Bahar Behbahani's 'Damask Rose' Transforms Governors Island Fountains

On May 16, 2026, artist Bahar Behbahani reimagined three shallow fountains on Governors Island into a Persian garden for her event titled 'Damask Rose: A Gathering,' part of the annual 'Interventions' series organized by Governors Island Arts. Collaborating with curator Juan Pablo Siles, Behbahani brought together more than two dozen community organizations, including Asia Contemporary Art Forum, Pardis for Children, and Eat Offbeat, for a four-hour celebration featuring West African music, Kurdish poetry, cyanotype workshops, and Persian delicacies. Antique carpets adorned the pools, while crocheted canopies crafted by her mother Shamsy and friends in Tehran offered shade. These canopies, made during turbulent times in Iran, were sent in pieces and assembled in New York by volunteers. Behbahani remarked that the gathering was 'not an art event' but rather 'the way that we live,' highlighting the Persian garden as a 'technology of care' for fostering coexistence. The event also featured a 'dream-weaving' session by ArtEast, which included a circular chessboard without fixed teams, discussions on memory mapping, and ancestral language. Participants engaged in weaving orange yarn and creating wreaths from rose petals.