Arts

Tim Stanley, the senior curator of Islamic Arts at V&A, tried to simplify the term Islamic Art as the art produced under the Arab influence in the region, and as an example he presented the Ardabil Carpet as the oldest dated carpet in the world. This is untrue due to the discovery of Pazaryk Carpet in 1940s excavated by U.S.S.R archaeologists Rudenko and Griasnor, which is dated around 400 BC and is now on exhibition at the Hermitage. Pazaryk Carpet is also believed to be an Iranian carpet, so one must ask why do curators insist calling Persian carpets Islamic?

The Ardabil carpet, which one cannot deny is the oldest fully preserved carpet, resides in V&A’s Jameel Gallery of Islamic Arts, and was made in Iran around 1540 AD, and this is known due to the date 946 AH woven into the carpet.  The carpet has been signed by Muqsud Kashani, and it contains the first couplet of a poem by Iranian poet Hafez Shiraz.

The wrap, the weft, the pile, knot count and knot density, are all features which can help identify the carpet. It is generally known that carpets made in places like Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt or China, differ in style and techniques used. What is intriguing is that one can identify the actual city in Iran where the carpet was made, and even the workshop, making each carpet unique.

The size of the carpet is also of great importance. The bigger the carpet the more weavers were employed for the job, who would have sat side by side and had great skills and timing in order to make the carpet evenly and with the best quality possible. The Ardabil Carpet measures 34ft x 17ft 6ins, and the sheer size and quality of it makes it one of the most noteworthy carpets in the world.

Due to these characteristics, historians have come to the conclusion that the Ardabil carpet was made for Safavid Shahs, the royalty of Ardabil, hence the title. Adding to this notion, is the fact that the carpet has been signed, a procedure only undertaken by the person in charge presenting his or her work to the palace, a tradition in Iran to obtain as much favour from the royals as possible.

Arabs defeated the Byzantine army at Damascus in 635 AD and headed to Iran, where they occupied the Sassanian capital Ctesiphon in 637 AD, however it was in 650 AD when they managed to fight off the Iranian resistance. Political dominance seems to be initial goal of the Arab army, and then they proceeded to force Islam onto the people, however in theory only. The Arabs invaders, of whom the Umayyads had succeeded Muhammad from 661-750, started adopting many Iranian traditions and styles of governance. The Sassanian coinage system was adopted, as well as the office of minister, and the Divan, a bureau for controlling the expenditure and revenue. Many pre-Islamic influences can be observed in ornaments and textiles long after the Arab Invasion of Iran, and many artists and designers disagree and to this day fight the ideas behind an Islamic Iran.  

Another feature of the Ardabil Carpet, which has been overlooked, is the beginning of the poem by Hafez. He is indeed a controversial figure in Iranian literary history, and has been misrepresented as a religious figure among the western historians, partly encouraged by the Islamic Government of Iran, which one should point out tried to ban the publishing of his book after the 1979 revolution.

Poetry in Iran has a long history, and to this day ordinary people take part in reciting poetry in social games. Iranian poets, like many intellectuals have always questioned the idea of faith especially that of Islam. Ferdowsi’s epic poem “The Book of Kings” (Shahnameh) which was written before Hafez, had eliminated every Arabic word, producing a purely Persian text. “The Book of Kings” is memorized by Iranians and acted out in ceremonial plays around the country, another tradition that the religious Imams pushed to destroy throughout history. Hafez was fully aware of these struggles by the people to hang on to their cultures, and so he portrays people’s discontent with religion and constantly questions the idea of faith in his poems.

The couplet from Hafez’ poem weaved into the carpet has been wrongly translated as:

“I have no refuge in this world other than thy threshold.

My head has no resting place other than this doorway.”

The issue of translation is a much overlooked problem, which exists in all languages, and many translators have adopted a new “sprit of the poem” method which will simply create confusion about the original. In the couplet above, the translator has clearly, either on purpose or by mistake, replaced the word “your doorway” with “this doorway” in the second line, thus bringing another meaning to the poem. Hafez is essentially showing his love for “Saghi” (the girl who pours the wine and is also his muse) in this poem. His love for drinking wine and women are prevalent in his poetry and at odds with Islam, and this fact brought him problems with the religious figures who had influence in the courts in his own lifetime.  On one occasion he was charged with blasphemy against Islam.

If we look closer at the Iranian history we realize that the art of carpets has nothing to do with religion, especially Islam. These misunderstandings and popular misconceptions do not end with Iran. Many Middle Eastern countries are losing their identity daily due to lack of knowledge and research carried out within their countries, and more importantly by laziness of the western academics. Let’s face it: it’s easier to turn a blind eye to the oppression of traditions than having to carry out a comprehensive research.

Lens, Pas-de-Calais, France is the new destination for art and architecture fans. You might not have heard of the town because it is very small with a population of only 35,000 and the only attraction of the town thus far has been a football stadium that had a capacity more than the population.  However, now this old mining town has become the grounds for Louvre-Lens which is a branch of the Paris Musée du Louvre.

Lens was chosen in 2004 by the French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin out of the other candidates for the project which included: Amiens, Arras, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Calais, and Valenciennes. Choosing Lens seems to be a tactical as well as practical move by the officials as the town boasts a 20 hectare site just an hour away from Paris, as well as being located on an important highway to Holland and Belgium. They have estimated around 500,000 visitors from all over Europe per year which the officials hope will revitalize the local economy.   

Similar projects have been experimented with in the UK with opening of Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate and also other branches of Tate in Liverpool and St Ives. There are talks of international ventures like opening branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi, UAE. These projects have made many in the art world uneasy and skeptical as to their benefits overall.

The fact is that you are more likely to become a head of a museum or major gallery with a degree in economics or marketing than art history, and this is a reality many face after graduating. These establishments need to make money and with the growth of online resources and reproduction technologies, less people are inclined to visit Paris or London to see a major artwork. This has caused museums to increase lending, tours and opening of branches nationally as well as internationally.

Many have been vocal in their disdain for the branch openings, with critics like Harry Bellet from the Le Monde describing Louvre-Lens “like a bookshop where all the books are muddled up”, and the Guardian’s Jonathan Jones writing “British art museums must avoid the mistake the palatial Paris gallery is making in sending its treasures to the provinces”.

The Lens branch itself is very unassuming minimal structure designed by the Japanese architecture firm Sanaa, and the two people involved in designing Louvre-Lens Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima couldn’t be happier with the result. They set out to produce a space which would complement the outdoors and the natural setting of the grounds, as well as taking as much advantage of the natural light as possible.

The space looks and feels open with the walls resembling thin aluminum with plenty of windows and glass structures. It is a far cry from the 200 year old Louvre building in the heart of Paris, and in no way has that awe factor. Yet, it manages to draw people in and tweak their interest. The curator Adrien Gardère has produced an exhibition completely different to the Paris set up, where most of the artwork and artefacts are intermingling. The point seems to be to introduce pieces you might not have had the chance to see alongside one another, and this way it might produce inspiration for further exploration.

Granted the average visitor might be planning a trip to Lens just to see a few masterpieces like Liberty Leading the People and Leonardo’s The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, however they might have just set on a journey of discovery which might will them more interested in History of Art and a tad bit more enlightened.

A painting of the late singer Amy Winehouse done by the South African born artist Marlene Dumas has been acquired by UK’s National Portrait Gallery which is the second most important Art gallery in Britain. The price paid for the work is undisclosed, however judging by Dumas’s price tags I would estimate it for around $3 million. She has been described as the most successful artist of our time, which goes to show how far the art world has drifted away from the shores of sanity and taste.

I challenge anyone to find any resemblance of beauty in her work. Her paintings, which you might mistake of that of a child playing around with paint are, contrary to popular conception, devoid of any emotion or honesty. She possesses no technical proficiency, and the color palette might have as well been done by that elephant that wowed the YouTube audiences with randomly splashing paint onto a canvas.

Dumas’ Amy-Blue which will now shock the visitors to National Portrait Gallery as they walk into the contemporary wing, will be given an entire wall to itself as another testament to what market created reputation does for a bad artist. Look kids, you don’t have to learn how to draw or paint, you just have to find the right rich man to buy your finger drawings and you will be the most famous artist in the world.

The painting itself was painted after the pop star’s death, and has some resemblances to the singer, and the blue used has been described as relevant to her troubled life and her choice of music, but man it is an awful portrait. Failing to find any critic who would praise the work without abandoning their ethics, the press resorted to asking Amy Winehouse’s father to comment, and this is the man who disowned her own daughter when she was alive because of her drug taking and out of sorts behaviour, and after her death published a book about how he loved her, starting a foundation to cash in from her fame.

Mitch Winehouse in an interview said about the painting: “It is a fantastic piece of work and we are fascinated to know how Amy was seen and remembered by family, friends and artists of all kinds. With the Amy Winehouse Foundation, Amy is our inspiration and it is profoundly moving to find that she still inspires so many others too.”

Yes, Amy Winehouse was an amazing singer and I was a big fan of her lyrics which were raw and uncompromising, but honestly, would anyone call her an inspirational figure? She became so addicted to drugs that she could not perform on stage anymore, and people booed her until she was forced to cancel her tour. She kept returning to her relationship with Blake Fielder Civil who admitted to getting her addicted to crack cocaine and has a long list of charges to his name from sexual abuse to attempted robbery.

Have we not had enough of celebrities and pop idols? Are we not intelligent enough to decide for ourselves what is good or bad? Do we still need to pay for entertainment, while those who have to carry the burden of entertaining us lose touch with reality more and more? Aren’t studios and managers and publishers rich enough to stop feeding us garbage in hopes of fattening their own pockets?

Why does the old man in the corner of Saint Catherine and Drummond have to beg for cents and cigarettes, shacking from the cold, fingers and lips frozen blue, while you and I take money out to pay these robbers and charlatans to give us celebrity and all the products and news that come with it?

I’m afraid I find no beauty in the portrait of Amy Winehouse, and I will not condone UK’s National Portrait Gallery for exposing such inferior work to people especially children who will visit on their school trips. We do not need any more idols.