Parviz Tanavoli

Parviz Tanavoli, born in Tehran in 1937, develops sculpture informed by poetry, calligraphy and Iranian folk arts. Trained in Iran and Italy, he helped establish the Saqqakhaneh movement in the 1960s. His bronzes give material presence to poets and lovers while bringing cultural traditions into dialogue with the possibilities of modern sculpture. They explore how literary ideas can acquire a body and occupy space.

The Heech series transforms the Persian word for nothing into a supple form, sometimes seated or associated with a cage. A written sign becomes volume, character and philosophical question. This investigation connects with Rumi's mystical poetry and Sufi thought. For Tanavoli, emptiness therefore implies more than absence: it opens a space for invention, where humour, desire and reflection on existence can meet.