Mariam Tafsiri
Mariam Tafsiri is a British-Iranian illustrator and artist from London. Her work takes inspiration from Qajar art, Persian miniature paintings and Islamic design to create colourful and whimsical modern compositions. Her interest in Qajar art developed at an early age, drawn to the unibrowed women who represented a very different concept of beauty to that regularly portrayed in popular media. She has previously collaborated with companies such as Apple, Kiehl’s and Barbican, including creating Instagram’s first ever stickers to celebrate Nowruz. She will be selling art prints, zines and bookmarks. To learn more about Mariam, please visit her Instagram.
Yaran Women's Club
Yaran Women's Club is a registered charity which provides support to women who suffer from mental health problems. Although Yaran is an inclusive charity which welcomes women from all backgrounds, most of their members are Iranian women. They run activities like yoga and pottery in their club, and in addition to their stall, we are delighted to exhibit paintings and artificial flowers crafted by Yaran Women's Club members in the Courtyard as part of our Nowruz Cultural Festival. To learn more about the Yaran Women's Club, please visit their Instagram or their website using the button below.
ZAR Jewellery
Established in 2023 by Zohreah Azarnoosh, ZAR Jewellery draws its name from the English translation of "Zar" signifying gold, wealth or preciousness. Rooted in founder's Persian heritage, our pieces blend inspiration from the rich culture, the awe-inspiring nature and the contemporary minimalism of modern life. Through our timeless and unique creations, crafted responsibly in London, UK, we aspire to instil a sense of wonder about the often overlooked treasures in our world, fostering a connection between western and eastern culture. Zohreah will be be presenting silver jewellery, including rings, earrings, and bracelets, inspired by Persian culture and the beauty of nature all around us. To learn more about ZAR Jewellery, please visit Zohreah's Instagram or her website using the button below.
Nogaam Publishing
Nogaam Publishing, founded in 2012 in London, is an independent award-winning publisher. They publish Persian fiction, non-fiction and multilingual children books. At their 2024 stall, they will offer fiction, non-fiction, bilingual children books and classic poetry books including Hafez and Khayyam, as well as seasonal greeting cards for Nowruz, spring and the Persian new year. For more information about Nogaam, please visit their Instagram or their website using the button below.
CaspianCrew
Celebrate your Style and embrace Persian heritage with CaspianCrew's Iranian-inspired streetwear. They will be bringing t-shirts and caps - don't miss out!
To learn more about CaspianCrew, please visit their Instagram.
Mitra Freeman Art
Mitra is an Iranian / Welsh artist born in the UK and raised in Iran. Her work is inspired by Iranian art, culture and nostalgia. Focusing on vibrant Iranian colours and symbolism, she brings cultural motifs to life. Her work encompasses traditional embroidery, Lino art and mixed media, mainly reusing and recycling found objects and creating art from them. Living away from each of her homes at one point in her life, she likes to emphasise the importance of taking our culture with us where ever we go. She believes that surrounding ourselves in our culture acts as a form of essential self care . Her work strives to bring a corner of Iran to people living in the absence of home. Mitra will be bringing hand stitched earrings, hand stitched pins and badges, Handmade Hoz (Mini water pools ) jewellery holders, Nostalgic Iranian stickers and a handful of fine art pieces of her old Persian doors to the Bazaar.To learn more about Mitra and her creations, please visit her Instagram or her website using the button below.
Razieh Riazati
Razieh was born in Tehran in 1976. Although she pursued a degree in clinical psychology, her passion for the arts was ever-present. Her journey eventually led her to calligraphy, igniting an enduring fascination with this expressive art form. "Calligraphy feels like a harmonious dance between structure and creativity. Every brushstroke, like words on a canvas, holds boundless meaning." Razieh's works are deeply inspired by the poetry of Victor Hugo, Hafez, Rumi, Saadi, and Sohrab Sepehri. Her paintings spontaneously emerge from this poetic influence, using vibrant acrylic and oil colours to capture profound philosophical themes. She eventually founded Raaz Art, a brand with a name that blends her own name and the Farsi word for "mystery," symbolizing the enigmatic beauty inherent in her creations. Alongside her work in the Upper Gallery, Razieh will be bringing her pottery to the Bazaar. To learn more about Razieh and her work, please visit her Instagram.
Tahmineh Palizdar
Tahmineh’s work is a vibrant, youthful expression of Persian calligraphy, characterized by bold colours and dynamic forms. Trained from a young age under the guidance of her father, Saeed, she has built upon traditional techniques to create her own distinctive approach. By blending modern sensibilities with classical forms, she brings a playful and experimental element to the art. Through the use of vivid colours, her pieces convey a sense of energy and movement, while still honouring the grace of Persian script. Tahmineh’s work seeks to connect the rich heritage of calligraphy with a contemporary perspective, offering a fresh interpretation that resonates with today’s audience. To learn more about Tahmineh, please visit her Instagram.
Mehrdad Aref-Adib
Mehrdad is an Iranian-born, London-based fine artist and illustrator, Mehrdad’s work captures the essence of his dual heritage, weaving together nostalgia, culture, and art with humour. Mehrdad is an important part of the Lauderdale House family and is for the second year curating our entire Nowruz Festival. Mehrdad will be bringing his prints and greeting cards to the Bazaar. To learn more about Mehrdad and his work, please visit his Instagram.
Sahar Haghgoo
Sahar is an illustrator and painter originally from Iran and now based in London. Her work explores the concepts of beauty and the sublime, focusing on the interplay between these two ideas. Sahar examines how beauty can evoke pleasure and satisfaction, while the sublime inspired feelings of awe, respect, and even fear. It seems that by drawing and visualizing monsters, Sahar discovers unknown parts of herself, and by shaping them, she also shapes her own existence and nature. Her work is deeply connected to the aesthetics of nature, exploring themes of monsters in nature, the unknown, change and transformation, and the destruction of beauty. Sahar is particularly interested in exploring this contrast through themes of size and proportion, familiarity and unfamiliarity, and the emotional responses they elicit. She often work with different techniques to capture these nuances and create pieces that invite viewers to consider the complex relationship between these seemingly opposing forces. To learn more about Sahar and her work, please visit her website using the button below or her Instagram.
Sahar Khaleghi
Sahar is an Iranian artist now based in London. Her art passionately addresses the pressing concerns of her homeland. Sahar’s works have been exhibited in numerous countries around the world, including the UK, Germany, Estonia, Greece, and China. In 2018, Sahar was honoured with the Special Award at the International Gold Panda Cartoon and Illustration competition in China. Recently, her art featured prominently at the 52nd Belgrade Golden Pen Illustration Festival exhibition! and has gained recognition in several international magazines. Having grown up as a young woman in Iran, Sahar has choosen to weave modern and historical influences into her art, aiming to illuminate the experiences of women across cultures. Through her creations, Sahar seeks to convey powerful narratives that transcend borders, speaking to the challenges and triumphs of women worldwide. To learn more about Sahar and her work, please visit her website, her Instagram or her Facebook page.
Shokoufeh Fallah
Shokoufeh is a London-based Iranian Printmaker. While drawing and painting are important parts of her practice, printmaking holds a special place in Shokoufeh’s work thanks to its exquisite texture, its relation to fertility and birth, and the way the tools allow her to reach a world fraught with expressive colours, lines and textures. Shokoufeh is influenced by various themes, from that of womanhood and eroticism, which are ingrained with expressive colours and create intense, two-fold, intermingled spaces, to the reciprocity of life and death, which is accompanied with elements like fish, birds and trees taking away their freedom through rigid lines entangling them. Humans, forms and colours of her works are accompanied with a sort of embroilment, along with a sizzling rhythm which catapults Shokoufeh out from her inner world together with a cultural nostalgia, allowing her to conceive the persistence of life in the outer world through clinging the colours and forms. To learn more about Shokoufeh and her work, please visit her website using the button below.
Farkhondeh Ahmadzadeh
Farkhondeh Ahmadzadeh is an Iranian artist based in London. Her work explores the disciplines of Persian poetry manuscripts, sacred geometry and Persian miniatures. She has lived a rich and adventurous life and has worked both as an academic and artist in Iran, America and Europe. For the last 20 years, Farkhondeh has regularly spent time living and studying under calligraphy masters in Iran. She was awarded the Jerwood prize in 2011 for Islamic traditional art and continues to teach Islamic manuscript and Persian miniature at the Princes School of Traditional Art. Her body of work on Haft Paykar, the epic poem of Nizami has been exhibited in London in 2016 and in Scotland in 2017. Her painting showing the stages of Reza Abbasi’s “ seated man” is on permanent display at Albukary gallery, British Museum. Farkhondeh will be bringing prints of her paintings - to learn more about Farkhondeh and her work, please visit her website using the button below.
Sean Naghibi
Sean is a London based web/graphic designer and print specialist who runs a small digital design outfit “Today Design”, with particular interest in history and advertising. He is the curator of 'Souvenirs From The Past', a diverse array of advertisements that graced Iranian media over five transformative decades. From the dawn of modern advertising in the late 1920s, covering 50 years until the late 1970s. This collection highlights the evolution of marketing strategies, artistic trends, and cultural narratives that defined a nation. To learn more about Sean and his book, please visit his website using the button below.
ShiwarCrafts
ShiwarCrafts is a business dedicated to showcasing and selling hand-embroidered products made by Baloch women. Their collection includes jewellery, bags, ties, and other accessories, all featuring the intricate and traditional embroidery of Balochistan. What makes ShiwarCrafts special is that 100% of the sales and profits go directly to the artisans, without any intermediaries. Their mission is to support Baloch women by providing them with a sustainable income while promoting their rich artistic heritage. At this Nowruz Exhibition, they will be offering a variety of hand-embroidered jewellery and accessories. To learn more, please visit ShiwarCrafts' Instagram.
SaharzDesign
Sahar designs and makes contemporary Persian-inspired jewellery, all handmade in her home studio in North London. Each piece is inspired by Persian calligraphy, art, and architecture, making them very unique and special. She will have a selection of Persian-inspired handmade polymer clay jewellery for both adults and children as well as some Nowruz greeting cards available. To learn more about Sahar and her work, please visit her Instagram or her website using the button below.
Bereket Food
Bereket is a food business that specialises in the Turkmen cuisine, from Central Asia. Since they started their business, Bereket have been very successful in pop-ups, supper clubs and cookery classes. They were even mentioned in The Guardian as “delightful” by Jay Rayner. Bereket will bringing a number of delicious treats to our Bazaar, including Gutap (Turkmen pastry with spinach and cheese), Medovik (honey cake), banana cake, Turkmen herbal tea and homemade preserves such as aubergine chutney and hot sauce. To learn more about Bereket, please visit their Instagram page using the button below.
Dirineh_art
Dirineh_art is the creation of Zahra Karami, who has been working in the fields of miniatures (Iranian painting), reverse glass painting, enamelling, and art restoration for about 25 years. Come and check out Zahra's beautiful enamelled jewellery on copper and silver. To learn more about Zahra and Dirineh_art, please visit her Instagram page using the button below.
Afghanistan and Central Asian Association
The Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (ACAA) is an award-winning charity based in Hounslow dedicated to the integration and empowerment of refugees and asylum seekers, with a heightened focus on the diaspora from Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries. They will highlight ACAA's work with the community, including through the celebration of Nowruz, at our Bazaar. They will also set out a Nowruz table with key features representing Nowruz in Afghanistan, selling saffron tea and Afghan sweets like gosh-e-fil.
To learn more about the ACAA and their work, please visit their website using the button below or check our their Facebook page, their LinkedIn or their Instagram page.
Farin Pottery
Farin Pottery brings you lovingly hand-built ceramics by full-time journalist and passionate potter Farin Assemi. Joining us on Saturday 15 March, Farin will have some Haftsin sets, candle holders and practical pieces. To learn more about Farin Pottery, please visit Farin's Etsy page using the button below or check our her Instagram page.
Alef Books
Alef Books is a newly launched online bookstore based in London, dedicated to providing high-quality Persian children’s books. Their mission is to make culturally rich and educational books easily accessible to Persian-speaking children, fostering a love for reading while preserving their linguistic and cultural heritage. At the Nowruz Bazaar, Alef Books will showcase a carefully curated selection of beautifully written and illustrated books in Persian, bilingual English-Persian titles, and English translations of Persian children's books. Whether you're looking for a meaningful Nowruz gift or for a way to introduce your child to the Persian language, you'll find inspiring and high-quality books at their stall. To learn more about Alef Books, please visit their website using the button below or check our their Instagram page.
