Stories Within the Walls: A Shangri La Experience with Dr. Mariam Rahmani

Wednesday, July 30, 2025 | 2:30 PM - 5:15 PM

Check in and parking location: Honolulu Musuem of Art (HoMA)

**All guests must park at HoMA and board the shuttle to Shangri La.

**No direct access to Shangri La will be allowed.

**If you miss the shuttle you will not be able to attend the event but refunds may be issued.

Join us for a special guided experience of Shangri La through the lens of our 2025 Scholar-in-Residence, Dr. Mariam Rahmani. An acclaimed Iranian American writer, scholar, and translator, Dr. Rahmani brings a deeply thoughtful perspective to her residency at Shangri La, where she is researching her forthcoming novel The House of Mourning—a layered exploration of Islamic art, colonial entanglement, and indigenous dispossession.

This intimate tour invites guests to see Shangri La anew, accompanied by Dr. Rahmani and museum staff, culminating in a reflective conversation in the Playhouse. Together, we’ll explore how living artists and scholars help us interpret our collection in meaningful, contemporary ways, highlighting the importance of residencies that center cultural context, critical inquiry, and storytelling as vital curatorial tools.

AGENDA:

2:30 PM - Check in at Honolulu Museum of Art to board the shuttle to Shangri La

2:45 PM - 3:00 PM - Shuttle Bus ride to Shangri La

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM - Guided tour of Shangri La

4:15 PM - 4:45 PM - Discussion with Dr. Rahmani

5:00 PM - Board shuttle back to HoMA

5:15 PM - 5:30 PM - Shuttle bus drop off at HoMA

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Mariam Rahmani is an award-winning translator from Farsi/Persian and writer in English. Her translation of Mahsa Mohebali’s Iranian cult novel In Case of Emergency was a New Yorker Best Book of 2022. She is currently working on translating scholars Farzaneh Milani’s biography of the mid-century feminist poet Forugh Farrokhzad.

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Paid parking at the Honolulu Museum of Art

Parking lot is located behind Honolulu Museum of Art School,

1111 Victoria Street, Honolulu, HI 96814

There is an entrance on the left-hand side of Beretania Street.

$5 for first 5 hours, $2 every additional 30 minutes.

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