INTRODUCTION: SETTING THE STAGE / Staci Gem Scheiwiller -- THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOURCE FOR A QAJAR PAINTING / Donna Stein -- CARTOGRAPHIC DESIRES: SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE SHAHR-E FARANG (PEEPSHOW) AND MODERN IRAN / Staci Gem Scheiwill -- TAKKIYEH DOWLAT: THE QAJAR THEATER STATE / Babak Rahimi -- FOR THE LOVE OF HER PEOPLE: AN INTERVIEW WITH FARAH DIBA ABOUT THE PAHLAVI PROGRAMS FOR THE ARTS IN IRAN / Donna Stein -- SHAPING AND PORTRAYING IDENTITY AT THE TEHRAN MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART (1977-2005) / Alisa Eimen -- SEISMIC SHIFTS ACROSS POLITICAL ZONES IN CONTEMPORARY IRANIAN ART: THE POETICS OF KNOWLEDGE, KNOWING AND IDENTITY / Abbas Daneshvari -- PERFORMATIVITY AND RITUAL SPACE IN POSTREVOLUTIONARY TEHRAN / David Simonowitz -- RECLAIMING CULTURAL SPACE: THE ARTIST'S PERFORMATIVITY VERSUS THE STATE'S EXPECTATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY IRAN / Hamid Keshmirshekan -- FEMALE TROUBLE: MELANCHOLIA AND ALLEGORY IN CONTEMPORARY IRANIAN ART / Andrea D. Fitzpatrick -- PERFORMING VISUAL STRATEGIES: REPRESENTATIONAL CONCEPTS OF FEMALE IRANIAN IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO ART / Julia Allerstorfer -- PAINTED AND ANIMATED METAPHORS: AN INTERVIEW WITH ARTIST ALIREZA DARVISH / Mina Zand Siegel and Carmen Pérez González -- IN THE HOUSE OF FATEMEH: REVISITING SHIRIN NESHAT'S PHOTOGRAPHIC SERIES WOMEN OF ALLAH / Staci Gem Scheiwiller.