Aesthetics of the Persian and Eurasian Cities and Steppes: Carpet designs and Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Isfahan, Iran

We are coming near to rounding out the geographic areas covered in this course with this week’s videos. We began the semester working our way from Arabia and the Levant across North Africa to Spain, and then moved to Turkey, and this week we will go as far east as we will go in this course: dipping slightly up and east of Turkey to Azerbaijan and as far east as Iran.Rather than providing an overview this week, we’ll look closely at two topics: hand knotted carpets, from Azerbaijan, and the Safavid “pattern of the world”, one of the largest public squares in the world still to this day, Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan, Iran (including the Shah Mosque/Royal Mosque/Imam Mosque and Sheikh Loft Allah Mosque).

Beginning with Islamic carpets, the first video, a 10 minute video, The Traditional Art of Azerbaijani Carpet Weaving in the Republic of Azerbaijan provides a thoughtful overview of the history and value (functions, purposes, etc.) of knotted carpets in Azerbaijan. The carpets from this general area, especially neighboring Anatolia (Turkey) date back more than 2,500 years, and lay the groundwork (no pun intended!) for the developments of the various styles of carpets throughout Central Asia and the Middle East.

The carpet has played a profound set of roles in cultural life for traditional Bedouin tribes from Arabia, Anatolia, and Persia: as a tent sheltering from sandstorms, as a floor covering for comfort, as walls for privacy, as blankets, bags, and saddles, and as a primary art form for these nomadic cultures. The complexity of the art form is tremendous, from start to finish, in the design, construction, meaning, form, and function. Western art historians seem to not know what to do with Islamic art forms and categorize them as “minor arts”, like “crafts” however in my opinion, this could not be farther from the truth: these are among the most complex and engaging abstract and symbolic designs and works of art I have seen anywhere, and I would have to stretch very far to imagine any Western “fine art” examples that match or exceed these forms!

For Muslims taking this course, you will, far better than I, be able to articulate the profound significance of the carpet in Islam. I will most briefly summarize what I have come to understand, that Muhammed sanctified the ground when he laid his head upon the ground to pray, and in this tradition, symbolically the carpet can allow any space to be transformed into a mosque or extension of a mosque, most importantly, the Islamic home. I will ask any individuals in the course who wish to write about the carpet if you would be willing to please share something about the significance of the Islamic carpet for you? https://youtu.be/2CHy29iBEf4

And to add a little depth about the imagery within these carpets, this next 5 minute video provides a wonderful glimpse into common symbols and images in Islamic carpets. The expert explaining the symbolism is Margaret Jasper, a well known Australian collector of Islamic carpets. It is fun to learn understand what symbols mean and how to read what artists are conveying to use in their work! If you enjoy this video, here are two others from her website (also available on YouTube). https://youtu.be/EsZDoFUkQ9w

If you are very interested in the rugs, you may focus your post entirely on carpets, and you might be interested in any of the following videos. THESE ARE NOT REQUIRED. The first two, https://youtu.be/nUsUcfYnE7Q and https://youtu.be/xaBsaQwwV7Y, which are also 10 minute UNESCO videos, are about the process of making carpets in Kashan (a city, in Isfahan province, highly refined patterns for city purposes,) and Fars (nomadic roots, highly creative and high level of creative freedom) to consider and compare the needs of different populations. The third is a 3 minute video of a Bedouin carpet shop in Marrakech, Morocco: https://youtu.be/r1BS8rfz7Lk and the fourth is an 18 minute video tour of a Berber carpet maker’s shop in the Atlas Mountains, with information and stories told by the carpet maker: https://youtu.be/ZIEdsE4grgs You may also enjoy additional videos about carpets that I posted under the “Resources” tab, under “Links”.

Moving on to Naqsh-e Jahan Square, this remarkable 17th century urban square was designed to be the heart of the Safavid capital of Isfahan, in Persia, now Iran. The video provides a thorough examination of the Shah Mosque (Imam Mosque) on the south side of the Naghsh-e Jahan Square, in the city of Isfahan, Iran. It briefly addresses the other buildings that surround the 964,000 square feet Naghsh-e Square, or Imam Square, which is the center of a complex of buildings including the “Friday” mosque, the bazaar, and the Madrasas. This video includes excellent 3-D animations of the structure and engineering as well a the architectural features, and addresses symbolism in the mosque’s features. It does a great job of showing the classic or iconic “Persian” or Iranian architectural styles and features: the large iwans, the four-iwan mosque design, the blue and yellow mosaic tiles, the geometric Kufic calligraphy that can be read from a distance, the complexes of pendentives that look like muqarnas within iwans, the shape and design of the dome typical of Safavid architecture – an excellent look at what classic “Persian” architecture looks like! https://youtu.be/UerkXluI_eo

I know some of you are highly interested in architecture, and some are interested in a wide range of arts. For this assignment, you may:

1. Write about any aspect of Islamic Carpets that is of interest to you. OR

2. Write about any aspect of the architecture or town planning of Naqsh-e Jahan Square that is of interest to you. OR

3. Reflect on the cultural dimensions of any aspect of the art or architecture that they were created for. “Form follows function” – past or present, how might these art forms reflect or support the needs of the people or the values of the cultures that created them? OR

4. How do these relate to any aspect of other topics we’ve examined in this course? OR

5. Use your imagination and be creative: imagine yourself as someone who would have in the past been an artist or engineer making these carpets or architectural structures, or as someone who might use them. What would that be like? Or perhaps what might your relationship be with a carpet, what value or importance might it have to you, if you were living in a nomadic culture? How might you appreciate these differently if they were made for your use, at the time they were made, compared to looking at these as historical artifacts that we still live with? If you would like to explore these with your imagination, you are welcome to be creative and share with us your thoughts!

If you have any interest in posting photos, I think I can safely say that most of us love seeing photos as you illustrate what you are sharing!