At first, it appears that Filizadeh is making fun of Iranian kitsch: yellow journals published on glazed paper with a lifetime of a couple days are juxtaposed with thousand-years old myths to become ashamed of themselves. Such kitsch (existent all around the world) is particularly disgusting in Iran: it cannot be sincere even with its vulgarity. The ‘artificial’ journals of Filizadeh exist today in Iran: magazines totally in English discussing completely Iranian subjects.
Yet, this series of works title ‘Return of Rostam II’ has another dimension which is more bold: they ridicule the myth itself questioning the gap between the ‘deep’ myth and the ‘light’ pop culture. Anyway, myths cannot be defended and they are needless of a defence. What is clear is the trauma of a nation who, when sincere, hates itself. Reminiscent of Sadeq Hedayat who said, ‘Woe upon a nation whose best intellectual is me!’