مجلس Majles / Sitting Room is a site-specific, multi-dimensional mural commissioned for the inaugural Step-Up Series at The Bentway. Transforming the West Block staircases, the work draws on archival images of Persian rugs and the luminous blues of lapis lazuli to create a dynamic collage of pattern, memory, and movement.

Across Iranian cultures and diasporas, rugs are more than decorative objects, they are spaces for gathering, sharing meals, storytelling, prayer, and everyday life. Carried across generations, they hold cultural memory within their woven threads and become architectures of connection.

The title, Majles, refers to a gathering place. Traditionally organized around people rather than objects, the majles encourages conversation, exchange, and collective presence without hierarchy. Reimagining West Block as an urban sitting room, the mural invites visitors to pause, gather, and create new connections within the city.

Rendered in ultramarine, a pigment historically derived from lapis lazuli and traded across continents. The work also reflects histories of migration, cultural exchange, and the ways communities continue to reshape ideas of home across time and place.

Majles / Sitting Room was commissioned for The Bentway's inaugural Step-Up Series, curated by The Bentway and presented in partnership with Choice Properties.

Special thanks to
Curator: Megan Kammerer
Producer: Danielle Greer
Fabricator: Beyond Digital Imaging
Graphic Design Consultant: Meredith Sadler