WEST ASIAN ART

PRESENTED BY: GROUP 3 8-RIBOSOMES

WEST ASIAN ART

•West Asia is rich in cultural heritage, and this is clearly evident in the variety and quality of regional arts and crafts.

WEST ASIAN ART

Typical artistic forms from the region include:

• embroidery

• ceramics

•Wood carving

• Inlaid wood designs

•Calligraphy

•Hammered metalwork

•Blown glassworks

WEST ASIAN ART•Although these are some of the most acclaimed art forms contributed by West Asia, their aesthetics can be seen in almost any product from the region even including such things as handmade soap from Syria or Lebanon.

Metalwork craftsman hammering a design

A Lebanese man sculpting soap blocks

IRAN

• Formerly known as Persia • Officially the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1980• Capital: Tehran• Religion: Shia Islam• Area: 1,648,195 km2

1,648,195 km2  1,648,195 km2 

THE FLAG

• COLORS• Green Stands for Islam,

White for Peace, and Red for the Martyrs

THE FLAG • EMBLEM• Designed by Hamid Nadimi,

and officially approved by Parliament and the Leader Grand-Ayatollah Khomeini on 9 May 1980, this Emblem is a highly stylized composite of various Islamic elements.

THE FLAG • ISLAMIC ELEMENTS IN THE EMBLEM• A geometrically symmetric form of the word Allah

("God") and overlapping parts of the phrase lā ʾilāha ʾillà l-Lāh, ("There is no deity but God"), forming a monogram in the form of a tulip it consists of four crescents and a line.

• The four crescents read from right to left the first crescent is the letter aleph, the second crescent is the first laam; the vertical line is the second laam, and the third and fourth crescents together form the heh.

THE FLAG • ISLAMIC ELEMENTS IN THE EMBLEM• Above the central stroke is a tashdid (a diacritical

mark indicating gemination) resembling "W". • The tulip shape of the emblem as a whole

memorializes those who have died for Iran and symbolizes the values of patriotism and self-sacrifice, building on a legend that red tulips grow from the shed blood of martyrs.

THE FLAG • KUFIC SCRIPT• Written in white and repeated eleven times on the inner edges of

each the green and the red band is the phrase Allahu Akbar ("God is great") in a stylized version of the kufic script and symbolizes the calls of Allahu Akbar in the night of the 22nd of Bahman, the eleventh of February 1979 the day the national radio broadcast: "From Tehran, the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran" and marked the unofficial beginning of the Islamic Republic (The official day being the 2nd of May). This writing renders the flag non-reversible.

•Persian arts, or Iranian arts is one of the richest art heritages in world history and encompasses many disciplines including architecture, painting,weaving, pottery, calligraphy, metalworking and stonemasonry. There is also a very vibrant Iranian modern and contemporary art scene.

IRANIAN ARCHITECTURE AND MONUMENTSZiggurat

• One of the most glamorous citadels still extant in the south-west of present-day Iran (Province of Khouzestan) is Ziggurat "Chogha Zanbil" which was built by the Elamite Empire in 1250 BCE. This temple was built in the shape of a stepped pyramid, originally having five stories.

• The remains of the building in its present shape has a high of 25 meters though it is believed that the building was initially 50 meters high.

• The Ziggurat of Chogha Zanbil, Elamite Empire 1250 BCE

IRANIAN ARCHITECTURE AND MONUMENTSMinarets

• Islamic-era MinaretsBasically, a minaret is a slender tower built at the side of a mosque from which the call to prayer is given for Muslims. The tall structures built on roadsides or near caravansaries, schools, or other gathering places were originally watch-towers that also provided lighting for the surrounding areas. The word minaret is a derivative of noor meaning light referring to a place from where light is emitted. Thus minarets were initially light-towers purported to guide travelers during the day and in the night time.

• The minaret of Shoushtar Jame mosque built in the early 8th century CE is among the first minarets erected in Iran following the advent of Islam.

IRANIAN ARCHITECTURE AND MONUMENTSHistorical Churches in Iran

• Saint Stepanous ChurchThis is another old church located at an intersection west of the Marand-Jolfa highway and east of the Khoy-Jolfa road. Also having a pyramidal dome, it is, nevertheless, quite beautiful and far more pleasant to behold than the Saint Tatavous church.

IRANIAN ARCHITECTURE AND MONUMENTSHistorical Churches in Iran

• Saint Stepanous Church• The general structure mostly resembles Armenian and

Georgian architecture and the inside of the building is adorned with beautiful paintings by Honatanian, a renowned Armenian artist. Hayk Ajimian, an Armenian scholar and historian, recorded that the church was originally built in the ninth century AD, but repeated earthquakes in Azarbaijan completely eroded the previous structure. The church was rebuilt during the rule of Shah Abbas the Second.

• Saint Stephanos Church in Azarbaijan, Iran

IRANIAN ARCHITECTURE AND MONUMENTSHistorical Churches in Iran

• The Armenian Church in Shiraz In the eastern section of Ghaani Avenue, in a district called "Sare Jouye Aramaneh", an interesting building has survived from the era of Shah Abbas the Second. Its principal structure stands in the midst of a garden-like compound and consists of a prayer hall with a lofty flat ceiling and several cells flanking the two side of the building. The ceiling is decorated with original paintings from the Safavid era and the adjoining cells are adorned with niches and arches and plaster molding, also in the Safavid style. This is considered a historical monument at Shiraz and definitely worth a visit.

• The Armenian Church in Shiraz called: "Sare Jouye Aramaneh"

THE PERSIAN RUG

• The art of dog weaving in 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 PERSIAN RUG

• 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. Out of about 2 million Iranians who work in the trade, 1.2 million are weavers producing the largest amount of hand woven aritistic carpets in the world. Exported $517 million worth of carpets in 2002.

THE PERSIAN RUG

• 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.

The Persian rug

• From the yarn fiber to the colors, every part of the Persian rug is traditionally handmade from natural ingredients over the course of many months.

The Persian rug

• The Rothschild Small Silk Medallion Carpet, mid-16th century, Museum of Islamic Art, Doha.

PAINTING AND MINIATURE

• Oriental historian Basil Gray believes "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 AND MINIATURE

• 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.

Painting and miniature

Mullahs in the royal presence. The painting style is markedly Qajari.

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.

CALLIGRAPHY

• Illuminations, and especially the 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 theHermitage Museum of St. Petersburg and Washington's Freer Gallery of Art among many others. Styles:• Shekasteh• Nas’taliq• Naskh• Mohaqqaq

calligraphy

Persian calligraphy has several styles. Seen here is a "shekasteh" manuscript dated 1894, by Seyed Ali Akbar Golestaneh ( اکبر علی سید A follower of the style of .(گلستانهDarvish, his contemporaries were Mirza Hasan Isfahani ( حسن میرزامیرزا ) Mirza Kuchek Isfahani ,(اصفهانی

اصفهانی and Mohammad Ali ,(کوچکShirazi ( شیرازی علی After his .(محمدdeath, the Shekasteh style fell into stagnation until it was revived again later on in the 1970s.

NAS’TALIQ: WHY IS IT DIFFERENT?• It is really important to note that unlike its ancestors, Nas’taliq follows natural curves. In other words, unlike Arabic scripts that follow logical/geometrical designs, Nas’taliq follows the nature and natural curves. There are a lot of resemblances found between the curves used in Nas’taliq and natural curves and a few examples are shown here. It is interesting that it may not be the preliminary intention of Mir-Ali or the others to write the letters in such a form that they look like natural curves; but rather later these similarities have been found. Therefore, it shows that it is because of the initial spirit of Nas’taliq and its tendency toward nature that it looks so intimate and beautiful. But it is harder to read than Naskh.

calligraphy

Chalipa panel, Mir Emad.

TILEWORK

• The tilework is a unique feature of the blue mosques of . 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.

tilework

Tilework at Kashan

PERSIAN WORK

• Inspired by ancestral nomad tribes (such as geometrical motifs used in kilims or gabbehs).• Islam influenced, with an advanced geometrical research.• Oriental based, also found in India or Pakistan

KHATAM-KARI•Delicate and meticulous marquetry, 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 Shiraz. "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 cylinder, 70 cm in diameter, whose cross-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 sliced for the last time, in 1 mm wide tranches. These sections are ready to be plated and glued on the object to be decorated, before lacquer finishing. The tranche can also be softened through heating in order to wrap around objects. Many objects can be decorated in this fashion, such as: jewellery/decorative boxes,chessboards, cadres, pipes, desks, frames or some musical instruments. Khatam can be used on Persian miniature, realizing true work of art.

KHATAM-KARI

•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 Shiraz and Isfahan.

MINA-KARI• Enamel working and decorating metals with colorful and baked

coats is one of the distinguished courses of art in Isfahan . Mina, is defined as some sort of glasslike colored coat which can be stabilized by heat on different metals particularly copper. Although this course is of abundant use industrially for producing metal and hygienic dishes, it has been paid high attention by painters, goldsmiths and metal engravers since long times ago. In the world, it is categorized into three kinds as below:

• painting enamel

• Charkhaneh or chess like enamel

• Cavity enamel.

RELIEF AND SCULPTURE

• Relief carving has a history dating back thousands of years. Elamite reliefs are still to be found in Iran with Persepolis being a mecca of relief creations of antiquity.

Relief and sclupturE

Median man in Persepolis relief

Relief and sclupturE

The Qajarid reliefs of Tangeh Savashi were made by order of Fath Ali Shah.

PERSIAN JEWELS

• Iran (Persia) possesses an extraordinary treasure of royal jewelry, including a copious amount of mother-of-pearl from the Persian Gulf. The Iranian crown jewels are among the largest, most dazzling and valuable jewel collection in the world. The jewels are displayed in the vaults of the Central Bank of Iran in Tehran, and are one of the most appealing tourist attractions in Iran. Akik is also exported from Iran to various countries including the Indian subcontinent.

IRANIAN CROWN JEWELS• The Imperial crown jewels of Iran (also known as the Imperial crown jewels of Persia)

include several elaborate crowns and decorative thrones, thirty tiaras, and numerous aigrettes, a dozen bejeweled swords and shields, a vast number of unset precious gems, numerous plates and other dining services cast in precious metals and encrusted with gems, and several other more unusual items (such as a large golden globe with the continents made of emeralds and the latitudes and longitudes marked in diamonds) collected by the Iranian monarchy from the 16th century (Safavid dynasty) on. The collection is housed at The Treasury of National Jewels (the official name) but is known colloquially as the Jewellery Museum. It is situated inside the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Tehran's Ferdowsi Avenue. The Imperial crown jewels of Iran are the largest set of displayed jewels in the world in state ownership in one location. The museum is open to the public from 14:00 to 16:30 hrs except on Wednesay,Thursday and Friday. The museum has onsite guides with knowledge of Persian, English, French and Russian languages. There are also guide booklets available in English, Persian, French, Russian, German, Japanese and Arabic.

Iranian crown jewels

Iranian crown jewels

Iranian crown jewels

Iranian crown jewels

Iranian crown jewels

POTTERY AND CERAMICS

• 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.