In his ingenious mixed-media series "Rostam 2 – Return," the Iranian artist Siamak Filizadeh transports the mythical Persian hero Rostam into the context of the present day. Riding a souped-up hybrid vehicle—half horse, half motorcycle—Rostam 2 performs his deeds of valor against the backdrop of twenty-first-century Tehran. Filizadeh has cleverly and seamlessly refashioned this ancient account, enacted across four generations and set amidst tragedy, romance, and heroism, in much the same manner as director Baz Luhrmann modernized Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in the 1996 film version. But in his retelling of this classic Persian tale from the Shahnameh or Book of Kings, the Iranian national epic, Filizadeh bypasses its universalities in favor of more specific social commentary. As with other literary masterpieces, the Shahnameh has an appeal and an elasticity that has allowed successive generations to discover or invent new meanings.
Rostam 2, rendered as a plastic doll with movable arms and upper torso, and carrying an automatic rifle with a martyr-red flower stuck in its barrel, rides Rakhsh through a Persian miniature-style rocky landscape. In the background is the Tehran fast food restaurant—‘Super Star’, with a pair of chador-clad women passing by. Nearby, beneath a tree an ominous figure dressed in a black suit, his back to the viewer, speaks on a cell phone. This is the first of several glimpses of Tehran’s rich urban topography provided by Filzadeh.
