Persian Bakhtiari (Chahar Mahal) – 13’4″ x 10’8″

Creative Expressions of an Old Community

The Bakhtiari people of southwest Persia experienced an almost complete transformation of their way of life in the twentieth century. They began as a mainly nomadic tribal group moving with their sheep between summer and winter grazing areas, a difficult migration in the Zagros Mountains that is memorably recalled in the classic documentary film Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life (1925).

In present times, only a small proportion of the Bakhtiari still live a comparable migratory life with some changes. Their animals now travel more often in the relative comfort of modern trucks. Contemporary migrants no longer walk great distances through snow-covered mountain passes.

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