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By: Bijan M. Sadeghi |
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By: Bijan M. Sadeghi |
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Art:
Persian art and architecture reflects a 5,000-year-old cultural tradition shaped by the diverse cultures that have flourished on the vast Iranian plateau. Throughout its development, Persian artistic achievement has normally been imperial in nature, with impressive majestic monuments or associated with royal patronage in book illustration. Countless painters, weavers, potters, calligraphers, metalworkers, stone masons etc. have produced some of the most beautiful works ever created, and contributed to the Persian artistic heritage that is known throughout the world.
The Persian Carpet
(Rug) is an essential part of Persian
art and culture. Carpet-weaving
is undoubtedly one of the most distinguished
manifestations of Persian culture and art, and
dates back to the Ancient Persia (c.500 BC). The
art of carpet weaving in Iran has its roots in
the culture and customs of its people and their
instinctive feelings. Weavers mix elegant
patterns with a myriad of colors. The Iranian
carpet is similar to the Persian garden: full of
florae, birds, and beasts.
The colors are usually made from wild flowers,
and are rich in colors such as burgundy, navy
blue, and accents of ivory. The proto-fabric is
often washed in tea to soften the texture,
giving it a unique quality. Depending on where
the rug is made, patterns and designs vary. And
some rugs, such as Gabbeh,
and Gelim
have a variations in their textures and number
of knots as well.
The exceptional craftsmanship in weaving these
carpets and silken textile thus caught the
attention of the likes of Xuanzang,
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, and Jean Chardin.
In the words of Arthur Pope: "All around the
world, Iranian carpets are the symbol of
poetical luxury."
Oriental historian
Basil Gray believes "Iran has offered a
particularly unique [sic] art to the world which
is excellent in its kind".
Caves in Iran's Lorestan province exhibit
painted imagery of animals and hunting scenes.
Some such as those in Fars Province and Sialk
are at least 5,000 years old.
Painting in Iran is
thought to have reached a climax during the
Tamerlane era when outstanding masters such as
Kamaleddin Behzad gave birth to a new style of
painting. Paintings of the Qajar period, are a
combination of European influences and Safavid
miniature schools of painting such as those
introduced by Reza Abbasi. Masters such as
Kamal-ol-molk, further pushed forward the
European influence in Iran. It was during the
Qajar era when "Coffee House painting" emerged.
Subjects of this style were often religious in
nature depicting scenes from Shia epics and the
like.The themes of
Persian miniature are mostly related to the
Persian mythology and poetry. Western artists
discovered the Persian miniature in the
beginning of the 20th century. Persian
miniatures uses pure geometry and vivid palette.
The allure of Persian miniature painting lies in
its absorbing complexities and in the surprising
way it speaks to large questions about the
nature of art and the perception of its
masterpieces. The most important function of
miniature was illustration. It gave a visual
image to the literary plot, making it more
enjoyable, and easier to understand. Miniature
developed into a marriage of artistic and poetic
languages and obtained a deep and sincere
accordance with poetry.
Prominent archeologist
Roman Ghirshman believes "the taste and talent
of this people [Iranians] can be seen through
the designs of their earthen wares".
Of the thousands of archeological sites and
historic ruins of Iran, almost every single one
can be found to have been filled, at some point,
with earthenware of exceptional quality.
Thousands of unique vessels alone were found in
Sialk
and Jiroft
sites.
The occupation of the potter ("kuzeh gar") has a
special place in Persian literature.
The architecture of
Iran is one with an exceedingly ancient
tradition and heritage. As Arthur Pope put it,
"the meaningful Impact of Persian architecture
is versatile. Not overwhelming but dignified,
magnificent and impressive".
The main
building types of classical
Iranian architecture are the
mosque and the palace. The
architecture makes use of
abundant symbolic geometry,
using pure forms such as the
circle and square. Plans are
based on often symmetrical
layouts featuring rectangular
courtyards and halls.
The post-Islamic architecture of
Iran draws ideas from its
pre-Islamic predecessor, and has
geometrical and repetitive
forms, as well as surfaces that
are richly decorated with glazed
tiles, carved stucco, patterned
brickwork, floral motifs, and
calligraphy.
Says writer Will
Durant: "Ancient Iranians with an alphabet of 36
letters, used skins and pen to write, Instead of
ear-then tablets". Such was the creativity spent
on the art of writing. The significance of the
art of calligraphy in works of pottery, metallic
vessels, and historic buildings is such that
they are deemed lacking without the adorning
decorative calligraphy. It is believed to be one
of the most eye catching and fascinating
manifestations of Persian culture.
Illuminations, and especially the Holy Quran and
works such as the Shahnameh,
Divan Hafez, Golestan,
Bostan
et al are recognized as highly invaluable
because of their delicate calligraphy alone.
Vast quantities of these are scattered and
preserved in museums and private collections
worldwide, such as the Hermitage Museum of St.
Petersburg and Washington's Freer Gallery of Art
among many others. Shekasteh, Nasta'liq, Naskh
and Mohaqqaq are some of the styles of Persian
Calligraphy.
Calligraphy by Esrafil Shirchi
The Tilework is a
unique feature of the blue mosques of Isfahan.
In the old days,
Kashan
(kash + an which literally means
"land of tiles") and
Tabriz
were the two famous centers of Iranian mosaic
and tile industry.
Metalwork has been used for millennia. It may be utilized for ornamental, domestic or practical purposes. In ancient times primarily copper and bronze were used. The royalty and very rich used gold and silver. Most common modern items are tea sets, bowls, trays, vases, and jewelry.
Delicate and meticulous parquetry, produced since the Safavid period: at this time, khatam was so popular in the court that princes learned this technique at the same level of music or painting. In the 18th and 19th centuries, katahm declined, before being stimulated under the Reign of Reza Shah, with the creation of craft schools in Tehran, Isfahan, and Chiraz. "Khatam" means "incrustation", and "Khatam-kari", "incrustation work". This craft consists in the production of incrustation patterns (generally star shaped), with thin sticks of wood (ebony, teak, ziziphus, orange, rose), brass (for golden parts), camel bones (white parts). Ivory, gold or silver can also be used for collection objects. Sticks are assembled in triangular beams, themselves assembled and glued in a strict order to create a 70cm diameter cylinder, which section is the main motif : a six-branch star included in a hexagon. These cylinders are cut into shorter cylinders, and then compressed and dried between two wooden plates, before being cut for the last time, in 1mm wide trenches. So this section is ready to be plated and glued on the object to be decorated, before lacquer finishing. The trenches can also be heated to be soften to follow curves of a rounded object. Many objects can be so decorated, such as: boxes, chessboards, cadres, pipes, desks or some musical instruments. Katham can be used on Persian miniature, realizing true work of art.
Coming from techniques imported from China and improved by Persian know-how, this craft existed for more than 700 years and is still perennial in Isfahan and Shiraz.
Relief carving has a history dating back thousands of years. Elamite relief are still to be found in Iran with Persepolis being a mecca of relief creations of antiquity.
The
cinema of Iran (or
Persian cinema) is a
flourishing film industry with a
long history. Many popular
commercial films are made in
Iran, and Iranian art films have
won many international film
awards, and festivals of Iranian
films are held annually around
the globe. Along with China,
Iran has been lauded as one of
the best exporters of cinema in
the 1990s.
Many
critics now rank Iran as the
world's most important national
cinema artistically, with a
significance that invites
comparison to Italian Neorealism
and similar movements in past
decades.
World-renowned German filmmaker
Werner
Herzog,
along with many film critics
from around the world, has
praised Iranian cinema as one of
the world's most important
artistic cinemas.
The music of Iran
has thousands of years of history dating back to
the Neolithic age as attested by the
archeological evidence chiefly in Elam, one of
the earliest world civilizations in the south
western Iran. During the course of Iran's
recorded history, a unique distinctive music
developed accompanied by numerous musical
instruments, several of which came to be the
first prototypes of some modern musical
instruments of today.
Persian traditional music in its contemporary
form has its inception in the Naseri era, who
ordered the opening of a "House of Crafts",
where all master craftsmen would gather for
designing instruments and practicing their art.
Persian Symphonic Music has a long history. In
fact Opera originated from Persia much before
its emergence in Europe. Iranians traditionally
performed
Tazeeieh,
which in many respects resembles the European
Opera.
Persian literature is
by far the most stalwart expression of the
Iranian genius. While there are interesting
works in prose, it is poetry where the Iranian
literature shines at its most. Flourishing over
a period of more than a millennium, it was
esteemed and imitated well beyond the confines
of the Iranian homeland. The literature of
Turkey and India developed under its influence.
Persian poets such as Sa'di,
Hafiz, Rumi
and Omar Khayyam are well known in the world and
have influenced the literature of many
countries.
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