Epic Iran, V&A

Describing Iran's cultural history as 'epic' wouldn't risk hyperbole. It's a country known for producing ornate carpets teeming with flora and fauna, illuminated manuscripts, scintillating metalwork, and dazzling ceramics and, indeed, the world's longest epic poem. This grand prefix features in the title of the V&A's new exhibition and is certainly fitting for the monumental offering it promises.

Epic Iran explores 5,000 years of art, design, and culture through 300 objects, ancient to contemporary, in what will be the first major exhibition of Iranian art since a 1931 survey at the Royal Academy. Visitors are able to discover Persian, Islamic, and modern Iranian culture through a diverse range of mediums including sculpture, textiles, photography, and film. Loans from renowned private collections such as the Sarikhani Collection also furnish the exhibition with stunning rarities.

With Epic Iran, the V&A hopes to 'offer a fresh perspective on a country that is so often seen through a different lens in the news', showing how a rich survey of the past can pave the way for new cross-cultural dialogues. This alone deserves the title of 'epic'.