WEAVERS, MERCHANTS, and KINGS

(8 September 2022 - 22 January 2023)

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Weavers, Merchants, and Kings was a dedicated exhibition in honour of lifetime contribution of Jacques Cadry (1910-2003) the founder of Cadrys to the arts, crafts and culture of his motherland, Persia (Iran). Coincided with the 70th anniversary of Cadrys business in Australia, this small-scale exhibition covered fourteen objects. The majority of which were on loan from the Cadry family, and were accompanied by several other objects from the Powerhouse Museum’s Persian collection. 

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My main curatorial strategy in this exhibition was based on migration, the immigrants from Iran between 1930s and 1950s "and migrant objects, the Persian collections that they brought with them to Australia". 

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The main idea of the exhibition started in 2021 when I was invited to the Cadrys showroom in Sydney to look at a 19th century Persian royal Dorokhsh carpet. It was a unique moment for Robert Cadry (general manager of Cadrys), Jared Cadry (manager of Cadrys Sydney showroom) and myself to look at this unique Persian artwork together. After lengthy observations and examinations of the monumental hand-woven carpet, we concluded with the necessity of further investigations in terms of the carpet’s provenance and historical background.

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Knowing the fact that Jacques Cadry was one of the supporters of Powerhouse Museum by the donation of Persian objects to the museum’s collection since 1960s and the continuation of this generosity by Robert Cadry since 1980s, I proposed to the museum the idea of organising an exhibition on the occasion of Cadry’s 70th anniversary, where the Persian royal Dorokhsh carpet would be showcased and be accompanied by some of the museum objects that are thematically connected to the Cadrys’ narratives. 

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After the approval of my proposal, three galleries were dedicated to the exhibition. A major gallery to install the main object of the exhibition, the Persian Dorokhsh carpet, followed by the second gallery where we installed five objects in two long horizontal showcases. And in the last gallery we installed six other objects in three showcases ending with a documentary film projection on a big screen where visitors could watch part of my curatorial interview with Robert Cadry about the life of his father, Jacques Cadry.