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the journal of the asian arts society

of australia

the Persian art of Poetry

TAASA Review

3 Editorial:thEPErsianartofPoEtry

SusanScollay,GuestEditor

4 LOVE AND DEVOTION: FROM PERSIA AND BEYOND –AN EXHIBITION AT THE SLV

SusanScollay

8 PoEtry inthE iranianPsyChE:rEflECtionsonoMarKhayyaM’sRUBAIYAT

MammadAidani

11 loVEordEVotion?froMPErsiaorthEBEyond–aPErsiansUfiPErsPECtiVE

RafalStepien

14 ‘WashinGhyPoCrisy’sdUst’:PErsianPoEtryandPoPUlariranianMUsiC

GayBreyley

17 disCoVErinGPErsianMUsiC

PhilippeCharluet

19 PolitiCsandPErsianMytholoGy inthoMasMoorE’sPARADISE AND THE PERI

ShelleyMeagher

22 PErsiaandBEyond:tWorECEntaCQUisitionsBythEstatEliBraryofViCtoria

ClareWilliamson

24 traVEl in iran:BEtWEEnaWEsoMEdEsErtsandEXQUisitEUnrEalitiEs

ChristopherWood

25 inthEPUBliCdoMain:AN INDONESIAN QUR ’AN IN AGSA

JamesBennett

26 BooKrEViEW:PERSIAN ARTS OF THE BOOK

SusanScollay

28 2011taasaCaMBodiatoUr

JohnMillbank

28 BoitranBEattiE-hUynh:1957–2012

AnnProctor

29 taasa20thanniVErsaryParty

SandraForbes

29 taasaMEMBErs’diary:MARCH – MAY 2012

30 What’soninaUstraliaandoVErsEas:MARCH – MAY 2012

CompiledbyTinaBurge

C o n t E n t s

Volume 21 No. 1 March 2012

2

afUll indEXofartiClEsPUBlishEd inTAASA REVIEw sinCE itsBEGinninGs

in1991 isaVailaBlEonthEtaasaWEBsitE,WWW.taasa.orG.aU

iBrahiMholdinGCoUrt, LEAF FROM A DISBOUND MANUSCRIPT OF FIRDAUSI, Shahnama, C.1430

AD, SHIRAz, BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, SEE PP4-7 OF THIS ISSUE.

taasarEViEW

THEASIANARTSSOCIETYOFAUSTRALIAINC.ABN64093697537•Vol.21No.1,March2012ISSN1037.6674Registered by Australia Post. Publication No. NBQ 4134

Editorial•email:[email protected]

Generaleditor,JosefaGreenPUBliCationsCoMMittEE

JosefaGreen(convenor)•TinaBurgeMelanieEastburn•SandraForbesCharlotteGalloway•JimMasselos•AnnProctorSusanScollay•SabrinaSnow•ChristinaSumner

dEsiGn/layoUt

IngoVoss,VossDesign

PrintinG

JohnFisherPrinting

Published by The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc. PO Box 996 Potts Point NSW 2011 www.taasa.org.au

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FOR OUR NEXT ISSUE IS 1 MAY 2012

E d i t o r i a l : t h E P E r s i a n a r t o f P o E t r y

SusanScollay,GuestEditor

3

t a a s a C o M M i t t E E

Thefocusofthisissueisalandmarkexhibitionat theStateLibraryofVictoria (SLV) from9Marchto1July,2012.LoveandDevotion:FromPersia and Beyond celebrates the beauty ofPersianmanuscriptsandliterature.TheworldofPersianstoriesandtheillustratedvolumesin which they were copied spread beyondthe territorial borders of Iran, unifying aculturalzone that incorporatedCentralAsiaandtheempiresoftheMughalsinIndiaandtheOttomanTurksinAnatoliaandsoutheastEurope. Articles exploring aspects of LoveandDevotionhavebeenwrittenbyspecialistswho have played a role in developing theexhibition, and others whose research andexperiencerelatestotheexhibitionthemes.

It is exactly 5 years since TAASA Reviewdedicatedanissuetothe‘ArtsofIslam’andquoted the pre-eminent London collectorand philanthropist, Nasser Khalili, callingfor world citizens of all faiths to engage indialogue and acknowledge the ‘ties thathave existed among them for centuries.’ Bypresenting theworld of Persian storytellingandpoetryfromtheclassicperiodofsecularPersian literature, the SLV exhibition offersa significant response to that call.Althoughlittle known in the West, Persian poetry’suniversal themes of love and devotion – tolover, friend, teacher, rulerand theDivine–reveal echoes and parallels with Europeanliterature and the complex ideals andpractices of mediaeval and pre-Renaissancelifeandpatronageinbotheastandwest.

Persianliterature,seenthroughthelensofitsmemorablestoriesandgreatpoets,isimbuedwith love, often in allegorical form. PoetryhasbeenakeycomponentofIraniannationalidentity, but also appreciated and emulatedby others through the centuries. Exquisitelyillustratedand illuminatedmanuscripts fromthe Bodleian Libraries at the University ofOxforddatingfromthe13thto18thcenturies,togetherwithrareworksfromtheholdingsoftheSLVandotherAustralianinstitutionswillbedisplayedinthelargestandmostsignificantdisplay of Persian manuscripts to be heldin Australia. The Bodleian Libraries rarelyallowsucha largenumberofmanuscripts totravelforexhibitionatthesametime.Usuallyaccessedonlyby specialist scholars,manyoftheworkswillbeexhibitedandpublishedforthefirsttime.

For many Iranians the stories told by theirgreatpoetsofthepastareavitalcomponentof their national consciousness. Persianliterature specialist, Rafal Stepien, reflectson issuesof identity in theworkof the12th

century Sufi poet ‘Attar, while scholar andplaywright, Mammad Aidani, evaluatesthe philosophic legacy of ‘Attar’s nearcontemporary,OmarKhayyam.Gay Breyley, an ethnomusicologist, exploresinterconnections between Persian poetryand other art forms, especially music. Theversatility of Persian lyrics, she argues, hasallowedtheirconstantadaptationtochangingpoliticalcontexts.ShelleyMeagherrevealstheway the poet, Thomas Moore, made use ofkeyaspectsofPersianpoetrytocommentonnationalaffairsofhisnativeIreland.PhilippeCharluet and Christopher Wood contributemorepersonal insights into thepoeticworldofthePersians:throughthemusicwithwhichpoetry is inextricably linked and throughreflectiononIran’scomplexculturallandscape.

FinallyClareWilliamson,ExhibitionsCuratorat the SLV, and James Bennett, Curator ofAsianArtattheArtGalleryofSouthAustralia(AGSA), report on the increasing number ofsignificantmanuscriptsfromtheIslamicworldentering public collections in Australia. TheAGSA remains our only cultural institutiondedicating a permanent gallery space tothe various arts of Islam, yet the SLV hasshown considerable initiative in expandingits collection of Persian and other easternmanuscriptsandindevelopingthisexhibitioninassociationwiththeBodleianLibraries.

By so doing the SLV has positioned itselfalongside leading international institutionsseeking to challenge long-held notions ofperceived opposition between east andwest and uniformity in Islamic art formsby applying the more nuanced perspectiveof recent scholarship. Iran now stands at acrossroadinitslonghistory,yetitspoetryandstoriesendure -atoncedeeplysymbolicandapproachable; celebrating Iran’s distant past,yettolerant,relevantandastonishinglytopical.

Note:Theterms‘Persia’and‘Iran’havebeenused almost interchangeably throughout thisissue.ThelanguagespokenbymostIraniansis‘Farsi,’buttheterm‘Persian’iswidelyacceptedin English. Persian words and names havebeentransliteratedusingasimplifiedversionof that used by the International Journal ofMiddleEasternStudies(IJMES).Theconsonants‘ayn (‘) and hamza (’) are represented byapostrophes. Dated manuscripts are giventheir Islamic calendar (AH) dates first withthe corresponding Christian calendar (AD)dates following in parenthesis. BC dates arespecifiedwhenappropriate.

GillGrEEn•PRESIDENT

ArthistorianspecialisinginCambodianculture

ChristinasUMnEr•VICE PRESIDENT

PrincipalCurator,DesignandSociety,PowerhouseMuseum,Sydney

annGUild•TREASURER

FormerDirectoroftheEmbroidersGuild(UK)

dyandrEasEn•SECRETARY

HasaspecialinterestinJapanesehaikuandtankapoetry

hWEi-fE’nChEah

VisitingFellow,SchoolofCulturalInquiry,AustralianNationalUniversity.

JoCElynChEy

VisitingProfessor,DepartmentofChineseStudies,UniversityofSydney;formerdiplomat

MattCoX

StudyRoomCo-ordinator,ArtGalleryofNewSouthWales,withaparticularinterestinIslamicArtofSoutheastAsia

PhiliPCoUrtEnay

FormerProfessorandRectoroftheCairnsCampus,JamesCookUniversity,withaspecialinterestinSoutheastAsianceramics

lUCiEfolan

AssistantCurator,AsianArt,NationalGalleryofAustralia

sandraforBEs

Editorialconsultantwithlong-standinginterestinSouthandSoutheastAsianart

JosEfaGrEEn

GeneraleditorofTAASAReview.CollectorofChineseceramics,withlong-standinginterestinEastAsianartasstudentandtraveller

Min-JUnGKiM

CuratorofAsianArts&DesignatthePowerhouseMuseum

annProCtor

ArthistorianwithaparticularinterestinVietnam

yUKiEsato

FormerVicePresidentoftheOrientalCeramicSocietyofthePhilippineswithwide-ranginginterestinAsianartandculture

saBrinasnoW

HasalongassociationwiththeArtGalleryofNewSouthWalesandaparticularinterestintheartsofChina

hon.aUditor

RosenfeldKantandCo

s t a t E r E P r E s E n t a t i V E s

AUSTRALIANCAPITALTERRITORY

roBynMaXWEll

VisitingFellowinArtHistory,ANU;SeniorCuratorofAsianArt,NationalGalleryofAustralia

NORTHERNTERRITORY

JoannaBarrKMan

CuratorofSoutheastAsianArtandMaterialCulture,MuseumandArtGalleryoftheNorthernTerritory

QUEENSLAND

rUssEllstorEr

CuratorialManager,AsianandPacificArt,QueenslandArtGallery

SOUTHAUSTRALIA

JaMEsBEnnEtt

CuratorofAsianArt,ArtGalleryofSouthAustralia

VICTORIA

CarolCains

CuratorAsianArt,NationalGalleryofVictoriaInternational

4

he international exhibition, Love andDevotion: From Persia and Beyond is the

result of a unique partnership between theStateLibraryofVictoria(SLV)andtheBodleianLibrariesoftheUniversityofOxford.ItisthefirstmajorexhibitionofPersianmanuscriptstobeheldinAustralia,andwillfocusonthebeautyof themanuscriptsand the storiesofhumananddivinelovethataretoldthroughtheir pages. These tales were copied andsometimes reinterpreted over time, reachingfarbeyondthebordersofIran,speakingtotheheartandsoulofvastareasofAsia.

Theother-worldlyatmosphereanduniversalthemes of Persian narrative and mysticalpoetry appealed especially to audiences innorthern India during the Mughal era, andalsointheterritoriesruledbytheSeljuqsandlater the Ottomans in Anatolia and furtherwest in the region of modern-day Turkey.The lifestyle of the poets in these regionsand the relaxed gatherings at which poetrywassharedborelittlerelationshiptopoliticalboundaries of the time (McChesney 1996). Through shared sources in antiquity andcultural exchange through trade, travel anddiplomacy,manystoriesconveyedinPersianpoetry intersected with European literature.Writers in Europe such as Chaucer, Danteand Shakespeare, increasingly reflected anunderstandingandinterestinPersiathroughtheirplays,poetryandprose.

Persian literary culture flourished in theprincely and imperial courts of Iran andits neighbouring empires where luxurymanuscripts were crafted for elite patrons.Calligraphers, illuminators, painters andbinders worked in teams, producingillustrated manuscripts in prodigiousquantities,creatingoneoftherichestperiodsin thehistoryof thebook.At the same timemany of the stories contained in thesemanuscripts were embraced throughoutall sectors of society, told and retoldwithinfamiliesandatcommunitygatherings.

The exhibition showcases a rich selection ofworks from the world-renowned holdingsof the Bodleian Libraries, one of the oldestcollections of manuscripts and printedbooks in the United Kingdom. These arecomplemented by rare works from the SLVandotherAustraliancollections.TheBodleianLibrary’s founding in 1602 coincided witha time of increasing interest in the East.

4

T

L O V E A N D D E V O T I O N : F R O M P E R S I A A N D B E Y O N D – A N E X H I B I T I O N AT T H E S LV

SusanScollay

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O . 1

thEyoUthandthEsinGinGGirl, LEAF FROM A DISBOUND MANUSCRIPT OF JAMI, BahaRiSTan, DATED YEAR 39,

ILAHI ERA, REIGN OF AKBAR (1595 AD), LAHORE, BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

5TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O . 1

Over subsequent centuries its holdingswere augmented through the generosityand foresight of scholar-collectors such asArchbishopWilliamLaud,EdwardPococke,Archbishop Narcissus Marsh, John BardoeElliott and in particular, the brothers SirWilliamandSirGoreOuseley.It istheirrolein the collection and preservation of thesemanuscripts that enables a wide range ofscholarsandaudiencestodaytoappreciatethesignificanceandbeautyofPersianliterature.

The manuscripts travelling from Oxfordrange in age from the 13th to the 18thcenturies, and include a large number ofsecurely dated examples and several withan imperial provenance. These include amagnificent copy of the Baharistan (GardenofSpring)composedbythePersianpoetJamiin1487,andpreparedfortheemperorAkbaratLahorein1595,duringaneraregardedbymanyas thehighestpointofMughal luxurymanuscript production. One of its eightchapters is devoted to love. In it a youngmanhearsagirlsingingontheterraceofhermaster’shouseandfallsinloveatthesoundof her voice (Topsfield 2012). Some of theseexhibitionworkswillbeknowntospecialistsinthefieldfrompreviouspublications,whilemost are being exhibited and published forthefirsttimeinMelbourne.

For many in the western world ourintroduction to the world of Persian poetryandculturewasthroughthepagesofacopyof Edward FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat of OmarKhayyam.FitzGeraldwasaneccentricEnglishscholarwho,inOxfordinthemid-1850s,wasencouraged by his Persian language teacherand friend, E.B. Cowell, to translate a 15thcentury copy of Khayyam’s original verses.The Bodleian Library had acquired the text,written in delicate Persian script, a littlemore than a decade earlier. The short,wittyverseshadfirstbeenwritten in11thcenturyNishapur,an importantcity innorth-easternPersia, where Khayyam was famous as anastronomerandmathematicianratherthanasawriter.

FitzGerald’s imaginative rendition, firstpublishedin1859,wouldeventuallybecomeone of the best-selling works of poetry inthe English-speaking world and was alsotranslated into many other languages,inspiringartistsandmusicians(Decker1997).While fanciful in parts and certainly not aliteraltranslationoftheoriginal,FitzGerald’sfree interpretation offered Europeans aglimpse into the world of mediaeval Persiawith its rich court life, ritual and ceremony;itsfriendshipsandloveaffairs;finecostume,gardenparties,musicandloveofbeauty.

In a 1946 edition of Fitzgerald’sRubaiyat inthe SLV’s collection, the frequently quotedlines from the 11th stanza are accompaniedby an illustration by Sarkis KatchadourianthatcapturestheessentialimageryofPersianpoetry.Anidealisedlovingcouplesymbolisethe connection between eternal beauty andtheyearninglover.Theyoungmanoffersthewinecuptohisbelovedastheysitsurroundedby the accessories of romance – the wineflask, food, a book of poetry and amusicalinstrument(seep9ofthisissue).

TheRubaiyatwasnot theonlyPersianworktranslated by FitzGerald.Amystic narrativecalled Mantiq al-Tayr (Conference of theBirds), written by the 12th century Persianpoet, ‘Attar, was treated by FitzGerald in asimilar way, with episodes rearranged andsome imagery realigned to suit Europeanpoetic understanding.Yet scholars generally

agree that, as in his work on the Rubaiyat,FitzGeraldcapturedtheessentialatmosphereandfeelingoftheoriginalverse.

The Persian language (Farsi) is written inthe Arabic alphabet that displaced manylocal scripts as the religion of Islam spreadinto Iranian territory in themid-7th centuryafterthefalloftheSasanianempire.OttomanTurkishwasalsowritteninArabicscriptuntil1928,andlanguagesinnorthernIndiaandinAfghanistan still use it.MostPersianpoetryiswritten inastyleofcalligraphyknownasnasta‘liq,characterisedbyitselegant,loopingcurves. Itwastheadoptionofpaper-makingin 9th century Iran that enabled increasedproductionofmanuscriptsineliteworkshops.Thekhitabhana,astheywereknown,employedpapermakers, calligraphers and painters,bookbinders anddesigners and itwas theseartistswhoadaptedtheornamentationofthe

thEGhostofnizaMiWElCoMEsnaVa’i, INTRODUCED BY JAMI. FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF NAVA’I, Sadd-i iSkandaR,

ONE VOLUME OF A khamSa, DATED AH 890 (1485 AD), BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

6 TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O . 1

artofthebookforuseinallothermediasuchasceramicsandtextiles.

The manuscripts displayed in Melbourneare secular in origin, made for private usewithouttheavoidanceoffigural imagesthatcharacterises copies of theQur’an or prayerbooksmade for religious use in the Islamicworld. Much Persian poetry has its originsin the pre-Islamic era of the great Persianempires, yet as the stories were retold andrefashionedmanyacquiredaspiritualoverlay,stemming from visionary mysticism ratherthan religious doctrine. The verse is highlysymbolicandanidealvehicleorbridgetolinkearthly and heavenly images – profane andspiritualideas.Sufimysticthoughtpermeatesall poetry after the 12th century, even thatwrittenatcourt.

Poetry and other forms of literature were,andstillare,regardedasthehighestformofcultureinthePersianateworld.Poetsandtheirskilful use of highly ornamented languageplayedakeyroleinthecreationofacourtlyculture in which the book arts, prestigiousgiftexchangesofillustratedmanuscriptsandtheformationofimperiallibrarieswerevitalcomponentsofkingship.AnoutstandingcopyofFirdausi’s11thcenturyShahnama (BookofKings)producedinShirazcirca1430includesa portrait of its patron, Ibrahim Sultan, agrandson of the great Central Asian leader,Timur (Tamerlane), depicted holding court

inapalatialsetting(seecoverimage).Atthetime themanuscriptwasproduced, IbrahimSultanwasservingasthegovernorofShirazandhisportraitinthiscopyoftheShahnamareinforces readers’ perception of him as agenerous patron and legitimate successor tothegloriouskingsofancientIran.

AsuperbillustrationfromoneoftheBodleianmanuscripts helps explain the central placethatpoetryandpoetsheldinPersianculture.Beautifully painted in the 15th century, thework,which illustratesa re-interpretationofa romance first made popular by the great12thcenturyPersianpoet,Nizami,wasonceconsideredtohaveoriginatedintheworkshopof Bihzad, possibly from the hand of themaster himself. Recent scholarship howeverattributesittoapainterwhosename,Qasim‘Ali,appearsinthetext(Barry2004).

Themanuscriptiscopiedonhighlypolished,gold-sprinkled paper, with outstandingcalligraphy carefully set in places at anangle. It recounts the story of Alexanderthe Great, who was known in the Islamicworld as Iskandar, afigure seen asnot onlya great military leader and wise ruler, butalso as enlightened to the point of spiritualperfection, ‘the perfect human’. The poet,Nizami, isdepicted as awiseold scholar orsage seated just left of centre, dressed in adark red robe and blue shawl, his writingtoolsonthegroundinfrontofhim.

Nizami is best known for bringing togetherfive of his long narrative poems into acompilation called simplyKhamsa - meaning‘five’–a‘Quintet’.TheAlexanderromancewasoneofNizami’sfiveworksandgenerationsofpoetsafterwardswrote theirownversionsofeachofthestories,alltryingtooutdoeachotherwhiletryingtoimproveonNizami’soriginal.Such‘emulation’–tazminasthePersianscalledit -was themarkofaskilledpoetandmuchvaluedinPersianculture.

The illustration is one page of amanuscriptcomposed by Nava’i, the pen name of Mir‘Ali Shir, a high-ranking court official andclose companion of the reigning sultan, ashis version ofNizami’s Persian original.AnethnicUighur fromeastTurkestan,he choseto write it in an eastern form of Turkish,thoughasaculturedandeducatedpersonhealsospokeandwroteinPersian.

This evocative scene of a number ofrevered Persian poets both living and dead,measuringonly12cmby16cm,issetatnightwithadeep-blue,lapislazuliskypiercedbyacrescentmoonshiningdirectlyonthecentralfigure of Nizami.Moonlight illuminates thewhole scene, without shadows andwithoutperspective asWestern artistsunderstand it.Nizami’sslightlystoopedupperbodyechoesthe curve of the lunar crescent as he leanstowardsthetwolivingpoetsonhisleft:JamiandNava’ihimself(inagreenrobe,humbly

zUlayKha’sMaidsoVErCoMEBythEBEaUtyofyUsUf,FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF JAMI, YuSuf u ZulaYkha, DATED AH 977 (1569 AD), BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD


bowing to theoldmaster).Nizami’spostureisthatoftheoldSufimasterswhohavespenttheirlivesinprayerandcontemplation.

In the visual language of illustrated Persianmanuscripts,thecrescentmoonisasymbolofmysticalSufis,manyofwhomwerealsopoetswhospoke,wroteandsangabouthumanloveas thefirststeponthewaytospiritual love,thejourneytowardsattainmentofunitywiththeDivine.Thesceneisanidealisedversionofreality,conveyingtheculturalandspiritualideas of theworld of the Persian poets andtheirhistoricalandgeographicalreach.Many of the classic stories written by thesepoets are recounted to this day throughoutthe Persian - speaking world. The exploitsof their iconic protagonists - the great heroRustam; the love triangleofKhusrau,Shirinand Farhad; the tale of Bahram Gur andthe seven princesses in the seven palacepavilions he built for them; the love storyof Yusuf and Zulaykha; and the tragedy ofLaylaandMajnun,describedbyLordByronasthe‘RomeoandJulietoftheEast’andtheinspirationbehindEricClapton’s1970ssongofthwartedlove,‘Layla.’Like many Persian stories, the story ofYusuf and Zulaykha is ancient in originandarchetypal in itsplot. It relates a taleofan unusually handsome and chaste youngman who resists the advances of an olderwoman. Many in the western world knowthe story from the Biblical book of Genesisas the account of thevirtuous slave, Joseph,andthewifeoftheEgyptianofficial,Potiphar.Previously in commentaries on the Jewishscripturesthefemaleprotagonistwasnamedas Zulaykha. In the version in the Qur’an,Yusuf (Joseph), the manifestation of DivineBeauty,isdescribedbythewomenofEgyptas‘notamanbutanobleangel.’Scholars tellus thatat least18PersianpoetswrotetheirversionsofthestorybasedontheQur’anicaccountbutwithembellishmentsoftheirown.Thegreatmystic,Rumi,mentionsit frequently inhispoetry;Sa‘di fromShirazretold it in the 13th century; and one of thebest-knownlaterversionswaswrittenin1484as amystical allegory by the great religiousauthority,Jami,fromHerat.ItwasthisversionwrittenbyJamithatisstillregardedasthebestexampleofamysticallovestoryinallIslamicliterature. Some episodes from the storywereparticular favouritesof illustratorsandexhibitionvisitorswillenjoypagesdepictingZulaykhamadwith love for Yusuf (Joseph)aftershefirstseeshiminadream,Yusufbeingsoldintoslavery,Zulaykha’smaidsfaintingatthesightofhim,andthegraceofthelovers’

finalmysticalmarriageafterZulaykhagainsspiritual enlightenment and her youth andbeautyaremiraculouslyrestored.The rarity of the manuscripts and strictconservation considerations mean thatthe exhibition will be limited to a 16 weekseason, exclusively at the SLV. After this,themanuscriptswill return tostorageat theBodleianLibrariesandinDecember2012theexhibitionwillberemountedattheUniversityof Oxford. The exhibition is accompaniedby a publication with more than 130 full-page colour illustrations, and essays fromAustralian and international specialists.A conference supported by the AustralianNational University and by TAASA will beheldattheSLVfrom12-14April,2012.

Susan Scollay is an art historian specialising in the

Islamic world. She is guest co-curator of love and

devotion: from Persia and Beyond and editor of the

publication that accompanies the exhibition.

rEfErEnCEsBarry, Michael. 2004. figurative art in medieval islam.

Flammarion, Paris.

FitzGerald, Edward. 1997. Rubáiyát of Omar kháyyám: a Critical

Edition, ed. Christopher Decker. University Press of Virginia,

Charlottesville.

McChesney, R.D. ‘“Barrier of Heterodoxy”?: Rethinking the Ties

Between Iran and Central Asia in the C17’ in Charles Melville ed.,

1996. Safavid Persia: history and Politics of an islamic Society, I.B.

Tauris, London.

Topsfield, Andrew. ‘Images of Love and Devotion: Illustrated

Mughal Manuscripts and Albums in the Bodleian Library’, in Susan

Scollay ed., 2012. love and devotion: from Persia and Beyond,

Macmillan Art Publishing, in association with the State Library of

Victoria and the Bodleian Library.

thEMarriaGEofyUsUfandzUlayKha, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF JAMI, YuSuf u ZulaYkha,

DATED AH 1004 (1595 AD), BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD


Aconsciousnessassociatedwiththesoulismorerelaxed,lessintentionalisedthanaconsciousnessassociatedwiththephenomenaofthemind.(GastonBachelard1969:xvii)

oetry plays a unique role in the psycheof Iranians, the majority of whom have

remained closely connected to their poetsthroughoutthecenturies.SpeakingtotheNewYork Times in August 2011, Professor EhsanYarshaterofColumbiaUniversityandgeneraleditorof theEncyclopedia Iranicaproject,wasquoted as saying that Persian poetry wasIran’sgreatestculturalcontribution.

Persian poetry and poets, throughoutIranianhistory,haveplayedapivotalroleinenrichingaswellasshapingthefoundationsofPersiancultureanditscomplexandmulti-ethnic components. In their day-to-daylives, regardless of their social and culturalposition, Iranians have consciously takentheir poets into their hearts. Among thelong lineofhistoricalpoets,OmarKhayyam(1048–1131)holdsaspecialplace,bothinthewesternunderstandingofPersianpoetryandculture,butalsoinPersianheartsandminds.Hispersonalityaswellashispoetryappealsto ordinary Iranians, who have a collectiveconnectiontohismasterpiece,theRubaiyat.

Omar Khayyam was an importantmathematician,philosopherandastronomer.He was born in Nishapur, which was thecapital of Khorassan, a province of Persia(modernIran)inthenorth-eastofthecountry.ItwasthefirstPersianprovincetobeinvadedby the Turkmen tribes under their Seljuqrulers in 1040, before they expanded theirrule from Nishapur to include all of PersiaandMesopotamia.IntheintroductiontotheirtranslationoftheRubaiyat,AveryandHeath-Stubbspointout:

Khorassan was commercially rich. Itsprincipal cities lay on the trade routeswhich extend from the Far East throughPersia to the Mediterranean. It was alsofertile and so attracted invasion by thenomadicpeopleofCentralAsiaoncetheirtribal hosts had come as far west as theriverOxus.Throughout theMiddleAgesthe inhabitantsofKhorrasanwere taughtpainful lessons in sudden reversals offortune(qtd.inAidani2010:27)

P

P o E t r y i n t h E i r a n i a n P s y C h E : r E f l E C t i o n s o n o M a r K h ay ya M ’ s R U B A I YA T

MammadAidani

rUBaiyat, ILLUMINATED TITLE FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF OMAR KHAYYAM, DATED AH 865 (1460 AD),

SHIRAz, BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD


OmarKhayyam’s approach to the questionsof human existence and of temporality wasarguably one of the most innovative of theMiddleAgesanduptotheRenaissance,when,for the first time in the history of westernphilosophy, the question of the existence ofthe self was discussed by the metaphysicaland rational 16th-century philosopher, ReneDescartes. Khayyam’s ideas transcended hisown background and made him one of thegreat universal poets whose philosophicalinsightshavecontributedenormouslytoourunderstanding of how to reflect and learnand, by extension, to recognise thatwe liveinthemoment; thatweneedtoembracetheidea thatmomentspass, andwith themourephemeralexistence.

Asapoet-philosopher,OmarKhayyammaybe understood as the first rationalist andscientist to turn to thequestionof ‘being’ inorder to focus his attention on the problemofexistence.Hispoetry is theproductofhisquestioning.Heencouragedhisreaderstoaskthesamequestionsandseek themeaningoftheirbeingintheworld.OmarKhayyamwasarguablytheprecursorofthosethinkerswhoputforwardtheconceptoflivingpoeticallyintheworld.Inotherwords,onecouldmakea

casethathewasthefirstIranianthinkerwhoexplicitlyraisedthequestionofconsciousnessin the self and its direct embodiment in thewayoneperceivesandexperiencestheworld.

This concept, advocated byOmarKhayyamin his poetry almost eleven centuries ago,should be recognised as one of the ideasthat dominatedmany of the great 19th and20th century Western philosophers such asNietzsche(1844–1900),Jean-PaulSartre(1905– 1980) and Jacques Derrida (1930 – 2004).A vigorous interpretation of his RubaiyatsuggeststhatOmarKhayyamwasoneofthefirstexistentialthinkersofthelastmillennium.

OmarKhayyamdirected his thinking to thequestionof‘being’inordertochallengewell-establishedviewsthatignoredtheprimacyofhumanbeingsintheworld,consideringthemasmereobjects.Thisledhimtoelevatehumanbeingsinhispoetrytothelevelofmastersoftheirownchoices in lifeandownersof theirexperienceintheworld.Khayyaminviteshisreaders to recognise and embrace that theyare living in ‘moments’ and to acknowledgethateachmomentpassesanddoesnotreturn.Forhim,weare all embedded in thisworldanddonotknowwherewearegoingbeyond

it.Accordingtohim,wedonotknowhowtoanswerthequestionsofwhywearehereandwhatisawaitinguselsewhere,beyondthosefadingmoments.Asheputsitinthefollowingruba‘i(quatrain):

Awake!ForMorningintheBowlofNightHasflungtheStonethatputstheStarstoFlight:AndLo!TheHunteroftheeasthascaughtTheSultan’sTurretinaNooseofLight.(A.J.Arberry1982:I)

This challenging concept is one of his verysignificant contributions to an ontologicalsearch for the meaning of our existence inthe world that not only fascinated but alsovigorously engaged the greatest thinkers ofthe west throughout the 20th century. Theeventual re-appearance ofOmarKhayyam’sRubaiyat from centuries of obscurity andits celebrity inwestern literature are due tothe English writer and translator EdwardFitzGerald (1809–83), without whom thisold man of the east would not have beenthe subject of somuch interest and of sucha multiplicity of interpretations. Khayyam’sverses had been translated previously, butwhen FitzGerald made his version from a

rUBaiyatofoMarKhayyaM, EDWARD FITzGERALD. ILLUSTRATED BY SARKIS KATCHADOURIAN, GROSSET AND DUNLAP, 1946. STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA


15th centuryPersianmanuscript held in theBodleianLibraryitwaseventuallynoticedbya successionofpoets, artists andorientaliststhat included Dante Gabriel Rossetti andJohn Ruskin. Later revisions of FitzGerald’stranslationwentontobecomebest-sellersinthe English-speaking world, and were latertranslated into anumber of other languages(Williamson: 2012, 171-72). It is evenarguedthat itwas through FitzGerald that IraniansfoundtheirtrueOmarKhayyam.

IranianswhoknowOmarKhayyam’spoetry,understand its essence and meaning to bedeeplyrootedinancientPersianphilosophicalperceptionsofexistenceandbelief.AsAveryandHeath-Stubbsexplain:

[T]he frequent imagery of mortal clayturned into pots, or of flowers and theedgesofbookthatwereoncehumanlipsand limbs, canbe consideredpantheistic.But the emphasis is onMan rather thanonGod, and in Persian thought it is notsomuchamatterof‘pantheism’asofthesentiment that all the elements of God’screation -ofnature -are inextricablyandsympathetically combined. Thus the‘pantheism’ in the imagery of Persianpoetry cannot be taken unreservedly asrepresentingwhatismeantbythistermintheWest.ItsoriginslieinadeeplyrootedOrientalacceptanceofnature’soneness,aconcept whichmay not include belief inadivineCreator inoroutsidethenaturalorder.(qtd.inAidani:2010:28)

The following lines clearly and powerfullyillustrate the oneness of nature as OmarKhayyamperceivedandunderstooditwithinhisPersianculture:

Sincenobodyhasalienontomorrow,Gladdenthesadheartnow;Drinkwineinthemoonlight,mydear,Becausethemoonwillrevolvealongtimeandnotfindus.(qtd.inAidani2010:28)

InmyrecentstudyofIranians’experiencesofdisplacementandintheprocessofcollectingtheir life stories (Aidani 2010), many of theparticipantsmadereferencetotheimportanceof Iranian poets and writers in their lives.Among these, Omar Khayyam and theprofound message of his poetry featuredstrongly.ThereisnodoubtthatKhayyamhasbeenasourceofdeepinsightstotheseIraniansandseemstorelatedirectlytotheirdisplacedlives.Inparticular,Khayyam’sphilosophyof‘being’intheworldand‘now-ness’providesthem with the capacity to reflect moredeeplyontheirlives-wherevertheyareand

regardlessofthehardshiptheyexperienceintheworld.ThisexistentialattitudewasmadeexplicitbyoneparticipantinmysurveywhenwediscussedOmarKhayyam’s influenceonhislife.Themansuddenlyrecitedtome:

Ifonlytherewereoccasionforrepose,Ifonlythislongroadhadanend,And in the track of a hundred thousandyears,outoftheheartofdustHopesprang,likegreenness.

Poetry and the meaning of existence areentrenched in the psyche of those Iranianswhoaredeeply attached to the rich culturalandcreativelegacytheyhaveinheritedfromtheirgreatpoets,whoseworksareeloquentlyexpressed in their beautifully poetic andmusicalPersianlanguage,Farsi.ThisbodyofworkrepresentsforIraniansagreatsourceofresiliencewhenfacingdifficulties.Itenrichestheirindividualandcollectiveidentityaswellbeinganongoingfountofjoyandhope.

Dr Mammad Aidaniis an award-winning playwright

and inter-disciplinary scholar specialising in

hermeneutics philosophy, cultural theory and

narrative psychology based in the School of Historical

and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne.

This essay is an extract from a longer manuscript

being prepared for publication.

rEfErEnCEsAidani, M. 2010. Welcoming the Stranger: narratives of identity

and Belonging in an iranian diaspora. Common Ground

Publishers, Melbourne.

Bachelard, Gaston. 1969. The Poetics of Space, trans. from French

by Maria Jolas, Beacon Press, Boston.

The Rubaiyat of Omar khayyam and Other Persian Poems: an

anthology of Verse Translations, ed. A.J. Arberry. Reprinted 1982.

L.M. Dent and Sons Ltd. London.

Williamson, Clare. 2012. ‘Imagining Persia: European Travellers’

Tales and their Literary Offspring,’ in Susan Scollay ed., love and

devotion: from Persia and Beyond, Macmillan Art Publishing,

in association with the State Library of Victoria and the Bodleian

Library.

Omar khayyam (in Persian), http://www.afarzaneh.com/khayyam.pdf

To register your interest, reserve a place or for further information contact Ray Boniface

PO Box U237 University of Wollongong NSW 2500 Australia

p: +61 2 4228 3887 m: 0409 927 129e: [email protected]

ABN 21 071 079 859 Lic No TAG1747

H E R I TA G E D E S T I N AT I O N SN AT U R E • B U I L D I N G S • P E O P L E • T R A V E L L E R S

INSIDE BURMA: THE ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE

CAMBODIA: ANGKOR WAT AND BEYOND

ISAN: THAILAND’S ANCIENT KHMER CONNECTION

26 October – 14 November 2012Few people have immersed themselves

as deeply in Burma as TAASA contributor Dr Bob Hudson. His longstanding annual Burma

program features extended stays in medieval Mrauk U, capital of the lost ancient kingdom of Arakan (now Rakhine State) and Bagan,

rivalling Angkor Wat as Southeast Asia’s richest archaeological precinct. Exciting experiences in Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay and a private cruise down the mighty Ayeyarwady are also

included. Limited places available.Land Only cost per person

twinshare ex Yangon $3990

29 October – 15 November 2012Angkor’s timeless grandeur is unmissable.Yet

Cambodia offers a host of other important cultural and travel experiences: outstanding ancient, vernacular and French colonial architecture;

spectacular riverine environments; a revitalising urban capital in Phnom Penh; interesting cuisine and beautiful countryside. Gill Green, President

of TAASA, art historian and author specialising in Cambodian culture; and Darryl Collins, prominent Australian expatriate university lecturer, museum curator, and author who has lived and worked in Cambodia for over twenty years, have designed

and co-host this annual program.Land Only cost per person

twinshare ex Phnom Penh $4600

07 February – 25 February 2013Isan is the least visited part of Thailand.

But this north-eastern region has a distinctive identity and, in many ways, is the Kingdom’s

heartland. Here older Thai customs remain more intact and sites of historical and archaeological

significance abound. Darryl Collins and Gill Green (see above) expertly host this new journey which

includes spectacular Khmer temples such as Prasat Phimai, Phanom Rung, Prasat Meung Tam, and Ban Chiang (the most important prehistoric settlement so far discovered in Southeast Asia). Other inclusions, including a sidetrip across the mighty Mekong into Laos to explore Wat Phu

Champasak, are also scheduled.Land Only cost per person

twinshare ex Bangkok $4500


ove andDevotion: FromPersia andBeyond– such is the title of the exhibition of

Persian and other manuscripts at the StateLibrary of Victoria to which this issue ofTAASAReviewisdevoted.Surelythissoundsinnocent enough?And yet, inwhat follows,Iwouldliketoconsidertheoppositionsthatsuch a title implicitly calls into play, andthe questions these raise for our informedappreciationof theworks fromtheBodleianLibraries, on display in Melbourne. I willdo so from theperspectiveof aPersianSufipoetuniversallyacknowledgedasoneofthegreatestexemplarsoftheart:ShaykhFaridal-Din‘AttarNishapuri(c.1145–1221).Imeantoallow‘Attar,as itwere, totelluswhathewouldmakeofloveanddevotion,ofpassionfor one’s homeland (in this case Persia)and the lureofall that liesbeyond it.When

worldlyandother-worldlylovescollide,andloyaltytoone’sbelovedmaymeaninfidelitytoone’sfaith,whatshouldaSufido?

Some190workshavebeenattributedto‘Attarover the centuries: an exaggerated numberwhichatteststohispopularitythroughouttheeasternIslamicworld.Ofthehandfulofbooksagreedbymodernscholarstobeauthenticallyhis, the Mantiq al-Tayr (Conference of theBirds) stands out as ‘Attar’s undisputedpoetic masterpiece. A masnavi or religiousepic, theworkiscomposedof4724rhymingcouplets in the most authoritative modernedition(Shafi’iKadkani,AH1387(2008AD),and includes well over 100 well-wroughtillustrative tales set within the over-archingframework of the journey of the world’sassembledbirdstotheSimurgh.

ThefigureoftheSimurghisrootedintheoldestrecessesofPersianreligionandfolklore.Thename derives ultimately from Saena, a birdmentioned in theAvesta, the basic collectionofsacredtextsofZoroastrianism,theprimaryreligion practiced in Iran until the Arabinvasions and subsequent mass conversionstoIslaminthe7thcentury.Pahlavi-languagesourcesfromtheSasanidDynasty(224–650AD) speak of the ‘Senmurv’,whose nest liesonthe“treewithoutevilandofmanyseeds”(Schmidt 2002). Generally identified as abringerof rain, thisSenmurv is abenevolentfigure in the largely arid Iranian plateau,in contrast to his counterpart ‘Kamak’, whoprevents the rains from fallingby spreadingwide his enormous wings, and therebybringingdrought(Schmidt2002).

L

loVE or dEVotion? froM PErsia or thE BEyond? – a PErsian sUfi PErsPECtiVE

RafalStepien

‘attarConVErsinGinaCoUrtyard, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF A WORK ATTRIBUTED TO GAzURGAHI,

maJaliS al-‘uShShaQ, DATED AH 959 (1552 AD), BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

thEhooPoEtEllsthEBirdsaBoUtthEsiMUrGh, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF ‘ATTAR,

manTiQ al-TaYR, DATED AH 898 (1493-94 AD), BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD


TheSimurghmaintaineditsholdonthePersianimagination into Islamic times, appearingnotably in the Shahnama (Book of Kings) ofFirdausi(940–1020).Inchoosingtoutilisethisfiguresodeeplygrounded inhisownPersianmythological heritage to structure his Sufinarrative, ‘Attar perhaps wished to conveysomething of the ambivalence he may havefelt toward himself as a PersianMuslim. Therelated themes of home-leaving and home-coming, community and alienation, nationalandspiritualidentity,recurthroughout‘Attar’scollectedworks:itisinthefigureoftheSimurghthatwefindthesethemesmostconspicuouslydrawntogether.

‘Attar’s Simurgh has been described as“enigmatic beyond description… It is theking that all the birds seek and, yet, noneother than their own reflection” (Keshavarz2006: 125).What on earth could this mean?Andcoulditmeananythingearthlyatall?Ontheonehand,itisobviousthattheSimurghisunderstoodtobeanallegoricalrepresentationofthetranscendentDivinity;ontheother,itisbutabirdlikealltheothers.Incharacteristicfashion, ‘Attar parries these questions withapun-thesinglemostcelebratedpuninallof Persian literature. Though amultitude ofbirds setouton thearduousquest in searchoftheSimurgh,only30birds(simurgh)arrive,andtherebyrealizethattheyarenothingotherthantheSimurghItself:

AssoonasthethirtybirdslookedatItTheycouldbutseethatthirtybirdswereSimurgh

TheirheadsallspuninbewildermentTheyknewnotthisuntiltheybecamethat

TheysawthemselvestobealltheSimurghSimurghItselfhadalwaysbeenthethirtybirds

(Mantiqal-Tayr4263-65).‘Thirtybirds’isinallcasestheliteraltranslationof‘simurgh’.

The Simurgh, then, is an irreduciblyparadoxical figure, straddling what ‘Attaroften calls “the twoworlds” of this life andtheafterlife,themundaneanddivinerealms.Onlyafewlineslater,theSimurghItselfspeaksofItsownpresenceasamirrorinwhicheachthingisrestoredtoitsownself-identity:

EachonewhocomesseeshimselfinItBodyandsoulseebodyandsoulinIt.

Sinceyou’rethirtybirdswhohavecomehereAsthirtyinthismirroryouappear(Mantiqal-Tayr4274-75).

Andyet,inordertoarriveatItsnest,thebirdshavehad to traverse the sevenvalleysofallworldly and spiritual pursuits, includingeventhefinalvalley,thatofPovertyandSelf-Extinction,onlytobetoldthat:

AllthesevalleysthatyouhaveleftbehindAndallthesemanlydeedsthatyouhavedone

ThroughoutyouhavebutactedinMyactsYourvalleysof essenceandattributewerebutdreams(Mantiqal-Tayr4281-82).

Ipropose that ‘Attar’sSimurgh thus representsthe fundamental ambiguity in which everyseeker finds him or herself on the spiritualjourney towardone’sown true self. In seekingthe Simurgh beyond the confines of theircommon nests, the birds must traverse boththeexternalbordersof theirhomelandandtheinternalbarriersofself,leavingbehindalltracesof theirown identity. In explainingall the fussabouttheSimurgh,‘AttarhastheHoopoe,leaderofthepilgrim-birds,recountthestoryofhowoneofItsfeathersoncefellfromtheheavensinChina:

ThatfeatherisnowondisplayintheChinesegalleryThat’swhy“SeekknowledgeevenifitbeinChina”(Mantiqal-Tayr740).

This refers to the well-known saying of theProphetMuhammad,traditionallyunderstoodto mean both that the truth-seeker mustneeds leave the comforts of home, and thateverywhere – even somewhere as far awayasChina–hasknowledgetooffer.One’sownhome toocanbea sourceofknowledge,andthusonedoesnotneedtogoanywhereafteralltofindthetruth!

Onegetsaveryvividsenseofthisambiguityin an illustration accompanying ‘Attar’sverseintheBodleianmanuscript,MS.Elliott246, dated AH 898 (1493-94 AD). Here, thebirds areurgedby theHoopoe to set out tofindthefabledSimurgh.Thedepictionoftheassembled birds is as expected - until onenotices the central figure. This bird is notonly far larger thananyotherbut isdeckedoutwith kaleidoscopic feathers, a streamingruff,upturnedcomb,andgloriouslybillowingstreamers. He stands quite apart from therelatively drab mob around him, so muchso that one wonders whether this is not aportrayaloftheSimurghItself.Itissurelynotthe Hoopoe, which is usually depicted as asmallbrownishbirdwithcombandfinebeak.

In the Bodleian manuscript, the Hoopoeseems to be represented as the small bird

standing attentively in front of the larger-than-life figure dominating the illustration.Whatever we may make of this illustratedscene, there can be no doubt that the 15thcentury illuminator of ‘Attar’s masterpiecetook great pains to leave us wondering –again–aboutidentity.

Perhapswecanbetterunderstandthisthemeofidentity–beitpersonal,national,orspiritual–by turningto the issueof loveandreligiousdevotionasportrayedintheTaleofShaykhSan’an.ThisisbyfarthelongestandmostfamousofallthestoriesgatheredintheMantiqal-Tayr,andisplacedby‘Attaratacrucialpointintheepic’splot.Manyofthebirdshavejustpresentedtheirvariousexcusesas towhytheycannotsetoutonthequest.Inabidtosilencealltheirdoubtsandimbuethemwiththerequisitefervour,theHoopoetellsthematalewhichgoessomethinglike this:ShaykhSan’an,esteemedasceticandparagonofpiety,leavesMeccainsearchofthe‘idol’ appearing in his dreams – idol-worshipbeingoneofthegravestofIslamicsins.Havingfoundher–aChristiangirlasitturnsout–hefallsinconsolablyinlove,suchthat:

LoveofthegirlplunderedhissoulInfidelitystreamedfromhertresses,floodinghisfaith(Mantiqal-Tayr1237).

Theshaykhrejectsallhisdisciples’pleas forhimtoturnawayfromhisnewfoundbeloved.Sheinitiallypokesfunathisprofessedpietyandadvancedage,buteventuallyconsentstoaccepthimonfourconditions:

Bowdownbeforeanidol,burntheQur’anDrinkwine,andsewyoureyesshuttoyourfaith(Mantiqal-Tayr1350).

The shaykh accepts all she bids of him, andendsupnotonlyabandoningIslam,butevenagreeingtoworkasaswineherd.Allthisistoomuchforhisdisciples,whoeventuallyforsakehim to return toMecca.Onceback,however,they meet the shaykh’s closest companion,whoupbraids themfor turningtheirbackonthe shaykh, and immediately sets out withthem to reconquer the shaykh’s lost soul.Havingprayedandfastedfor40daysand40nights,thepilgrimsarerewardedwithavisionoftheProphetMuhammad,whoassuresthem:

KnowwithcertaintythatahundredworldsofsinAresetalightwithonesighofrepentance(Mantiqal-Tayr1520).

Uponseeinghiserstwhiledisciplesreturn,theshaykhissuddenlyrecalledtoIslam,suchthat:


Infidelityrosefromtheroad,andfaithsetinTheidol-worshipperofRomereturnedtoworshipoftheLord(Mantiqal-Tayr1539).

Spurred by her own dream-vision, theChristiangirl thenbegs the shaykh to accepther conversion to Islam. Newly converted,however,shecannotbearthepainofseparation,anddiesonthespot.‘Attarconcludesthat:

SuchfatebefallsoneoftentimesupontheroadofloveTheyonlyknowwhoknowtheloadoflove(Mantiqal-Tayr1597).

This story – to whose poetic beauty theforegoingsummarydoesscant justice–seemson the surface to present a rather orthodoxviewoftherelationbetweenloveandreligiousdevotion. The shaykh, it appears, was quitesimply blinded by passions he would havedonewelltosuppress.Allendswell,however,thoughnotwithoutthemercifulinterventionofMuhammadhimself,spurredbythepietyoftheshaykh’sdisciples. Indeed, the climacticdeathofthegirldespiteherconversionseemsonlytoconfirmthisratherrighteousreading,accordingtowhichshe,unfaithfultemptress,getsbutherjustdesserts,whiletheshaykhisreturnedtohisrightfulroleintheGod-givendispensation.

Such an interpretation runs into difficulties,however, oncewe try to take into account theprelude to the tale which ‘Attar puts into theHoopoe’s beak. As with his more frequentepilogues, such preludes function to give acertainsensetothestory,beitintermsofamoralexhortation,doctrinallesson,orsomesuchotherhermeneutickey.InthecaseofShaykhSan’an,wefindthefollowingversesintroducingthetale:

IftheyshouldtellyoutorenounceyourfaithOrifyoushouldbetoldtoditchyoursoul

Whoareyou?LeavebehindboththisandthatAbandonfaithandcastasideyoursoul

AnapostatemaycallthisiniquitySay:Loveisgreaterthanfaithandinfidelity

What’slovetodowithinfidelityandfaith?Whatcouldalovercareforhisownsoul?Eachonewhosestrideissureonlove’slongroadHasleftIslamandinfidelityinhistracks(Mantiqal-Tayr1173-76,1184).

These lines make ‘Attar’s position clear: theexigenciesof loveoverrideallother interests,including even those concerned with one’sspiritual well-being. ‘Ditch your soul,’ heurges, and to hell with the afterlife! Indeed,as the foregoing account of Shaykh San’anshows,this ispreciselywhatthestory’smainprotagonist does… but only to find releasefromthetormentsoflove(andfromtheinfernaltormentsthatwouldhaveawaitedhim)inthefinalpeaceofdevotiontothedivine.

In summary, then, we see that the centralfigures of the Mantiq al-Tayr are portrayedby‘Attarinsuchawayastorenderanyeasycharacterisations impossible. The SimurghandtheShaykhembodyboththeirhomelandand what lies beyond; and in proposingthemasmodelsforourownpursuits,‘Attarshows us that attachment to either passionordispassionwillleaveusfarremovedfromwhatwasneverdistant.Isuspectthat‘Attarwould thus have verymuch appreciated anexhibitiondedicatedtoLoveandDevotion;a

fittingtributetohimandhisfellowdevoteesoftheoneBeloved.

Rafal Stepienstudied Persian language and literature

at the University of Isfahan, Iran, and holds degrees

from the Universities of Western Australia, Oxford

and Cambridge. His current doctoral research at

Columbia University, New York, explores intersections

between poetry of the Buddhist and Sufi traditions.

rEfErEnCEsKeshavarz, F. 2006. ‘Flight of the Birds: The Poetic Animating the

Spiritual in ‘Attar’s mantiq al-Tayr’ in Lewisohn, L. & Shackle, C.

(eds.) ‘attar and the Persian Sufi Tradition, I. B. Tauris, London.

Ritter, H. 2003. The Ocean of the Soul, (Radtke, B., trans.), Brill,

Leiden.

Schmidt, H.P. 2002. ‘Simorg’ in Encyclopaedia iranica, accessed at

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/simorg

Shackle, C. 2006. ‘Representations of ‘Attar in the West and in

the East: Translations of the mantiq al-Tayr and the Tale of Shaykh

San’an’ in Lewisohn, L. & Shackle, C. (eds.) ‘attar and the Persian

Sufi Tradition, I. B. Tauris, London.

Shafi’i Kadkani. AH 1387 (2008 AD). mantiq al-Tayr., M-R. (ed.),

Milli, Tehran.

thEshayKhofsan‘anBEnEaththEWindoWofthEChristianGirl, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF ‘ATTAR,

manTiQ al-TaYR, DATED AH 898 (1493-94 AD), BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD


Bringwine,thatbyHafez’swill,fromapureheart,ImaywashHypocrisy’sdust,bythegoblet’sgrace(Hafiz2001:30)

nPersianatecultures,thevariousartshavemaintained their close interconnectivity

to a greater extent than inWestern cultures.Poetry, in its aural and visual forms,music,calligraphy, painting, metalwork, stucco,architecture,garden,carpetandtextiledesignand other arts share crucial principles and,to varying degrees, are interdependent. Theimportance of symbolism and allegory andthecapacitytobringtolifethepast,withitscontemporary implications, and to inspirelove and devotion, through connections toothersandtoGod,crossartisticforms.

In this context, an ideal social and spiritualencountersatisfiesallthesenses.Persiantextscontainmanypoeticaccountsofthepleasurederivedbyall,fromkingstopoorpoets,fromgatheringsthatachievethisaim.Thesoundsof an accomplished singer accompanied bysensitive musicians, in a visually beautifulsetting,whether‘natural’orskilfullycreated,withthetexturesoffinefabricandthetasteofabundantwineand food,arecomplementedby the sweet perfume of roses, musk andlovedones.

Insuchascene,themostsignificantcomponentis the use of language – the words thataccompanyeachartformand,usuallythroughmetaphor, reveal ‘the truth’. Each art form’sstatus has shifted over the centuries, butpoetry has held a dominant position and hasshaped the other arts, especially music. Therhythmic andmelodic patterns of Persian artmusicaredrawndirectlyfromclassicalpoetry.ThroughoutmostofthelonghistoryofPersianmusic,itslyricshavebeenviewedasthemostpowerful element. In Persian, there is oneword,she’r,forpoetryandlyrics.Mostclassicalvocalists and some singers of popular musicselecttextsfromtherepertoireofclassicalpoetryto suit their audiences’ situations and reflecttheir moods. Improvisation has been centraltothisprocess,demandinggreatsensitivity,aswellasvirtuosity,ofmusicalperformers.

Although the moral role of music has beenthesubjectofdebateandthesocialstatusofmusicians has mostly been low in Persian

contexts, the power ofmusic, encompassingpoetry, has always been acknowledged. InFirdausi’s Shahnama, or ‘Book of Kings’, themusician Barbad chooses a royal gardenas the setting for his conquest of the king’sheart,whichheachieveswitharepertoireofballadry, heroism and spirituality. Barbad’smusical performance, his versatility, sweetnature and poetic words ensure his rise topersonalpower.

While artmusicwas largely confined to thecourtuntilthe19thcenturyreignofNasir-al-dinShah,othermusicalforms,includingtherecitationof theShahnama,were available tothe less privileged. Before literacy becamewidespread, the performance of poetic textswas central to cultural and social life. Textsgainednewmeaningwitheachperformance,as they were linked to current events andlisteners’ personal situations. Melodic

I

‘ Wa s h i n G h y P o C r i s y ’ s d U s t ’ : P E r s i a n P o E t r y a n d P o P U l a r i r a n i a n M U s i C

GayBreyleyaPrinCEandPrinCEssfEastinGonatErraCE, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF HAFIz, diVan,

COPIED BEFORE 1717, BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD


recitationandmusicweretheprimarymeansof transmitting poetry across social classes,includingpeoplewithoutaccesstobooksandotherinscribedart.

Although an ephemeral art, musicalperformance was one of the most easilytransported, repeated and remembered.Performers were responsible for theinterpretation and presentation of a range ofnarratives, ideas and facts. In contextswheredirect speech could disadvantage or evenendanger the speaker, a skilful performerconveyedmessagesmetaphorically.Metaphoralso enabled multiple layers of meaning,especiallyaroundthecrucialthemeofloveandthetormentofseparationfromthebeloved.Ofcourse, the belovedmay represent amale orfemaleromanticpartner,aspiritualcompanion,God, an ideal such as freedom or justice, oranycombinationofthese.Guidedbyapoet’swords,then,amusicalperformerworkswithhis or her audience to create new meaningfromold.Inbroadterms,thistraditionpersists,eveninsomeoftoday’spopularmusic.

Thenotionof‘washinghypocrisy’sdust’recursindifferentformsintheversesofHafiz(c.1324-89),Iran’smostpopularpoet.Hypocrisyisoftenrepresentedasamajorobstacletotrueloveanddevotion – to the desired union of apparentopposites – and as the principal corrupter ofsocial, cultural and spiritual life. While thesymbolicbut‘true’wordsofapoetrevealtruthand enlighten audiences, the false words ofhypocrites deceive and pollute, leaving layersof destructive dust. Thedesire to ‘wash’ such‘dust’haslinkedPersianpoetryandmusicforcenturies.ThisistrueevenofsomeWesternisedpopular music, with contemporary lyrics, inIran’smorerecenthistory.

Therearemanydifferentwaystodefinepopularmusic,butitmaybeseenasbeginninginIranaspartofruhozi,atraditionofcomicimprovisatorytheatre. Ruhozi songs, while musically andlyrically simple, mocked the powerful andhypocriticalwith varying levels ofwit. In the20th century, with the advent of radio, theAlliedmilitary presence duringWorldWar IIandthePahlaviShahs’Westernisationpolicies,a new popularmusic industry developed.AswellastheWesterninfluences,thismusiccametobecloselylinkedwiththefilmindustryandwas influenced by developments in Arabic-speaking countries, especially in the 1950s,whenEgyptianfilmwaspopular.

Mostsongs in thisgenrewerecomposedforthepurposeoflightentertainment,butamongthemwerepiecesthatdrewonPersianpoetictraditions, orwere interpreted as containingthemultiplelayersofmeaningandallegorical

references expected by readers of Persianpoetry.Suchsongswereoftenreadaspoeticprotests against hypocrisy, injustice orother obstacles to freedom and love, and asarticulationsoflongingfortruthandfreedom.

As with art music compositions, there arepopularsongsthathavereturnedthroughoutIran’smodernhistoryandgainednewlevelsofmeaningwitheachreturn.Oneofthemostsuccessful pop songs of the 1950s wasMa-rabebusor ‘Kissme’ (1955, lyricsbyHaydarRaqabi,musicbyMajidVafadar,firstrecordedby Hassan Golnaraqi). Under the Pahlaviregime,thesingerGolnaraqiwassentencedtoashortprisontermforhisperformanceofthesong,butMa-rabebusremainedclandestinelypopularthroughoutthe1960sand,indeed,isstill played in Iran today and investedwithnewsignificance.Mostlistenersreadintothe

lyricsthatthesong’snarratorwasapoliticalprisoner sentenced to death; this is impliedfromthefirst lines: ‘Kissme,kissmeforthelasttime;Godkeepyou,Iamgoingtomyfate’.Subsequentlinesarereadasrevolutionary:‘IhavetogiveupthisbrightmorningbecauseIhaveabloodpactwithabrightermorning’and‘Ihavetostartfiresinthemountains’.

The timing of the song’s initial release shapedthese readings, as popular anger about the1953 coup had just been compounded by theexecutionof30membersof theMarxistTudehparty’s military branch. In this context, thesong’snarratorwaspopularlyimaginedasmale,althoughsomeresearchersclaimthatthelyricistwrotethepieceinthevoiceofadyingwoman.ThisisoneofmanyexamplesoftheversatilityofPersianlyrics.Itisfittingthatthedetailsofpoeticmeaning are constantly improvised to satisfy

shahnoWrUzinVitEsniGhtinGalEtoJoinhisParty, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF BADI‘ AL-DIN MANUCHIHR AL-TAJIRI AL-TABRIzI,

dilSuZnama, DATED AH 860 (1455 AD), EDIRNE, BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD


aroyalPiCniC(dEtail), FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF ‘ATTAR,

inTikhaB-i hadiQa (EXTRACTS FROM THE HADIQA).

COPIED C.1575, BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

theirchangingcontexts.However,theprinciplesthataccompanytheseshiftingmeaningsremainlittle changed; these are theprinciplesof truth,love,devotionandfreedom.

In the 1970s, Iran’s popular music industryunderwent an acceleration of bothWesternisationandexpressionsofresistance.QueenofpopGoogoosh (1950- ) epitomisedthis decade, with a range of Westernisedmusical styles andPersian love lyrics, ladenwith a plethora of ‘light’ metaphor. WhileGoogoosh dominated fashion and everyformofmedia, someofhercolleagues, suchas Farhad and Dariush (Eghbali, 1951- ),achievedpopularsuccesswitharguablymore‘serious’allegoricalsongs.

In1978,Dariush’shitBu-yeGandom(TheScentofWheat), reportedly inspiredmany youngpeople to join the burgeoning revolutionarymovement. One such former revolutionaryreminiscesthatitwasthispopsongthatgavehimandhisfriendsthebeliefthatrevolutionwas a realistic possibility (Jamal, personalcommunication, Los Angeles, 2010). Again,timingwascrucialtopopularreadingsofthissymbolic pop song. Beginningwith the line‘Thescentofwheatismine,everythingIhaveis yours’, the lyrics contain references to allthesenses,acollectivethirstandadesirefortheearth’sbeautiestobeshared.

The1979revolutionwascloselyfollowedbythe1980invasionofIranbySaddamHussein’sIraq, which resulted in eight long years ofwar. During the 1980s, as the Persian popmusicindustryshifteditscentrefromTehrantoLosAngeles,manyofIran’sartmusicianssought to reverse Western influences ontheir music and its lyrics. This included areturn to classical poetry. On his albumTheLanguage of Love, popular art music vocalist

Shahram Nazeri combined Kurdish andPersianmusicalstructureswiththewordsofthe renownedpoetRumi, (known in IranasMaulana,1207-73):

YoutoocangoawayandleavemealonenowWhynotabandonthisailing,brokencreatureofthenightIamnolongerdisturbedbythewavesoflonelydaysandnightsIt’syourchoicetocomeback,forgive,orgoawayinbetrayal(Namjoo2006).

Folk rock singer-songwriter and musicianMohsen Namjoo describes Nazeri’s post-revolutionary album as ‘a musical blessingfor the nation’, as it musically and lyricallyarticulated the complex feelingsofpride andnational unity, determination and despair,thataccompaniedtheoutbreakofwar.Nazerialso selected lyrics that linked ‘truth’ with‘righteousness’, aswell aswith love and thesufferingofthedevoted.Inthecontextofpost-revolutionaryIran,wheremanyfeltabandonedbyformer‘friends’,thiscouldbereadasmulti-layeredcriticismof thehypocriticalnatureofallformsoffalsefriendship.

AftertheIran-IraqWarandIran’ssubsequentperiod of reconstruction, MohammadKhatami was elected president in 1997,bringing with him a program of minorculturalreform.Thisincludedtheresumptionof locally produced popular music, withgovernment authorisation. Classical poetrynow expanded its popular realm from artmusictopop,rockandfusion.

Fusion, or talfiqi, combined such instrumentsas electric guitar and keyboards with thekamanche (a bowed spike fiddle,which,muchearlierinthe20thcentury,hadbeenoneofthefirst Iranian instruments to be replaced by itsWesternrelative,theviolin),setar(oneofseveralforms of long-necked lute), daf (frame drum)or santur (dulcimer). Rock and pop groupsoftencombinedWestern instruments, rhythmsandmelodieswithPersiantexts,includingthepoetryofHafiz,RumiandSa‘adi (c. 1213-92).Oneof themostpopularof thesegroupswasO-Hum(www.o-hum.com),whichrecordeditsfirstalbum,Nahal-eHeyrat(SaplingofWonder,a term drawn fromHafiz) in 1999, launchingit online in 2001. O-Hum made more songsavailable online in 2002, under the titleHafezin Love. The group’s second album, Aludeh(Polluted),wasreleasedinCanadain2005.

Morerecently,Mohsen NamjoohasemergedasoneofIran’smostpopular‘serious’musicians.NamjoohassetclassicalPersianpoetrytomusicinunconventionalwaysandtodayheuseshisownwrywordplayandmetaphorinhislyrics

(www.mohsennamjoo.com). Namjoo’s workis highly innovative as he combines elementsofPersianartmusic, traditional recitationandwestern folk and rock in new ways. Hafiz’snotion of the need to ‘wash hypocrisy’s dust’is echoed throughout Namjoo’s repertoire.Among other things, his lyrics recount awartimeeducationinabsurdityandilluminatemanyaspectsofpostrevolutionarysensibilities.InhissongGozar,hesings‘Seehowtheyhavemade hypocrisy fashionable ... See how weseedollarsignseverywhere’.Namjoo’ssettingof Hafiz’s ‘Zolf Bar Bad’ gained considerablepopularity in Iran and the diaspora. ‘Zolf BarBad’ displaysHafiz’s customarywit, imagery,paradoxandhyperbole,leavingmanysemanticpossibilitiesopenforthelistener:

SincethedayIwascapturedbyyou,Iamfree...Showyourface,tomakemeindifferenttotheflowerShowyourheight,tomakemefreefromthecedar...

Ultimately,thispiecefollowsthetraditionofevokingloveanddevotion,whichremainascompellinginthe21stcenturyastheywereinthe14th.

The above examples illustrate just a few ofmanyconnectionsbetweenpoetryandmusicin Persian contexts. Today, along with artmusic,fusion,rock,popandfolk,hip-hophasa very significant following. Many Persianraptextsalsoreflecttheirhistoricalcontextofclassicalpoetryandrelatedarts.Forcenturies,palaces, teahouses and private courtyardswerevenues for thedisseminationofpoetryinIranandthePersianateworld.PerformersandlistenerstookgreatpleasureinthesoundsandsemanticsofthePersianlanguageanditscapacityforinteractionwithotherarts.Today,venuesincludetheinternet,concerthallsandprivate basements, but the union of Persianpoetryandmusiccontinuestoprovideelegantentertainmentandinspiration.

Gay Breyley is an adjunct research associate at Monash

University, where she completed a postdoctoral

fellowship in 2008. In 2010 she was an Endeavour

research fellow (Austraining International), hosted by the

University of Tehran. With Sasan Fatemi she is co-author

of iranian music and Popular Entertainment: from

motrebi to losanjelesi and Beyond (Routledge, 2012).

rEfErEnCEs Hafiz. 2001. divan of hafez Shirazi. Farhangsara Mirdashti,

Tehran.

Namjoo, Mohsen. 2006. ‘In Praise of the Minor Key, A –

The Third Note.’ Tehranavenue.

mohsen namjoo. www.mohsennamjoo.com

O-hum. www.o-hum.com


nearly2010, Iwas invited to contributeanumberofaudio-visualcomponentsto

theStateLibraryofVictoria’s(SLV)exhibition,Love and Devotion: From Persia and Beyond.These included a full-length documentaryfilmframedaroundtheexhibitionsettings,auniqueopportunitytoexploreextraordinarilyrich themes, including Persian literature,poetry and book arts, and their intersectionwiththeWest;andanaudio-visualexhibitioncomponent made up of classical Persianpoetryandmusicperformedlive.

Music is usually the starting point of anyofmyprojects.Itdefinesitsemotionalpathbysettingthemoodandtherhythmof thefilm. In addition, when exploring othercivilisations like Persia, the sourcing ofauthenticmusiciscrucial,asit informstheculturalcontext. IknewnothingofPersianmusic so I set out to learn more, quicklysourcing and purchasing music CDs (IwastravellingtoParisatthetimeandwasblessedwithmeetinganexpertinthisfield,who,surprisingly,wasayoungFrenchmaninhismid-twenties!).

IwasastonishedbywhatIheard.Thepurityof the music, the way it deeply connected,dare I say, tomy spirit. I felt Iwas hearingsomething created verymuch in the depthsof time. I was lucky enough to hear greatcontemporarymasterslikeAliRezaGhorbani(particularlyhisalbumLesChantsBrulésandIvresse)andShahramNazeri&HafezNazeri(ThePassionofRumi).Ofnotealso,arealbumsbyJordiSavall,includingIstanbulandOrient– Occident, which explore the dialogue ofOttomanmusicwiththatoftheWest.

When discussing Persian music, we mustincludePersianpoetrybecauseonedoesnotexistwithout the other. For Persians, poetrydoesnotmakesenseifthereisnomusicandmusic does not make any sense if there isno poetry. They are absolutely intertwined.AsDrMammadAidaniof theUniversityofMelbourne saidwhen I interviewedhim forthefilm:“ThesoulofPersians,asIunderstandit, is embedded in the poetry of these greatpoets thatwe in theWest read -particularlyOmar Khayyam, Hafiz, Sa‘di, Jami andespeciallyRumi,whowecallMaulana.”Themusic is “like a fountain embedded in thepoetry” according to Dr Aidani, and as inpoetry,everyonehastheirownresponses,orreactions,toit.

I

disCoVErinGPErsianMUsiC

PhilippeCharluetMaUlanaMUhaMMadtaBadKhaniandothErdErVishEsdanCinG, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF A WORK ATTRIBUTED

TO GAzURGAHI, maJaliS al-‘uShShaQ, DATED AH 959 (1552 AD), BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.


Persian music has two distinct strands: thefirst may be termed ‘traditional’ i.e. theindigenous, classical musical tradition ofIran; and the second iswhat Iwould call a‘mystical’ strand, and often accompaniespoetry expressing notions of Sufism. Mypersonaltasteverymuchattractedmetothesecond, as this has a depth and connectionthatIhaverarelyfeltwithanyothermusicIhave encountered (except maybe the purestGregorian chants in the West). I now oftenrefertomysticalPersianmusicas‘themusicofthehumansoul’.

After listening to much Persian music, Iwent to a concert in July 2011 inMelbourneperformed by theMehr Ensemble, the onlyPersian music performance group basedin Australia. As is the custom, they wereseated with their instruments on finelydecorated Persian rugs and cushions. TheMehrEnsemblewas formed inTehran, Iran,in1999andisnowbasedinMelbourneafterthe group’s leader, Pooya Mehmanpazir,migratedtoAustraliain2006.

ThefirsthouroftheconcertwasdevotedtothepoetryofRumi, thegreatPersianmysticpoet.AsSusanScollay,theSLVexhibitionco-curatorsaidwheninterviewed:“Rumicurrentlytopsthebest-sellerlistsforpoetryintheUSandisalsoverywidelyreadthroughout therestoftheWesternworld.Surprisinglyperhaps,thisbest-selling Persian poet lived andwrote inthe13thcenturyinthecityofKonyaincentralAnatolia, theAsian part ofwhat is now themodern-dayTurkey.AtthattimeKonyawaspartofthegreatempireoftheSeljuqdynastyand a multicultural, multilingual culturalcentreofnote.”

Themusiciansworewhiteasasignofpurityofspirit for thismysticalpartof theconcert.It isalso important tonotehere thatPersianpoetry isusually sung,not recitedas it is inthe West. The second hour was of a moretraditional nature, almost folkloric in parts,and,toreflectthis,themusicianschangedtobrightlycolouredclothes.

I was fascinated by the instruments, thesimplicity of design and material, yetproducing such exquisitely pure sound. Thelong-necked lutes, such as the setar, tar andtanbur or the bowed spike-fiddle kamancheh,which produce such rich sounds with onlya few strings; thedaf, a circular animal skinframed-drum which sounds like a dozendrums played at the same time; the ney, asimplebambooflute,playedstraightthroughwith no reed, that seems to touch the innerdepths of one’s being. Yet, none of theseinstruments approached the purity and

beautyof themostrefined instrumentofall,thehumanvoice.

InPersianmusicandsongs,thevocalistplaysa crucial role, not only providing themoodand driving the piece but the voice itself isusedlikeaninstrument,inwaysrarelyheardinanyotherculture.Thesingerallowswordstoalmosttakeflight,prolongingeachsyllableand letting them ringmagically in his/ herthroat.Inmanysongs,themusicisplayedasanemotionalresponsetothevoiceratherthanasanaccompaniment.Iwasmesmerised,myspiritlifted.

These musicians were a perfect choice forthe audio-visual component of the StateLibrary exhibition and I approached themimmediately. We set out to collaborate inthemakingof an11-minutefilm thatwouldshowtheextraordinarydetailofsomeofthemanuscripts whilst the Persian-languagepoetry written in the manuscripts wasboth recited and sung. The accompanyingsoundtrack would be made up of musicperformedononlyafewinstruments.

I had noticed that Persian music relies onboth improvisation and composition. Theearlypartofeachsong,theintroductionasIwould call it, is usually a rhythmic preludeofmorethanaminute,tosetthemoodofthepiece.Again, this is the part that I found ofreal interest, acting almost as a meditationto set the desired tone, both literally andemotionally.

The musical introductions were perfectfor what we set out to achieve, providinga simple emotional dialogue to the poetryand taking the audience into a wonderfulworld of images that ranged from that offierceprincesses,kings,historicalmythsanddemons to thatof theLover,both inhumanformandthatoftheseekerofmysticalunionwithGod.SomydiscoveryofPersianmusicis just the beginning of a wonderfully richjourneyofdiscovery,unearthing thisprolificculture,anditspoetictreasures.

Philippe Charluetis a documentary film producer and

director specialising in the arts. His award winning

documentaries include The medieval imagination

(SBS) about medieval manuscripts, dreams of

darkness (SBS) about the photographer, Bill Henson,

and Romeo and Juliet: a new Vision (Stvdio)

examining the creative process of choreographer,

Graeme Murphy. The documentary love & devotion

will be released in June 2012 (stellamotion.com.au)

The Mehr Ensemble will perform a concert at the State

Library of Victoria on 31 March, 2012 (mehrensemble.

com.au) and is releasing their first CD to coincide with

the exhibition.

thEMEhrEnsEMBlEWITH TOOFAN TOGHYANI, TINA ARBATAN, SAMIRA KARIMI, MEHDI MIRzAEI,

JOEL CERDOR, SEPEHR TOGHYANI, POOYA MEHMANPAzIR (LEFT TO RIGHT)


ParadisEandthEPEri, TITLE PAGE, THOMAS MOORE. DESIGNED BY OWEN JONES. DAY AND SON, 1860. STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA

n its publication in 1817, the Irishsongwriter ThomasMoore’s long poem,

the‘orientalromance’LallaRookh,madeahit.Withinayearithadgoneintoseveneditions:Moore’spublisher,JohnMurray,laterreferredto it as ‘the creamof copyrights’. But, as anexamination of Paradise and the Peri, thesecondofthepoem’stalesreveals,itspopularsuccesstendstoobscureitspolemicalnature,which draws on an unconventional view ofIslamanditsPersiansources.

Inthe19thcenturyParadiseandthePeriwasthemostpopularofthefourtalesrecountedbytheminstrelinLallaRookh.Itinspiredpaintings,aballet,andwholebooksofwatercoloursandengravings; Schumann adapted it to opera.Itsappealisnotsurprising.Thetalecontainsamixture of exotic snapshots of Iran, India,Egypt and Syria, historical information,and sentimental speeches. It is the 19thcentury counterpart to 21st century populartelevisionhistoryseries.Thenarrative’sfluidrhyming couplets sweep the reader acrossIran, Afghanistan, India and the Levant,swooping down on select historical events,providing factual details while conveyingtheperspectiveofan‘ordinary’personoftheperiod.WhilealltheeventstakeplaceintheIslamicworld,however,theselectionofsitesandhistoricaleventshasfarmoretodowiththepoet’sownpoliticalagenda.

Thetale’sthemeisthepossibilityofreturningto grace for those who have fallen. In the19th century many people turned theirimaginations to the issueofhow to regainablessed state once lost. How awomanwhohas transgressed social rules may regainacceptance was a popular version of thisquestion. So was the fate of the destituteandhowtheymayattaineconomicsecurity;in its spiritual sense the question is deeplyentrenched in Western culture through itstreatmentintheBible.

ParadiseandthePerihitsmanyofthebuttonsof the 19th century interest in this question.Lalla Rookh’s minstrel tells the tale throughthe eyes of a Peri, a kind of fallen angel inPersian mythology. Moore makes his Perifemale, searching the world for an offeringof atonement through which to regainheaven. Largely unfamiliar to Moore’sprimarily British and Irish readers, his Perifigure offered a novel and whimsical wayof exploring what would become, by mid-

century, an enormously popular theme ofredressforthosewhohavefallen.

As Moore knew from George Sale’s intro-duction to his 1734 English translation of theQur’an, the Qur’an incorporated the ancientPersian mythology concerning Peris into thenew faith at the time of the first emergenceof Islam. Sale and the late 17th centuryFrench orientalist encyclopedist Barthélemyd’Herbelot were Moore’s main sources onPeris, for although they feature in keyworksofPersianliteraturesuchasthepoetFirdausi’sShahnamaor‘BookofKings’completedin1010(twomanuscripts ofwhichwere held by theTrinityCollegeDublinlibrarywhenMoorewas

a student in the 1790s), and althoughMoorereadallhecouldofPersianliterature,hehadnoaccesstotranslationsofthecrucialtexts.

So Moore understood that Peris had beenassimilated into Islamic theology. Theirprovenance is clear in Paradise and the Peri.WhentheAngelatthegateofHeaventellsthePerithathewillletherbackintoheavenifshebrings ‘thegift that ismostdear toHeaven’toredeemhersin,thePerifliesawayonherquest musing over the magical treasures ofancientPersianmythology,suchastherubiesbeneath Persepolis and the jewelled cup ofJamshid.Butshequicklyconcludesthatthesethings will not suffice for ‘Allah’: ‘gifts like

O

PolitiCsandPErsianMytholoGyinthoMasMoorE’sPARADISE AND THE PERI

ShelleyMeagher


these are not for the sky’ (the requirementsofrhymedeterminetheweakeuphemismforparadise).ThetypeofPerithistaleconcernsisclearlyonethatisboundupwithIslam.

This makes it all the more striking that thePeri’sfirstofferingofatonementisthebloodofaHindusoldierwhodiesfightingMahmudofGhazna-theCentralAsianleadertowhomthepoetFirdausipresentedhisepicShahnama.As a footnote in Moore’s work points out,Mahmud of Ghazna went on to conquernorthernIndia inthe11thcenturyas itsfirstIslamicruler.ThenarrativedoesnotexplicitlystatethatthetragicherowhomMahmudkillsis aHindu,buthis faith is evident from theallusionstothematerialcultureofHinduism:

LandoftheSun!WhatfootinvadesThyPagodsandthypillar’dshades–Thycavernshrines,andIdolstones,ThyMonarchsandtheirThousandThrones?(Moore1817:137-38)

Pagodas,idols,shrinesincavesinaneasternland,alltheseweremarkersofHinduismforMoore’s readers, and the verse portrays theregionaswhollyHindu.Moorestresses thatMahmud’sconquestofthislandinvolvedthebrutaldestructionofawholecivilisation.

TheHindusoldier’sswordisbrokenandheisdowntohislastarrowwhenheencountersMahmud,whooffershimhislifeandwealthif he acceptsMahmud’s sovereignty. But forthesoldier,theMuslimconqueror’satrocitiesanddestructionofhispeopleandhomelandmeans that there can be no negotiation. Heanswers Mahmud by firing the last arrowat him, but misses and is killed. The Peridescendstoearthandcollectsasherofferingto heaven the soldier’s last drop of blood,remarkingafterwardsthat:

ThoughfoularethedropsthatoftdistilOnthefieldofwarfare,bloodlikethis,ForLibertyshed,...holyis...(Moore1817:140)

This surprisingcelebrationofHinduheroismoffers more than a hint of protest againstEngland’s treatment of Ireland, about whichMoorehadbeen increasinglyoutspokenoverthedecadepreceding thepublication ofLallaRookh.By1817hewasfamousforhis‘nationalmelodies’ of Ireland, songs which lamentthe loss of Ireland’s historical glory, and therepercussionsforitsleadersofthefailed1798and 1803 Irish rebellions. The very notion ofPeris, when raised by Moore, was obliquelyreminiscentof Ireland, for in the laterpartofthe preceding century, Persians had become

associatedwiththeIrish,boththroughtheoriesthat the Irishwere descended fromPersians,and through ideas of Persian as a sweet andlyricalyetdeceptivelanguage,andoftheIrishaspassionate,heatedandpeculiarlyattunedtoPersia.Moore’sfirstreviewershadnotroubledetecting in theMuslimminstrel Feramorz afigurefortheIrishsongwriterMoore.

To anyone familiar with Moore’s Irishpolemics, the Peri’s second choice of giftto heaven – the dying breath of a womannursing her lover as he dies of the plague– indeed indicates that he has Ireland inmind in this tale. In 1810, in his polemicalpamphlet,A Letter to the Roman Catholics ofDublin,MoorehadusedthisverysametropetoadvocatethattheDublinCatholicsconcedeapowerofveto toWestminster inEpiscopalCatholic appointments - if, in return,Westminster would annul its prohibitionagainst Catholics standing for Parliament.Toconcedethevetopowermaybedaunting,Moorehadargued,buttheseanxietiespaleincomparisontowhatitmightachieve,namely,Catholic Emancipation and the expansion

of the legislature, which would increasethe likelihood of achieving constitutionalreform. ‘Your courage,’ Moore tells theDublinCatholics, ‘will rival the gallantry ofthat youth,who courted hismistress, at themomentwhen shewasdyingof theplague,and “clasping the bright infection in hisarms,” restoredher tohealth andbeauty byhiscaresses.’(Moore1810:33)

In Paradise and the Peri, it is the bride whocaresses her stricken bridegroom, and shesuccumbs to the infection and dies shortlyafter he does. Heaven rejects the Peri’s firsttwo offerings as good, but not quite goodenoughtoatoneforsin.SoifsympathywithIrish nationalism is latent in the Peri’s firstofferingstoheaven,MooredoesnotportrayitasaviableroadtohappinessforIreland.

TheanomalousnessofthePeri’sfirstchoiceofofferingtoAllah–thebloodofaHinduIndiannationalistshedinanattempttokillaMusliminareligiouswar–isallthemorestrikingforthefactthatinLallaRookh’sframingnarrative,Paradise and the Peri is recited by a Muslim

ParadisEandthEPEri, THOMAS MOORE. DESIGNED BY OWEN JONES. DAY AND SON, 1860. STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA


minstrel to aMuslimprincess, adescendentofMahmudofGhazna.Butthetaledoesnotcondemn Islam in its entirety. For the finalgift that the Peri offers to heaven, the giftthatsucceedsinopeningparadisetoher,arethe tears shed in penitence by a murderer,andhisrepentancetakesadistinctlyMuslimform.EncounteringaMuslimboyatdusk,themurdererinstinctivelythinkstokillhim.Butthe innocent joy of the boy as he plays in agardenbringsacalmoverthemurderer.Whentheeveningcalltoprayersoundsandtheboyobeys it, themurderer recalls the innocenceofhisownchildhood.Asheopenshishearthe ismoved to remorse and penitence, andhekneelsandjoinsthechildinprayer–and,forgiven,returnsintoGod’stribe.

The narrative paints Mahmud’s imperialismin the same forms as it later paints murder,linking the murderer’s sins to imperialism.Thetaleofthesinner–whatleadshimintosinandwhatleadshimtopenitence–thusimpliesthat imperialism isunjustifiable, and that theonlywaytobeagoodbelieverisbytheprivatepracticeoffaith,andnotbythesword.

Whilst this claim was pertinent to Britain’spolicies in Ireland, most salient, given thetale’spartial Indian setting,was its critiqueofBritain’s imperialist adventures in India. Sothetaleassertsageneralprincipleaboutpiety,militant evangelism, and imperialism and itindicates that this principle applies to all actsof imperialism, regardless ofwhich particularfaithsorsectsareconcerned.ThecondemnationofMahmud implicit in thePeri’sfirstofferingtoheavenrestsonhisbrutal impositionofhisfaith on the Hindus of India: that is, on hisimperialism, rather than on his Islamic faith,evenifheuseshisfaithtojustifyhisbrutality.

Thetale’sfunctionasaparablehasledcriticstoattackMooreforusingPersianmythologyand oriental settings simply to veil aEuropeandiscussion.Fromtheoutset,criticscomplained that the characters in the taleweremoreEuropeanthanPersianorIndian,Francis Jeffrey declaring that: ‘They are, intruth,poeticalimaginations;–butitistothepoetry of rational, honourable, considerate,andhumaneEurope, that theybelong–andnottothechildishness,cruelty,andprofligacy

ofAsia.’ (EdinburghReview291817: 2)TheproblemforJeffreyandlatercriticsisthatthecharacters are too like Europeans: they arenotdifferentenoughtobeIndianorPersian.But this attack – like those of the opposingviewpointwhichcomplainsthat19thcenturyEuropean literature too often portraysMuslims as fundamentally different fromwesterners–overlookstheclaimcentraltothepoliticalallegory,thatwhatistrueofIslamicimperialismandtheIslamicfaithisalsotrueofChristianimperialismandChristianity.

Despite the recognisably Muslim aspects ofthe second episode, its recommendation ofnatural and simple reverence transcends theboundaries between Islam and Christianity.Paradise and the Peri thus belongs to aminorbutlongstandingtradition,datingbacktothe17thcentury,whichsawChristianityandIslamas fundamentally similar. It also emerges inseveralothersofMoore’swritings.In1810,hehad compared sectarian prejudices in BritainandIrelandtopartsoftheQur’anwrittenafterMuslimshadwonseveralbattles, inorder toillustrateauniversalprinciple:thatanincreasein power always leads institutional religionsto become intolerant. His article on earlyChristianity,The Church Fathers, published inThe Edinburgh Review in 1814, discusses thecommon origins of Christianity and Islamandpointsoutthatthescripturesofbothhavebeen influenced by the Persian and Arabicmythologythatpredatedthem.

BecausethetraditionwhichsawChristianityand Islamas fundamentally similarwasnotthedominanttradition,itiseasilyoverlookedtoday in analyses of orientalist literature.But this outlook is crucial to Paradise andthe Peri, as to others of Moore’s works,because it provides the basis for a critiqueonimperialisminprinciple,acritiquewhoseimplicit application to British India in LallaRookh paved the way for mutual Irish andIndiansympathiesacenturylater.

Shelley Meagher is a writer and academic based in

Melbourne. She holds a doctorate from the University

of Oxford and has held lectureships at Oxford and

Queen’s University Belfast. Her doctoral thesis

investigated knowledge and representations of Islam

in British and Irish literature 1660-1850. Shelley

recently completed her first novel.

rEfErEnCEs Jeffrey, Francis. Review of lalla Rookh in the Edinburgh Review,

29, November 1817: 1-35.

Moore, Thomas. 1810. a letter to the Roman Catholics of dublin,

Dublin.

Moore, Thomas. 1817. lalla Rookh: an oriental romance, London.

Moore, Thomas. “The Church Fathers” in the Edinburgh Review,

November 1814: 55-75.

ParadisEandthEPEri, THOMAS MOORE. DESIGNED BY OWEN JONES. DAY AND SON, 1860. STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA


n the past two years the State Libraryof Victoria (SLV) has acquired two

Persian manuscripts that complement andcounterpointeachotherinanumberofways.Betweenthemtheysaymuchaboutthetwo-waydialoguebetweenIranandIndiaduringthe mediaeval and early-modern periods.One manuscript was produced in Iran andpresentsamajorworkofIndia’spre-eminentPersian-language poet. The other wasproducedinIndiaandpresentsakeyworkofoneof Iran’s greatpoets of the classical era,therebyrevealingtheactiveappreciation,andsharedaspects,oftheliteratureandbookartsofeachculture.

InApril2010theLibraryacquired,atauctioninLondon, amanuscript ofAmirKhusrau’sKhamsa(Quintet).Thisfollowed,inMay2011,with the acquisition from a book dealer inParis,ofamanuscriptcontainingbothSa‘di’sGulistan (TheRoseGarden) andBustan (TheOrchard).TheStateLibrary’scollectionshavehistorically revealed a western emphasis,reflective of both the Library’s origins andof broader attitudes throughout the 19thand much of the 20th centuries. Its morecontemporary collections are broad in theirinternational scope, and recent exhibitionsand publications have sought to redress theimbalance within the Library’s historicalcollections by presenting examples of non-westernculturesuchasJapanesewoodblock-printedbooks,EthiopianprayerscrollsandaWestAfricaQur’an.

Amir Khusrau (1253–1325) of Delhi, whobecame known as the ‘Parrot of India’,wrote in both Persian and Hindi.A prolificpoet, he claimed to have composed morethan 400,000 couplets in his lifetime. Healso wrote prose and made importantcontributionstothedevelopmentofmusicinIndia.Amir Khusrau’sKhamsa is one of themost frequently illustratedworks composedin the Persian language (Brend 2003; xix,xxiii). In it he acknowledges his debt to hisPersianpredecessor,Nizami(d.1209),whoseoriginalKhamsaisoneofthemasterpiecesofmediaevalPersianpoetry.

Amir Khusrau’s Khamsa is both an homageand an emulation: an approach admiredin Persian literature in which a poet paystribute to, but also seeks to improve upon,theworkofanearliermaster.ThefivebookscontainedwithinAmirKhusrau’sKhamsaare

allre-tellingsofthoseinNizami’sversion.Forexamplehe re-tellsNizami’sLaylauMajnunandKhusrau u Shirin asMajnun u Layla andShirin u Khusrau. And in his Hasht Bihisht(Eight Paradises) he has, in some ways,‘goneonebetter’thantheHaftPaykar(SevenBeauties)ofhispredecessor.

TheStateLibraryofVictoria’s copyofAmirKhusrau’sKhamsaissignedanddated.Itwascopied by the scribe Mu‘izz al-Din HusaynLangari and four of the five books containcolophons dating themanuscript to variousmonths inAH1007–08 (1599–1600AD).Theplaceofproductionisnotstated,howeverthestyleofillustrationsuggeststhatitwascopiedin Iran. The painted lacquer binding wasproduced later, most likely in 19th centuryIndia. It is richlydecorated ingold, redandgreenand theouterpanelsofboth the frontandbackboards contain largepaintedfloralmotifs within their central oval medallions.Original bindings of mediaeval Persianmanuscriptsarerareascopieswereregularlyreboundafterheavyuseortosuitthetastesofanewowner.

The 278 folios of themanuscript,measuring275 x 180 mm, each contain 17 lines of

fine nasta‘liq script set in the four columnstraditionallyused forpoeticworks.Thefirstfolio contains an opening dedicatory shamsaand each book begins with an illuminatedheadpiece.Theworkisillustratedthroughoutwithatotalof20miniaturepaintings,thelastofwhichisunfinished.

Composed some 45 years before AmirKhusrau’sKhamsa, Sa‘di’sBustan (1257) andGulistan(1258)eachhaveaseriesofmoralistictales at their centre. Sa‘di (c. 1215–1292)dedicated both works to his patron, princeSa‘dibnZangiofShiraz.

Written in lyricalverse and comprisingmorethan4,000couplets,theBustancontainsaround160talesaddressedtorulers.ThetalesconveySufimysticideasandimagerythatwerewidelyunderstood in literary and intellectual circlesinIranatthistime.TheBustanisdividedintotenchapters,eachaddressingavirtuesuchasjustice, charity, loveandhumility, concludingin thefinal chapterwith thestateofbeing incommunionwiththeDivine.

While verses of poetry are interspersedthroughouttheGulistan,thisworkisgenerallyregarded as the most influential work of

I

PErsiaandBEyond: tWorECEntaCQUisitionsBy thEstatE liBraryofViCtoria

ClareWilliamson BahraMGUranddilaraM, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF AMIR

KHUSRAU, khamSa, DATED AH 1007–08 (1599–1600 AD),

STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA

arChErsattEMPttoshootanarroWthroUGh

thEsUltan'srinGontoPofdoME, FROM A MANUSCRIPT

OF SA‘DI, GuliSTan AND BuSTan, DATED AH 1258 (1842–43 AD),

STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA.

23TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O . 1 23

prosewritteninthePersianlanguage(Lewis2001).LiketheBustan,itconsistsofaseriesofmoralistictales,inthiscasegroupedintoeightratherthantenchapters.Sa‘diincludedmuchseemingly autobiographical informationthroughout both the Bustan and Gulistan,howeverhe is likely tohaveexercisedmuchpoeticlicenseinincorporatingsuchanecdotesas a means of enhancing his arguments(Wickens1990).

ThemanuscriptacquiredbytheLibrarywascopiedinAH1258(1842-43AD).Itcomprises143folios,eachmeasuring288x170mm,andis illustratedwith 18miniature paintings inthe Kashmiri style of the 19th century. Thetext of theGulistan is presented throughoutthe central panel of each folio, with that oftheBustanrunningatananglethroughouttheborders.ThebindingislikelytobeIndianand

contemporarytothemanuscript.Itisinclothandpaper,whichhasbeenprintedinagreengeometric pattern. The text throughout is ina fine nasta‘liq script set within cloud-likeforms on a gold ground. Produced duringthe final years of the Mughal Empire, themanuscript reflects the continuing place ofPersian poetry and language within Indiancultureoftheperiod.

The two manuscripts described abovewere acquired in the lead-up to, and willbe displayed as part of, the Library’smajorinternational exhibition Love and Devotion:FromPersiaandBeyond.Itisillustratedwith15miniaturepaintingsintheShirazstyle.Atthetimeofwriting,theSLVisalsointheprocessofacquiringtwoadditionalmanuscripts,oneofwhichisanoutstandingcopyofNizami’sKhamsa.DatedAH915–16(1509–10AD).The

second is an early 19th century manuscriptof the Tutinama. The acquisition of thesemanuscripts, together with those describedabove,willcreatefortheLibraryasmallbutvaluable collection of Persian manuscriptsthat can be studied and appreciated byscholarsandgeneralaudiencesalike.

Clare Williamsonis Exhibitions Curator, State Library

of Victoria, and co-curator of love and devotion:

from Persia and Beyond.

rEfErEnCEsBrend, Barbara. 2003. Perspectives on Persian Painting: illustrations

to amir khusrau’s Khamsah. RoutledgeCurzon, London.

Lewis, Franklin. 2003. ‘Golestan-e Sa‘di’, Encyclopaedia iranica,

vol. XI, pp. 79–86.

Wickens, G.Michael. 1990. ‘Bustan’, Encyclopaedia iranica, vol.

IV, pp. 573–574.

BahraMGUrandthEPrinCEssofthEyElloWPaVilion, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF AMIR KHUSRAU, khamSa, DATED AH 1007–08 (1599–1600 AD). STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA


t r a V E l i n i r a n : B E t W E E n a W E s o M E d E s E r t s a n d E X Q U i s i t E U n r E a l i t i E s

ChristopherWood

ran presents many complexities andconundrums to Western travellers, who

mustavoidapplyingforeignnormstoIranianidentity as expressed in narrative, ritual,sociallife,aestheticsandthemeaningofplaceandspace.

Similarly, Iranianminiaturepaintingscannotbe approached using Western aestheticstandards. These small luminous worksportray exquisite, closed imagined worldsin which superbly dressed poets, sages,kingsandloversassumecourtlyposes.Evenwarriorsorhuntersinscenesofcombatseemimmersed in choreographed rituals ratherthandeadlycontests.

Westerners can be confused by Iranianmimesis,whichisfigurativeratherthanliteral.Space in miniatures is readable, but neitherinfinitenorcontinuousasinPost-RenaissanceWestern artwith its deep,measurable spacedisciplined by mathematical perspective. InIranianminiatures,palacefloorsriseverticallyup thepictureplane, enablingartists to seattheir loversagainstfieldsofrichlypatternedcarpets. Carpet-like battlefields likewise tiltuptorevealeverystream,rock,andplantincontrived landscapes of poetic pattern andrhythmratherthannaturalisticvision.

AgiftedIranian-AustralianminiaturistIknowdepictsflowerswith the intricacyandfinesseof an accomplished botanical illustrator. Herimages,however,beguiletheuninitiated.Herplants seem at first sight to be naturalisticproducts of patient, microscopic, empiricalobservation, but are, on closer observation,poeticfictions.Theyarenotbotanicalrecordsbut flower-like imaginative simulacra.Likewise,thelyricsofapopularIraniansingersongwriter exasperate English translators.InspiredinpartbySufipoetry,hisevocationsof beautiful gardens, extravagant metaphorsfor his love of God, in English can soundimpossiblyfloweryandalmosttritelyemotive,offendingeventheleastprosaicAnglophone.

To an Australian traveller like me, evencontemporary Iranians’ everyday grooming,deportment and social interaction seem farfrom pragmatic and down-to-earth. Eachmorning my Iranian friends spend at leasttwo hours grooming themselves. Dressedimpeccably, even when travelling in theIranian desert, they seem to interact withother Iranians inapoetic,figurative, courtlyway. I, of course, am dressed in practical

clothesandamusedtointeractinginadirectmanner.Afriendlygreetingleadsreasonablyquicklytothenubofourconversation.

InIranmyfriendsprefaceallinteractionswithintricate, wordy, seemingly endless, poeticprologuesofpoliteexchangesabouteachothers’health, family wellbeing, etc. My impatiencebeginstoseemchildishlyhastyasitdawnsonmethatintheirexchanges,formandmeaninginteractquitedifferently.WhilstdrivingthroughIran, I exclaim at Iranians’ reckless disregardfor road rules and the directives of the trafficpolice. My friend, who has visited Australia,says laughingly, ‘Chris, you live in such anauthoritariancountry’.ToIranians,Australians’lawfulnessseemshopelesslyliteral.

The closed palace worlds, choreographedposes and the manicured landscapes ofIranianminiatures,myminiaturist’s fancifulflowers,thelyricist’sexaggeratedmetaphors,the embellished politeness of Iranian socialexchanges,andtheunwillingnessofIraniansto take rules of the road literally, all reflectIranians’verydistinctiverelationshipbetweenimaginationandtheworldaroundthem.

Giventheforegoing,onewouldbecorrectinexpecting Iranians to have a very differentapproach to the physical geography oftheir country to that found in the Westerntradition. Iran’s topography of vast, empty,arid deserts framed by grand, snowcappedmountain ranges contrasts markedly to theintricate, almost claustrophobic world ofIranianminiatures,butnoIraniannaturalisticlandscape painting school developed tomatch those of the West. Western travelersmaythinkIran’snaturalgrandeur ‘sublime’,butsuchaestheticconceptsexpresslandscapevaluesforeigntoIranians.

Do Iranians, therefore, ignore or fear thisgrand empty topography, locating theiridentity in the imagination, or in citieswith their warren-like, teeming bazaars?Their ‘invented’ flora and the horror vacuiof elaborately patterned tiles that covermonuments like Isfahan’s exquisiteMasjid-iShaykhLutfullahsuggestthistobetrue.MostIraniansdoconsideruncultivated landtobewasteland; for millennia they have tamedsmall tracts of desert usingmountainwaterflowingdown longundergroundaqueducts,qanats.Iraniangardens,moreover,arewalled,intensely cultivated paradises contrastingmarkedlytotheirinhospitablesurroundings.

Iraniansneverthelessdoappreciate theirdesertlandscapesasdeeplyastheydotheschematizedgarden motifs in their intricate carpets. Thisattachment derives, not from a (Western)Romantic passion for wilderness, but from aunique sense of territory. Ever since the 7thcentury,whenArabinvadersdestroyedthelastgreat Iranian empire, that of the Sasanid, Iranhas suffered countless further invasions; thevastmajorityof Iran’s rulershavebeenTurko-Mongolian foreigners. These dominated Iranterritoriallybutwereconqueredbytheirsubjects’high culture; hence Iranians’ unique, seamlessmixofurbaneculturalpride,epitomizedbytheirsophisticated poetry andminiatures, and theirterritorial sense of place. Despite their aridity,Iran’sdesertsarepreciousandinviolate.Iranianstreasure this territory as signifying nationalidentity rather than appreciate it in aWesternaestheticorecologicalsense.

Christopher Wood is the founding director of Australians Studying Abroad (ASA). Since 1977 the company has organised cultural tours to more than 45 countries. Christopher has been personally leading tours to Iran for the past ten years.

I

shrinEofshayKsafial-din ( 1252-1334), ARDABIL, IRAN. BEGUN IN THE 15TH CENTURY, THE COMPLEX HOUSES

THE TOMBS OF FIVE SAFAVID ERA SHAYKS. PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER WOOD


i n t h E P U B l i C d o M a i n : A N I N D O N E S I A N Q U R ’ A N I N A G S A

JamesBennett

he recent acquisitionof aQur’anby theArt Gallery of South Australia (AGSA)

istheculminationofalongsearchforsuchamanuscriptthatcommencedin2005whentheArtGallerybecamethefirstpublicinstitutioninAustraliatoestablishapermanentdisplayspecificallydedicatedtotheartoftheIslamicworld. It is especially significant that therare two-volume manuscript originatedfrom Indonesia, whose art is extensivelyrepresentedinthecollection.Themanuscript’sextraordinarilylavishilluminationepitomisesthe great international heritage of Islamicmanuscriptdecoration.

ThehandcopyinganddecoratingofAl-Qur’anisregardedasthenoblestofallartsinIslam.MuslimtraditionreverestheHolyBookascontainingtheDivineRevelationgifted,throughthearchangelGabriel, to theProphetMuhammad.WhereverIslam spread, unique regional traditions ofQur’anilluminationdeveloped.SoutheastAsianQur’anvaried instyle fromsimply transcribedtextsonbeatenbarkpaper(Javanese:dluwang)toornateilluminatedmanuscriptsusingimportedlaidpaper,suchasthoseproducedattheregionalcentres of Terengganu, Aceh, and East Javawhere thisQur’anwas created. It iswritten inelegantnaskh scriptand features thedistinctiveIndonesian convention of illuminated double-pagesatthecommencement,middleandclosingsectionsofeachvolume.

The majority of surviving Southeast AsianIslamicmanuscriptsdatefromthe19thcentury

and the lavish use of gold leaf confirms anaccountthatthisQur’anwascommissionedbya religious scholar (ulama) of Madurese royaldescentaroundtheendofthe19thcentury.Theexceptionaldimensions of themanuscript, andits intricate decoration, suggest it may havebeen intended foruse in apublic context suchasamosque.Theproductionofahand-writtenQur’anwasofspecialritualsignificanceatatimewhenprintedversionswerebecomingmoreandmorewidelyavailable.ThefirstQur’anprintedinSoutheastAsiawasproducedonalithographpressinPalembang,SouthSumatra,asearlyas1848and,bythetimeofthecreationofAGSA’sQur’an,mass-producededitionsfromSingaporeandIndiawerebeingdistributedthroughoutthearchipelago(AliAkbar2012).

Anumberof19thcenturyhand-writtenQur’anfromIndonesiacontaincolophonsdatingtheircreationtotheholyfastingmonthofRamadanwhichisconsideredaperiodofexemplarypietyinIslam.Itdocumentsthebeliefthatthecopyingof the holy book is regarded as a spirituallyauspicious act that obliges the calligrapher/illuminatortobeinarituallypurestate.

Thedouble-page, illustratedhere,marks thecommencement of the 18th chapter (sura)titled Al-Khaf, meaning ‘The cave’, whichwasdeliveredbyMuhammadinMecca.Theborderframefeaturestheshapeofastylisedmountain filled with flowers and vegetalscrolls comparable to the ‘tree of life’ motifof Indian palampore trade cloths traded into

Indonesiaduringthe17th–19thcenturies.Itcloselyreplicatesthe1624headstoneofQueenRatu Ibu Sarifah Ambani, a descendant ofthe great JavaneseMuslim saint Sunan Giri(b.1442),atAerMata,Bangkalan.TheMaduraroyalcemeteryisstillregardedasasacredsiteforpilgrimstoday.

Al-Khaf receives its title from its account ofthe parable of the ‘people of the cave’ thatis derived from the Christian legend of theSeven Sleepers of Ephesus. The text referstoMoses and a ruler namedDhul-Qarnayn,believed to be based on the character ofAlexander the Great (known as Iskandar inthe Islamic tradition), from whom severalIndonesian sultanates claimed descent. Al-Khafcommenceswiththeopeninglines:

PraisetoAllah,whohathsentHisservantTheBook,andhathallowedthereinnocrookedness.HehathmadeitstraightandclearinorderthatHemaywarnthegodlessofaterriblepunishment…(SuraXVIII:1-2)

James Bennett is Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of

South Australia.

rEfErEnCEs Akbar, Ali. ‘Jejak Qur’an Usmaniyah di Indonesia dari Masa ke

Masa’, paper presented at the conference from anatolia to aceh:

Ottoman, Turks and Southeast asia’ in Banda Aceh, 11 – 12

January 2012.

T

QUr’an, EAST JAVA, INDONESIA

C.1900. PAPER, INK, PIGMENT, GOLD

LEAF, LEATHER, TWO VOLUMES EACH:

43.05 X 29.0 X 3.0 CM; ART GALLERY

OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, BOXALL

BEQUEST FUND 2011


arly in the New Year when lists of‘cultural milestones’ from the year just

endedwerebeingpreparedinnewspaperandmagazineofficesaroundtheworld,oneeventdominated.TheOctober,2011reopeningoftheIslamicgalleriesofNewYork’sMetropolitanMuseum of Art (MMA) after an eight-year,40-million dollar refurbishment was widely–anddeservedly–laudedandtoppedmanylists. ‘A galaxy of cultures’, declared PeterBrown,writing in TheNewYorkReviewofBooks, ‘…an art of luxury that crossed allfrontiers.’ More than 1200 works from theMMA’s Islamic holdings are now presentedin15galleryspaces,spanningthe7th–19thcenturies and a vast geographic reach speltoutintheinstallation’snewly-conceivedtitle:‘ArtoftheArabLands,Turkey,Iran,CentralAsiaandlaterSouthAsia.’

The exhibition design is as vibrant, detailedand transporting as the works themselves– and fortunately for those unable to be inNewYork,orwhowishtosavourandreflecton some of the exquisite works displayed,an elegant catalogue, Masterpieces from theDepartment of Islamic Art in the MetropolitanMuseum of Art, has been produced to markthe historic occasion. Edited by a teamincluding the MMA’s curator in chargeof the department of Islamic Art, SheilaCanby,andwithcontributionsbyarangeofspecialists,therearemorethan300illustratedcatalogue entries for works ranging fromearly examples of bold calligraphy on

parchment,toluminousglassvessels,panelsoftileswithdesignsascarefullydrawnasthemanuscript pages that inspired them, boldvelvets, spectacular carpets and an entirereceptionroom,panelled,paintedandgildedinthestyleofaffluent,18th-centuryOttomanDamascus. The book’smore than 400 pagesalmost sparkle with the beauty of theseobjects and the intelligencewithwhich theyhavebeenselectedandtheirinterconnectionsreassessed.

The book pays tribute to the generouscollectors and benefactors who laid thefoundationsoftheMMA’sIslamiccollection.Amongthem,ArthurA.HoughtonJr.,whoin1959boughtanintactandsuperblyillustratedcopyoftheShahnama(BookofKings)craftedin the royal workshops of 16th centuryTabriz during the rule of the Safavid ShahTahmasp (r. 1524-76), a renowned patron ofthe arts. Houghton subsequently dispersedthe manuscript’s 258 illustrations (out of atotal of 759 folios), donating 78 of them totheMMA and sellingmost of the others onthe international artmarket.After his deathin 1990 the remaining illustrated pages, thebindingand textwent toTehran, exchangedforaWillemdeKooningpaintingownedbytheIraniangovernment.

The illustrated leaves of this masterpiece,considered the supreme example of Persianartsofthebook,arenowheldininstitutionaland private collections spread over three

continents.In1981,MartinDicksonandStuartCaryWelchpublisheda2-volumestudyofthe‘Houghton’ Shahnama, as the manuscript issometimesknown.Nowitspageshavebeenphotographically reassembled by theMMA,in full colour and in one volume, printedin two editions: one hardbound in cloth ina handsome slip-cover, the other bound instampedandgildedleatherinhomageoftheopulentoriginal.

Atnearly27cmx40cm,almostasbigastheoriginalfolios,theShahnamaofShahTahmasp:ThePersianBookofKingsisalargebookwitha price tag tomatch. It is not a facsimile inthetruesenseofthewordinthatitdoesnotreproduceTahmasp’sShahnamapagebypage.It offers instead an opportunity to turn onemagnificent leaf after the other, delightingin the illustrations produced over a periodof 20yearsbywhat is said tobe the largestassembly of paper and pigment makers,scribes,illuminatorsandartistsevertoworkononemanuscript.

The whole sweep of pre-Islamic Iranianhistory and story-telling of the great epicis painted here in works that evoke bothgrandeur and intimacy, all set within wide,gold-speckled margins: the legendaryGayumars, Iran’s first king, surrounded byhis courtiers dressed in leopard skin cloaksandheadgearasthemonarchsits,enthronedin an elevated and otherworldly rockylandscape of mystic blues and greens; the

E

B o o K r E V i E W: P E R S I A N A R T S O F T H E B O O K

SusanScollay

Masterpiecesfromthedepartmentofislamic

artintheMetropolitanMuseumofart

Sheila R. Canby et al.

Yale University Press, November 2011

rrp: $79.95

theshahnamaofshahtahmasp:

thePersianBookofKings

Sheila R. Canby

Yale University Press, November 2011

rrp: $250.00

Giftsofthesultan:theartsof

GivingattheislamicCourts

Linda Komaroff (ed)

Yale University Press, June 2011

rrp: $85.00

27TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O . 1 27

albinohero,Zal,whohasbeenraisedbythemagnificentlyplumedSimurgh,spottedbyapassing caravan;Rustam tearinghis shirt tobarehis chest asheweepsover thebodyofthesonhehaskilledinbattle,theirrespectivehorseslookingonfromtheveryedgesofthecarefully composed scene; the elegance ofthe leaping flames that engulf white-robedSiyavush as he rides his black steed into ahugefiretoprovehisinnocence;BahramGurridinghiscamelthroughturquoise-coloured,flower-strewn terrain as he hunts with hisfavourite slave-girl playing her harp as shesits behind him; and the musician Barbad,hiding in a cypress tree as he plays musicthat enchantsKingKhusrau and the courtlygathering seatedwith him in a leafy palacegarden.ThislastfoliowillberememberedbySydneyaudiencesasitwaspartofthemajorexhibition of works of IslamicArt from theKhaliliCollection at theArtGallery ofNewSouthWalesin2007.

Longbefore itsdispersal in the20thcenturythe manuscript had left Iran. In 1568, ShahTahmasp sent it as a gift to the Ottomansultan,SelimII,whoplaceditintheOttomanimperial library. Its presentation at theOttoman court, along with other luxuriousofferings, is recorded in a number of

illustrated manuscripts held in the TopkapiPalaceMuseum collection. Sometime before1903themanuscriptleftIstanbulandenteredthecollectionofBaronEdmunddeRothschild,andthencetoHoughton.

The significant role of gift exchange indisseminating individual works of art,includingluxurymanuscripts,andtheimpactof this practice on artistic production forelite court circles in the Islamic world haslong been recognised.Yet an exhibition andpublication produced for the Los AngelesCounty Museum of Art in June 2011 arethe first to comprehensively examine thiswidespread phenomenon, a key componentofdiplomacyandsovereignty.

The exhibitionpublication,Gifts of theSultan:TheArtsofGivingattheIslamicCourts,editedbyLindaKomaroff,followsthesatisfyingformatofanumberoflongeressaysinterspersedwithshorter, pithier contributions - all generouslyillustrated and followed by a glossary,bibliography and useful catalogue details of259 exhibited objects. The volume’s appealis increased by its consideration of gifts ofdiffering status: personal gifts and piousdonationsaswellasthebetter-knowngiftsofstatebothwithinandwithoutimperialborders.

Of special interest is a lively account fromMarianna Shreve Simpson of gift exchangesbetweenthecourtsofthePersianShah‘AbbasI (r. 1587-1629) and Philip III, theHapsburgruler of Spain and Portugal (r. 1598 -1621).The vast scale of the preparation, cost andtransportation of such exchanges betweenthe IslamicworldandEurope in thisperiodhas only recently come to light. Ironicallysuchefforts,accordingtoSimpson,‘seem[ed]to have been for naught’ in terms of anysuccessonthepartofeitherpartyingainingthe diplomatic or trade agreements they sodeterminedlysought.

InayearwhentheStateLibraryofVictoria’sexhibition of Persian manuscripts will raiseawareness of Persian literature and bookarts in the widerAustralian community, allthreeofthesebookscouldnotbemorehighlyrecommended–ormoretimely.

Susan Scollay is an art historian specialising in the

Islamic world. She is guest co-curator of love and

devotion: from Persia and Beyond and editor of the

publication that accompanies the exhibition.


Boitran will beremembered by someTAASA membersfor her presentationat the 2002 seminarVietnamese Arts:TraditionandModernityheldatthePowerhouseMuseum where shepresentedherresearchon the abstract artist

TaTy.Atthattime,shewasalsocompletingaPhDatSydneyCollegeoftheArts,onthesubject of Saigonese artists: artists whomthe Vietnamese Government had excised

from history. Significantly, this researchwas carried out from an institution outsideVietnam.Hercourageanddetermination toretrievethestoriesofthoseartists,whowereexiles from the communist regime and, inmanycases,becamerefugeesaftertheendofthewar,wasextraordinary.Coincidingwithher research was some moderation in theVietnameseGovernmentculturalpolicy,andworks by these influential and historicallyimportantartistsarenowincludedinmajormuseumsinVietnam.

Prior to coming to Australia to completea Graduate Diploma in Art History at

Monash in 1996, Boitranwas a lecturer atthe Dong Nai College of Decorative Artsin Ho ChiMinh City from 1983-1995 andagainbetween1996-2001.Shecuratedmanyexhibitions,includingtheoutstanding2009Nam Bang! exhibition and seminar at theCasulaPowerhouseandwasaparticipantinmanyinternationalandlocalseminars.Hermanyachievements includebeing thefirstVietnameseCommunityAmbassadorattheAGNSW.Boitranwillbesadlymissed:shewasabridgebetweenculturesandpeople.

MythankstoJohnClarkandAnnetteVandenBoschfortheircontributiontothisobituary.

A most active advocate for Vietnamese art, the art-historian and curator Boitran Beattie-Hyunh suddenly passed away in Singapore on 16 January 2012.

B o i t r a n B E a t t i E - h U y n h : 1 9 5 7 - 2 0 1 2

AnnProctor

2 0 1 1 t a a s a C a M B o d i a t o U r

JohnMillbank

avingbeentoCambodia10yearsagoIwasimmediately interested when TAASA,

in collaboration with Heritage Destinations,offeredatourtoCambodiaaspartofits20thanniversarycelebrationsin2011.Especiallyasthe tourwas tobe ledbyourPresidentGillGreen,anexpertonCambodiantextiles,andlongtimeCambodianresidentDarrylCollins,museum curator, lecturer and author, andcurrentlyrestoreroftraditionalKhmerhousesinSiemReap(seeTAASAReview,March2010).OnmyfirsttripIhadonlybeenabletovisitAngkor, flying directly in and out of SiemReap.ThistourofferedthechancetoseewhatIhadpreviouslymissed.

Soonemorning lastOctober I foundmyselfataconferencetableintheNationalMuseumof Phnom Penh with my fellow travellers,beingbriefedbyDarryl about thehistoryofthemuseumand itscollection.ThemuseumitselfoffersanunrivalledoverviewofKhmerart,mainlysculpture-anexcellentfoundationfortheremainingtrip.

AfteralittletimeacquaintingourselveswithPhnomPenh’spalacesandpagodas,marketsand restaurants (surprisingly sophisticatedandgood),wesetoffinawideanti-clockwisecircle around the dominant feature ofcentral Cambodia, Lake Tonlé Sap, to takein numerous Khmer sites before reachingAngkor itself. In the south we saw Wat

Nokor, anAngkorean period Hindu templeharbouring a 1960s Buddhist Wat, and theearly (7th to 8th century) capital of SamborPrei Kuk now in a national forest completewith overgrown bomb craters, reminders ofthesecretB-52bombingcampaignof1969-70.In the countryside not far from Siem Reap,a lone 12th century naga bridge still spansa river: an introduction, as it were, to theexpansiveAngkordistrict.

OnoneexcursionfromSiemReap,weheadednorthtoKohKer,where inthemiddleof theAngkoreanperiodtheevidentlymegalomaniacJayavarman IVbrieflyestablishedhis capital,characterisedbyitsownrathersquatanduglybutundeniablymassivesculpturalstyle.Muchmoregraceful,nolessforbeinginpicturesqueruin, was the 12th century temple of BengMealea,totheeastofAngkor.

ButAngkoritselfmustbethehighlightofanytour of Cambodia, and it waswonderful tolingeragainovertheremainsoftheBaphuonand the incredibly vivid bas-reliefs ofAngkorWatandtheBayoninAngkorThom.Wonderful also to finally be able to see theminiature“rose temple”ofBantaySrei,noweasilyreachedbyexpresswayfromSiemReapbutnotaccessibletousin2001,theatrociousroad being (supposedly) closed for repairs.AndthegracefulRoluosmonuments,preludetothehighageofAngkor.

My personal highlight was the culminationofanambition formed in2001: thebestpartof a day spent bicycling around theAngkorNational Heritage Park, a blissful way toabsorb the sights and sounds of the forestand the crowning achievements of Khmercivilisation.

MEMBERS OF THE 2011 TAASA CAMBODIA TOUR AT KOH KER

H

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 1 N O . 1

29

t a a s a M E M B E r s ’ d i a r y

MARCH – MAY 2012

TAASA’s anniversary celebration partykicked off in grand form at the ShermanContemporary Art Foundation in Sydneylast December. Gene Sherman had mostgenerously offered TAASA her gallery’spremisesforthecelebration,andwhatanidealvenue it was. Entry required guests to don‘snowshoes’ andprogress towards thepartyitself through a white blizzard: a sensationprovided by the Sherman Foundation’ssurprisingandbeautifulinstallationWaterfallbyTokujinYoshioka.

After encountering the art in the gallery,guests joined the convivial throng in thecourtyard(yes,therainheldoff!).Morethan160membersandguestsattended,includingsome from interstate. As usual for TAASAevents, many wore gorgeous garments invariousAsian styles, contributingnoticeablytothecolourandatmosphereoftheevening.

The guest of honour, Edmund Capon,TAASA’s first Honorary Life Memberand retiring Director of the Art Gallery ofNSW, attended with his wife Joanna. ThatEdmundmade time in his particularly busyschedule to speak at TAASA’s event wasmuchappreciated–aswashis speech itself,inwhichhe congratulated theSocietyon itsachievements over 20 years and wished uswellforthenext20.JackieMenzies, Founding LifeMember andexPresidentofTAASA,andHeadCuratorofAsianArtattheAGNSW,wasscheduledtotellus something of TAASA’s history, but sadly(forus)shehadwhiskedherselfawaytoreal

blizzardsinMongoliatopursueaforthcomingloanexhibition.TAASAPresidentGillGreenthanked those Committee members whoseeffortswereparticularlyassociatedwith thisanniversary year, and launched the bumper20th Anniversary issue of TAASA ReviewVol.20, No.4 (copies of which were madeavailabletomembersastheylefttheparty).

The final ceremony of the evening was thepresentation of cheques to the jointwinnersoftheTAASAEssayPrize,aprojectinitiatedspecifically to celebrate TAASA’s 20 years.Oneof thewinners,MatthewO’Farrell,washappily present to receive his award, whilethe parents of the equal winner, HannahBeasley,whowas(appropriately)travellinginAsia,hadcomefromtheSouthernHighlandstoacceptherawardonherbehalf.BothessayswerepublishedtogetherwiththeAnniversaryissueoftheTAASAReview.

This significant and enjoyable occasion in avery attractive venue certainly had the truebuzzoffriendshipandcelebrationforTAASAanditsachievements.

t a a s a 2 0 t h a n n i V E r s a r y Pa r t y

6 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 1 , S Y D N E Y

SandraForbes SPEAKING AT THE TAASA 20TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY – GENE SHERMAN

(L) AND GILL GREEN (R). PHOTO: NGUYEN KIM LONG

GUEST OF HONOUR, EDMUND CAPON, SPEAKING AT THE TAASA 20TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY. PHOTO: NGUYEN KIM LONG

Special Viewing of Love and Devotion: From Persia and Beyond, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne6-8pm Wednesday 11 April 2012ExclusivevisitforTAASAmemberstothisbeautifulexhibitionofrare13thto18thcenturyPersian,Mughal,IndianandOttomanTurkishillustratedmanuscriptsfromtheBodleianLibrariesoftheUniversityofOxford,aswellasthecollectionoftheSLV.ThevisitistimedtoallowTAASAmemberstoattendtheSLVconferenceLoveandDevotion:PersianCulturalCrossroadson12–14April(withdiscountavailabletoTAASAMembers).

SusanScollay,co-curatoroftheexhibition,willtakeTAASAmembersonatouroftheexhibitionfollowingdrinksandcanapésattheLibrary.

TAASAMembers$40;nonmembers:$50.Bookingsessential.For bookings or further information: contact Gill Green (02) 9331 1810 or [email protected] & Lebanon: Arts and Culture, Ancient and ModernTravel with TAASA in association with Alumni Travel10 – 28 October 2012

ChristinaSumner,TAASAVicePresidentandPrincipalCurator,Design&SocietyatthePowerhouseMuseumwillleadthistour.CoveringthemajorarchaeologicalsightsofJordanandLebanonsuchasPetraandBaalbeck,thetourwillofferfocusedvisitstomuseums,craftworkshopsandcontemporarygalleriesaswellastheopportunitytoexperiencethenaturalbeautyofthesevitalMiddleEasterncountries.

For information contact Alumni Travel (02) 9290 3856/1300 799 887 or [email protected]


W h a t ’ s o n i n a U s t r a l i a a n d o V E r s E a s : M A R C H - M AY 2 0 1 2

A S E L E C T I V E R O U N D U P O F E X H I B I T I O N S A N D E V E N T S

CompiledbyTinaBurge

aCt

lectures&screenings

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

GlobalModernismandtheindian

avant-Garde1922-47

20 March 2012 at 12.45pm

Indianarthistorian,EmeritusProfessorParthaMitter,willdiscussIndianModernismasexploredinhisbook,TheTriumphofModernism:India’sartistsandtheavant-garde,1922-47.

Everycloudhasagoldenlining

24 April 2012 at 12.45pm

DrOliviaMeehan,AssistantCuratorattheNGA,willtalkabouttheJapanesescreensintheGallery’scollection.

Muralpaintingtraditions (DVD, 2010)

29 April 2012 at 2.00pm

TwodocumentariesbyBenoyK.Behl,TheVerdantHills,paintingsoftheHimalayanregionsandPanAsianArt,muralsfromSriLanka,Myanmar,ThailandandBaliwillbescreened.

For further information go to: www.nga.gov.au

nEWsoUthWalEs

Motherindia:videoplaysbynaliniMalani

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

11 February - 20 May 2012

IndianartistNaliniMalani'smulti-mediaworksfocusonissuesincludingidentity,gender,migrationandpoliticalviolence.Hermajorwork,MotherIndia:transactionsintheconstructionofpain2005,togetherwithearliervideosrecentlyacquired,arenowpresentedforthefirsttimeinSydney.TheycomplementtwosuitesofdrawingsbyMalaniintheGallery'scollection:TheDegasSuite1992andLoharChawl1991.

For more information go to: www.agnsw.com.au.

artsofasialectureseries2012love

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

On Tuesdays from 6 March, 1-2pm

Theupliftingandtransformativeexperienceofloveisthethemeforthe2012ArtsofAsialectureseries.Thelectureswillofferfreshinsightsintotheinterpretationofloveinthereligious,literaryandartisticworldswithabroadrangeoftopicsincludingromanticlove,devotionallove,parentalloveandforbiddenlove.

6March:StefanoCarboni,Director,ArtGalleryofWesternAustraliaon‘FamousPersianlovestories’.

For further information go to: www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/calendar/arts-asia-lecture-2012/

ViCtoria

inthestepsoftheBuddha–

selectedPrograms

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Live: Zen Meditation - The art of just sitting 10Marchand15April,2012from12-1pmTheZenmonkSeikanČech,willdemonstratethepracticeofZazen-theartofZenmeditation.Maitreya Project Heart Shrine Relic Tour16,17&18Marchfrom10am-5pmViewsacredrelics,foundinthecremationashesofgreatBuddhistmastersfromacrossAsia.Workshop: Zen Meditation - The art of just sitting15&29April10-11amAnintroductoryworkshopwithZenmonkSeikanČech.

For other events and more information go to: www.ngv.vic.gov.au

hannahPang:doublehappiness

PortraitofaChineseWedding

RMIT Gallery, Melbourne

17 February - 24 March 2012

HannahPanghashadalongassociationwiththefashionindustryandisknownforherinnovativeuseoftextiles.Herlatestcollectionisacontemporaryinterpretationof1930sand40sChineseweddingsinShanghaiandthesurroundingregion.Pangisrenownedforpushingtheboundariesoftraditionalhandicraftsandintheexhibitionthefabricssheuseshavebeenspeciallydevelopedusingacombinationoftechniquesincludinggradationhand-painting,tiedyeing,weavingandembroidery.

For more information go to: www.rmit.edu.au/rmitgallery

sweets:tastesandtraditions

frommanycultures

Immigration Museum, Melbourne

15 March 2012

Thisexhibitionwillcelebratethehistoricalandculturalsignificanceofsweetfoodsandwhydifferenceculturesusesweetsfordifferentpurposesandreasons.Throughobjects,photographsandmultimedia,theexhibitionwillexploresweetsfromIndia,Japan,Turkeyandmanyothercultures.

For more information go to: www.museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum

intErnational

franCE

sho1to41Contemporary

JapaneseMasterCalligraphers

Musee Guimet, Paris

14 March - 14 May 2012

ThemaintrendsofcontemporaryJapanesecalligraphywillbeseenintheworkof41contemporarycalligrapherswhichreflectthediversityandlivelinessofthisancientstyle.TheirworkwillbecontrastedwiththeGuimet’sowncollectionofJapanesecalligraphyalongwithselectionsfromtheMainichiShodokaiFoundation.

For more information go to: www.guimet.frSeikan Čech, zen monk. Photo courtesy Melbourne zen Centre

Motherindia:transactionsintheconstructionofpain2005.

Nalini Malani, video play. Art Gallery of NSW.

sinGaPorE

Patternsoftrade:indiantextiles

forExport,1400-1900

Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore

15 November 2011 - 3 June 2012

Theexhibitionpresentsover70worksofstrikinglypatternedandbrightlycolouredIndiantradetextiles,someofwhichareover600yearsoldandhaveneverbeenonpublicdisplaybefore.Theexhibitionwillexplorehowthetradeofthesesensationaltextilesmadeahugeimpactondecorationacrosstheglobe.

For further information go to: www.acm.org.sg

UK

hajj-Journeytotheheartofislam

British Museum, London

26 January - 15 April 2012

OneofthefivepillarsofIslamistheHajj-thepilgrimagetoMeccathateveryMuslimmustmakeatleastonceintheirlifetimeiftheyareable.Theexhibitionexaminestheextraordinarytravellogisticsinvolvedandhowthepilgrimageitselfhaschangedover

thecenturiesforthemillionsofpilgrimswhohavemadethejourney.Ondisplayisarangeofobjectsincludinghistoricalandcontemporaryart,textilesandmanuscriptsthatbringtolifethisprofoundspiritualexperiencethathasremainedlargelyunchangedsincethe7thcentury.

For further information go to: www.britishmuseum.org

Usa

Byzantiumandislam-ageoftransition

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

14 March - 8 July 2012

TheEasternMediterraneancomprisedthewealthysouthernprovincesoftheByzantineEmpireatthestartofthe7thcentury.Bythatcentury’send,theregionwascentraltotheemergingIslamicworld.Theexhibitionwillbethefirsttodisplaythecomplexcharacteroftheregionanditsexceptionalartandcultureduringtheeraoftransition-fromitsroleaspartoftheByzantinestatetoitsevolvingpositioninthedevelopingIslamicworld.


Whetheryouwanttostudytextilesinlaosorindia,discoverethnicminoritiesinremoteVietnamornorthEastindia,ifyouseektouncovertheculturalcomplexitiesoftheCaucasus,China,Centralasiaoriran,ortovisitMorocco,iffoodcultureiskey,wecanhelpyouin2012.

New programs include two textile tours covering Mumbai, Kachchh, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Udaipur, Jaipur and Kolkata with Carole Douglas, ’taking you beneath the surface and into the fabric of traditional culture.’

And don’t forget our special TAASA tour to Jordan and Lebanon with Christina Sumner.

www.alumnitravel.com.auforahardcopybrochure,email:[email protected];

Phone:(02)92903856or1300799887(exsydneymetrop.),orfax:(02)92903857

review_21_1_2012_march

Documents

persian arts

australia post

result of material

potts point nsw

po box

indonesian qur

book susanscollay28

guesteditor4 love