Hejleh is bridal chamber, a room prepared and decorated by the family of the bride and groom with colorful glass, mirror, and textile for the newly-wed to spend their first night in. It has its own place in the Iranian lore and can be found in such classic works as Ferdowsi's epic Shahnameh ("The Book of Kings," c. 1000 AD) and Nezami Ganjavi's Khosrow o Shirin ("Khosrow and Shirin," c. 1177 AD). It also appears in many miniature paintings of scenes of festivity and merriment.

Such chambers are still used in the Iranian plateau for wedding ceremonies; however, beginning with the Safavid era (1501-1722) and especially after the reign of the Qajar king Nasir al-Din Shah (1848-1896), it became customary to commemorate the young martyrs of Karbala by constructing small-scale, hexagonal or octagonal, structures that resembled hejleh -- supposedly lamenting the fact that the young martyr was never able to see his bridal chamber.

Today, hejlehs are erected when a young person passes away unexpectedly. These elaborate shrine-like constructs can be seen standing outside a house where mourning ceremonies for the death of a young man is convened. Passers by will immediately realize that a tragedy, whether in an accident or in battlefield, has befallen and they are invited to commiserate with the family of the young person.

Monir Shahroudi Farmanfarmaian's hejleh is an emotional response as well as a commemorative piece dedicated to those whom the artist feels indebted to. Among them are painters Hossein Qollar Aghasi and Mohammad Modabber, poets Sohrab Sepehri, Forough Farrokhzad, Nima Yushi, and Mehdi Akhavan Salles, the artist's long time companion and late husband Abolbashar Farmanfarmaian, and a physician kin, Sabar Farmanfarmaian, who brought modern medicine to Iran.

With all its beauty and peace, Monir Shahroudi Farmanfarmaian's hejleh uses a public art practice, with its long-standing history and its dynamic regime of meaning, to picture her conception of paradise.

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