Persian Prospect
Since ancient times, Persian culture has spread its influence through the Indo-Pacific. The importance of the garden as a symbol of paradise is partly due to Persian traditions. Today, there is a flourishing of creativity inside Iran, despite the challenges from without. And in other cultures, the Iranian diaspora is making important contributions to their host cultures.
Towards an Indigenous Australian Iranian cuisine - Jahan Rezakhanlou deconstructs the idea of "authenticity" in Iranian cuisine by experimenting with Indigenous Australian ingredients in Melbourne-Naarm, straying away from either tokenistic fusion labels or the home-grown demands of "authentic" foreign food in the West.
Maryam Mohamadi ✿ Mageli - Maryam Mohamadi uses a traditional craft of felt hat-making to produce home decor for Iranian homes.
Azadeh Yasaman ✿ A disorderly beauty - Our February laurel goes to Iranian weaver and fashion designer, Azadeh Yasaman, who seeks to give new life to the ancient beauty of her culture.
Shohre Fakhrejanali ✿ Chadorshab waist wrap - Our June laurel goes to Shohre Fakhrejanali, a weaver from the village of Qasem Abad in the Guilan province of Iran, on the Caspian coast. Khosro Mahinroosto tells her story.
Iran ✿ Poetry in limbo - Prior to the lockdown, we were separated from Iran because of US sanctions. Now we are all separated from the world, it's time to come together and hear how Iranians are coping—Well, thanks to poetry.
Adil Writer ✿ Clay dreams of love - Adil Writer presents a series of figures that evoke the fraught condition of love for the Parsi community specifically and India generally.
Mehrnoosh Ganji ✿ Soul Star Pendant 📽️ - A film by Mark Newbound captures the quiet focus and skill involved in the jewellery craft of Mehrnoosh Ganji. Soul Star Pendant reflects the spiritual values underlying its production.
Saeed Arzegan ✿ Love whisper - Our May laurel goes to an Iranian artist who reflects his culture's mastery of wood inlay and crafts a story about standing up for the victimised.
Persian Renaissance continues… - Global art jewellery is undergoing a Renaissance as non-Western artists are using this modern medium to renew past layers of their culture. Two Iranian artists are at the forefront of this. A recent exhibition of Ailin Abrisham and Baharak Omidfar give presence to the ancient goddess Anahita.
Behnaz Barabarian: Love in the Qajar period - The Qajar dynasty ruled Iran in the nineteenth century. Their Turkic culture created quite a distinctive style in decorative arts. It is one of the many periods that contemporary Iranian jewellers draw on today as part of their historical palette.
Recent calligraphic art by Reza Safavi and Zahra Tondkar - Following up on our Persian Prospect issue, here are some recent miniature artworks by master artists Reza Safavi and Zahra Tondkar from Mashhad, proofing that Iranian creative skills are alive and well. This is a recreation of a Koran’s cover from the tenth century. Its original is held at the Malek National Museum in Tehran. All cracks, fractures, colour fading, and whatever that occurred in the original by the passage of time has been recreated carefully and intricately. Finally, the surface of work has been covered by a combination of lacquer and fixative. d ✿ Like the article? Make it a conversation by leaving a comment below. If you believe in supporting a platform for culture-makers, consider becoming a subscriber.
The mysterious desert in new Persian jewellery - Putting on the jewellery that carries the nature of the desert, takes us to the journey to reach our inner jewel of silence, where we could sedately observe the truth of being. A new exhibition of jewellery from the region of Kerman gives unique expression to the mystical meaning of the desert in Persian culture. ✿ Like the article? Make it a conversation by leaving a comment below. If you believe in supporting a platform for culture-makers, consider becoming a subscriber.
The Persian House - It was for about more than a year that the idea of introducing and displaying a contemporary "Persian house" at the Craft Fair was discussed with the Cultural Heritage Organization. Finally by July in this year 2017, the 28th Tehran Handicraft Exhibition contemporary "Persian house" was presented, in collaboration Mr Anooshfar, the Art Center Gallery and the artists.
What’s love got to do with it? - Recently I visited the Iranian city of Sirjan, as part of a World Crafts Council delegation to assess their claim to be a World Craft City for Kilim, Shiriki-Pech to be precise. On arrival, we found billboards around the city describing it as Kilim City - "Warp of love and art".
Jwahr: New Iranian and Persian Jewellery - This exhibition is a selection of work who have shown at Aria Gallery in Tehran. The work heralds a new generation of artists in the field of global art jewellery. Their work shows the capacity of jewellery to give personal meaning to lost traditions and stories.
A hundred thousand tulips - we had the chance at the moroccan deli-cacy to examine the redolent jewellery of mehrnoosh ganji at first hand. the afternoon commenced with a welcome from the owner hana assafiri who talked about the values of tolerance and the process of commissioning the beautiful fit-out for her cafe from artisans in morocco.
Garland in a Trumped-up world - We're planning to look what some identify as "post-capitalism", in particular the emergence of the sharing economy and decline of consumerism. In line with our commitment to explore "the story behind", we want to go beyond theory to develop some practical models: how can a life making objects today be sustained outside the market? We will evaluate alternatives such as craft libraries, social objects, traditional gift exchange and 3D printing. In the end, we hope to share responses to declining employment that are more constructive than building walls or expelling foreigners.
Persian soirée – 20 November 2pm - Garland invites you to a special event for wrap up our Persian Prospect issue. Enjoy an afternoon of Iranian/Persian culture, including a first-hand encounter with Mehrnoosh Ganji's magical jewellery, reflections from writer Sanaz Fotouhi about the pomegranate, a "faal" ritual of Persian poetry, discussion about the impact of Iranian culture in Australia, forthcoming projects and afternoon treats from the Moroccan Deli-cacy.
Garland #4 “The Persian Prospect” is out now - IRAN | AUSTRALIA | INDIA | JAPAN | SINGAPORE | SOUTH KOREA Garland looks to the prospect of closer ties between Iran and the West. Articles help us understand the wonders of Iranian craft that await the world, in particular the great craft cities of Isfahan, Tabriz, Mashhad and Lalejin. The Quarterly Essay by Sanaz Fotouhi highlights the growing contribution of Iranian artists in other countries, while the online exhibition features embellishment as a Persian attitude that is also present in artists working in modernist cultures. Other articles feature ceramics from India, Singapore, Japan, Sydney and Kyneton. ✿ Like the article? Make it a conversation by leaving a comment below. If you believe in supporting a platform for culture-makers, consider […]
Quarterly essay – A pomegranate’s secret: The jewels of Mehrnoosh Ganji - I had read about Mehrnoosh Ganji. She was a young talented young Iranian woman who had migrated to Australia in 2012 and had continued her passion of becoming a jewellery designer. I had seen her work in pictures, and was looking forward to seeing her and the pieces physically to try and understand more.
Workshop of the World: Lalejin - Mr Asgari has been making pots for more than eighty years. We go inside his famous pottery workshop to see how pottery is made in Lalejin.
Place Matters: Mashhad – City of Turquoise - The first of the Place Matters series features Mashhad, the Silk Road city that is legendary for its turquoise, much appreciated by the 20 million tourists who visit every year. We hear how the story of a village donkey has inspired the creation of a new Silk Road for the 21st century.
Craft Classic: The Persian carpet - The Persian carpet is a one of the most popular heirloom objects present in the world today. We look at a workshop where they are made in Tabriz, Iran and look at how people today are sharing their lives with this wondrous rugs.
Paisley stands tall again: Akhtar Ismailzadeh’s patteh embroidery - Ansie van der Walt writes about the patteh embroidery of Akhtar Ismailzadeh, an Iranian migrant living in South Australia. The paisley is sometimes inteprets as the cyprus tree which has been bent by the hardships of exile. Akhtar's work corrects this by straightening the paisley again.
Isfahan’s heavenly meenakari - Isfahan is Iran's capital of craft. Amongst its many dazzling crafts is the intricate enamelware of meenakari.