This Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, an East London exhibition is bringing people together around food, memory, and collective care. Curated by Iranian-American writer Anna Ansari, Nowruz: Memory, Migration, and the Shared Table explores how the rituals of cooking and sharing meals carry stories of diaspora, grief, and resilience.
Through a series of food-led conversations, chefs, writers, and activists gather to reflect on what it means to mark the Persian New Year at a time of uncertainty for many Iranians worldwide. “Food and gathering have long been ways to process memory, grief and solidarity,” says Ansari, whose work often sits at the intersection of culture and cuisine.
More than an exhibition, the project is also a fundraiser supporting trauma-healing programmes for Iranians globally, offering a space where community, storytelling, and support come together – at the shared table.
EVENT DETAILS
Nowruz: Memory, Migration, and the Shared Table
When? 24–30 March
Where? Three Rooms Gallery, 74 Beulah Road, London E17 9LE
24 March | 5:30–8pm
Opening Reception
25 March | 6–8pm
Memory, Food and Meaning: Iranian Diasporic Perspectives on Nowruz, Identity and Beyond
Conversation with Anna Ansari and Hannah Harley Young
£15 suggested donation
28 March | 3–5pm
Cooking for Syria, Ukraine & Iran: How Sharing Food Builds Awareness and Solidarity
Conversation with Imad Alarnab, Anna Ansari and Felicity Spector
£15 suggested donation
29 March | 12–2pm
Nowruz Solidarity Kitchen
A communal soup and stew lunch with Anna Ansari, Irina Janakievska, Alissa Timoshkina and Uyen Luu
£15 suggested donation