is undoubtedly one of those whose inner lion is awake and roams the endless plains of art, passing through the darkest and most insecure situations and has achieved great mastery. He has dug his hand in Iran’s earth and pulled out beauty and significance out of its depth. He is the one who has traveled to the mountains and plains and preserved mythology. A presentation of his many various works on Persian lions and their historical influence in the art of Iran made me want to share a quick preview of this legendary creature and its artist tamer!

Parviz Tanavoli was born in 1937 in Tehran. He studied sculpture in Iran and Italy and has been living and working in Tehran and Vancouver since 1989. He is a pioneer in modern sculpture and his works are in the permanent collection of The British Museum, Metropolitan Museum in New York, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, Museum of Contemporary Art in Vienna, Tate Modern in London and numerous other galleries around the world. To start working as a sculptor, he was greatly influenced by Persepolis bas-reliefs and also Farhad, a famous character in Persian literature who carved the side of Bisotun Mountain for his beloved Shirin. Soon after, other motifs appeared in his works including the nightingale, the poet, the Persian word “heech” (nothing), the entwined lovers and the lions. But none of them has revealed Tanavoli’s layered personality and cultural valour as the last one: the lions.

The victorious lion, the “king”, the symbol of the sun which has existed in Iran for almost 5,000years before its extinction, has had such a significant role that Iran was known as the country of lions for many years …

Written by: Sara Asadi (Tourist guide and researcher)

Order full article online here on Gilgamesh Heritage & Tourism Magazine.