Des tapis persans that initially seem still, then reveal fragments of silhouettes and motion... With Carpet Museum of Iran, the artist and statistician David Mottahedeh presents a video installation to explore at the Jardin des Rosiers Joseph Migneret, in Paris’s 4th arrondissement, for Nuit Blanche 2026, from Saturday, June 6 to Sunday, June 7, 2026. Free to attend on Saturday from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., this in situ work sits at the heart of the Marais, in a quiet garden where image, memory, and Iranian culture converge.
The project draws on two potent symbols of Iran before the Revolution: the Persian carpet and the female voice. David Mottahedèh bases his work on low-resolution images from the former site of the Iranian Carpet Museum in Tehran, founded in 1978, as well as archival footage of Iranian singers filmed before the Islamic Revolution. Using an algorithm tailored for the piece, the dominant colors from thousands of images are analyzed, then used as digital threads to recompose patterns inspired by carpet motifs.
From a distance, the installation reads as a field of large, almost stationary carpets. Up close, a livelier material emerges: subtle movements, images in circulation, female presences weaving their way into the fabric. The piece hinges on a double gaze, balancing decorative beauty with a fractured memory. A son of Iranian immigrants, David Mottahedèh builds from a heritage he can only reach through traces, images, and digital archives. Born in 1994 in Jerusalem, he holds a degree in mathematics, is pursuing a master's in statistics at Tel Aviv University, and also earned an MFA from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem.
At the Jardin des Rosiers Joseph Migneret, this installation invites a momentary pause in the evening’s journey, especially if you’re weaving through the Marais. That idea of moving from one place to another is exactly at the heart of Nuit Blanche, the free cultural festival that each year invites the public to discover Paris in a new light, with installations, performances, and artistic routes offered in museums, public spaces, or sometimes in unexpectedly intimate settings. For its 2026 edition, the event is steered by Barbara Butch, joined by Marie Gautier, with a program centered on love and collective connection. About 300 artistic projects are announced in Paris, in the Métropole du Grand Paris, and in Le Havre, the partner city for this edition.
At the Jardin des Rosiers Joseph Migneret, Carpet Museum of Iran offers a quieter pause along the night’s route. You can linger for a few minutes, let the patterns draw you in, and gradually uncover what the images convey beneath their poised stillness. A piece to approach calmly, like a surface you observe first, then learn to read.
Carpet Museum of Iran, In-situ Video Installation, 2026
Carpet Museum of Iran is a large-scale video installation that brings together two major cultural traditions from pre-revolution Iran: the Persian carpet and women's singing. Both are present here in a singular, fusion-like form. The work unfolds an evolving tapestry drawn from carpets once housed in the former Carpet Museum of Iran in Tehran, founded in 1978 under the patronage of Farah Pahlavi, which was forced into exile soon after and has since disappeared. As the child of Iranian immigrants, David Mottahedèh does not have direct access to the museum’s collection, except through low‑quality images from its old website.
Using statistical methods, he reconstructs these carpets by replicating the complexity of their knots, which he “weaves” from digital data: fragments of archival video found on YouTube, captured from performances by Iranian female singers filmed before the Islamic Revolution. A specially designed algorithm analyzes thousands of images, extracts the dominant colors, and assembles them into a palette that serves as digital “threads.” The original patterns emerge as moving screens that, from a distance, appear static and crystalline; up close, they reveal a grid of subtle movements where women sing, yet their voices are absent. The work revives a fragmented heritage by reclaiming a collective memory in a present that continues to bear it in silence.
David Mottahedèh (born 1994 in Jerusalem) is an Israeli artist and statistician who grew up shortly after his family fled Iran. He holds a degree in mathematics and is currently pursuing a master’s in statistics at Tel Aviv University. He also holds a Master of Fine Arts from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, where he received the Excellence Award (2024). This project, initially supported by curator and art and architecture scholar Irit Carmon Popper, marks Mottahedèh’s emergence on the international art stage.
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Dates and Opening Time
From June 6, 2026 to June 7, 2026
Location
Jardin des Rosiers - Joseph Migneret
Jardin des Rosiers Joseph Migneret
75004 Paris 4
Access
Saint-Paul metro station (Line 1)
Prices
Free
Official website
www.paris.fr
More information
Installation on view from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
