Cartoons disclose Qajar king’s harem

TEHRAN,Sept.15(MNA) – An exhibition of cartoons on women in the harem of the Qajar king Nasser ad-Din Shah (1831-1896) will open at Tehran’s Silk Road Gallery on September 20. A collection of 14 cartoons by Bozorgmehr Hosseinpur, inspired by photos from the Qajar era, will be on display at the exhibit until September 30. “You certainly know that Nasser ad-Din Shah was a strict person and nobody was allowed to enter his harem but himself. Of course, sometimes he permitted photographers to take photos of the women in his harem, but he never let any cartoonist go in there and draw his women in inharmonious forms,” the gallery wrote in its card. “Now imagine that a cartoonist enters the harem, what happens? And it has happened! Bozorgmehr Hosseinpur has gone into the harem without the shah knowing it, and now he intends to exhibit what he has drawn in the harem,” the message continues. The gallery is located at 103 Lavasani St. in the Farmanieh neighborhood.