Cultured Pallets

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Cultured Pallets: Aga Khan Museum by Canadian-Iranian artist Soheila Esfahani is comprised of more than 100 shipping pallets. Esfahani transforms these everyday objects, often used as platforms to transport goods and materials, to capture the feeling of in-betweenness — a space where those experiencing migration often find themselves negotiating identities and cultures.

Symbols of Transition

Inspired by a 15th-century wooden door from the Aga Khan Museum Collections, Esfahani uses the geometric pattern as a metaphor for the ongoing dialogue between cultures. Each pallet is laser-etched in a process that takes approximately 700 hours to complete across the entire installation, then hand-painted, bringing the intricate pattern to life.

Make sure to interact with the installation by shifting your perspective. Look down from the second-floor Temporary Exhibitions Gallery to uncover another layer of design painted on the top of the pallets.

Double Door, Iran, 1487–1488/AH 892, AKM707. ©Aga Khan Museum

Photo by: Aly Manji

Carriers of Culture

Following the exhibition, the ornate pallets will return to circulation, resuming their roles in a permanent state of transition between people and places — metaphorically representing the process by which cultures can be transferred and transformed.

About the Artist

Soheila Esfahani

Curated by

Bita Pourvash

Learn about Bita Pourvash

Bita Pourvash

Bita Pourvash is a Curator at the Aga Khan Museum. Since joining in 2012, she has been involved in numerous exhibitions and curatorial projects, including co-curating Light: Visionary Perspectives (2024), Transforming Traditions: The Arts of 19th-century Iran (2018) and curating contemporary installations Cultured Pallets (2023) and Faig Ahmed: Dissolving Order (2019). In her role, Bita researches the Museum Collections, working closely on the biannual themed installations in the Gallery. She has contributed to several exhibition catalogues and delivered lectures on the Museum’s collection. Prior to joining the Museum, she worked as a researcher at the Royal Ontario Museum and as a lecturer at York University, Semnan University, and the Higher Education Center for Iranian Heritage.

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