Ziba Rajabi, “Kotal” (2026), acrylic on muslin, thread, wire, mirrors, cushions, turf carpet/Photo courtesy of Minneapolis Institute of Art

Visitors to Ziba Rajabi’s “Belly Laugh at a Funeral” are invited to lie inside a nest for mourning as singer Aida Shahghasemi’s voice fills the gallery. The immersive installation anchors an exhibition of luminous textiles and tempera paintings that draws on Persian traditions of grief to contemplate loss, healing and renewal. The exhibition is on view at the Minneapolis Institute of Art through October 25.

The show, part of MIA’s Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program, draws on ancient literature and Persian grief practices to reflect on recent events that have shaped Minneapolis. In the wake of COVID-19 and the racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd, Rajabi’s work creates a place of stillness and solace. It also offers room for honoring the violent chaos of Operation Metro Surge, when federal immigration agents swarmed Minnesota, as well as the suffering caused by war and violence across the globe.

In “Tulip and the Ambassador” (2025), located in the first room of the exhibition, Rajabi appliqués a tulip, a red droplet and a distorted skull over swirling pastel acrylic paint on muslin. While the teardrop and skull call to mind death and grief, the tulip bears symbolic importance in both Iranian and British traditions, signifying memory and rebirth. These symbols repeat in other works: “Untitled V (Study of stitches)” (2025) evokes a red teardrop at the base of the horizon line, its shape radiating across the ground. Meanwhile, the egg tempera painting on wood panel, “Veil of Veronica (after Francisco de Zurbarán)” (2025), channels Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán’s depiction of Veronica wiping the face of Jesus, whose image remained on the cloth. In Rajabi’s version, a sacrificial tulip replaces Christ’s face as the central image.

Ziba Rajabi, “Tulip and the Ambassador” (2025), acrylic on muslin, thread, 70 x 60 in./Courtesy of the artist and Minneapolis Institute of Art

Rajabi’s startling “Return of Hope” (2025), made with acrylic on muslin, thread and appliqué, exemplifies her balance of healing imagery with the macabre. Amid a chaotic field of dyed fabric, the artist stitches a lily of the valley featuring skulls instead of flower heads. The work reminds viewers of the ever-present nature of death, even as it points to the rebirth inherent in life.

The first room of the exhibition also presents a book created by Rajabi that serves as a compilation of her research into the concepts used in the show. A core focus of the book is the ancient story of Siyâvash, a late-tenth- to early-eleventh-century legendary figure of pure heart who was wronged and ultimately murdered. His narrative forms the mythological root of Soog-e Siavash (the lament for Siavash), a tradition of epic mourning that Rajabi translates into a modern framework for civic healing and peace.

In the exhibition’s most recent work, “Kotal” (2026), visitors are invited to sit or lie on a turf-covered floor with cushions. Above, Rajabi hangs a series of cylindrical mourning flags used in ritual ceremonies across the Iranian Plateau. At the base of each flag, a mirror faces downward, heightening the experience of being inside the immersive artwork. As Aida Shahghasemi’s music wafts through the room, Rajabi gives visitors permission to find comfort in their grief, letting it drop into the floor beneath them and float into the sky.

“Ziba Rajabi: Belly Laugh at a Funeral” at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2400 3rd Avenue S, Minneapolis, Minnesota, through October 25.