A glimpse of Persian civilization: calligraphy, carpet making and painting
By Tibebeselassie Tigabu
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia- 
A calligraphy, carpet and painting exhibition opened on February 2nd at the Iranian Embassy and at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies to mark the 31st anniversary of the Iranian Islamic revolution.

In these exhibitions two artists namely Ahmad Bahamani Pooya and Farajollah Atabaki presented their works.
 
Calligraphy is one of the prestigious, aesthetic and ancient arts of Persia (Iran), which existed at the pre-Islamic period and at its genesis. As many authors describe it, this art form was characterized as plane and floriated, that used to be printed on their gold and silver coins and seals. 
  
Within the centuries it evolved. Many forms and characters were added and different types of calligraphy were created like Taaliq (suspending), Naskh, Shekassteh (broken) Sols, Reyhan, Golzar (flower garden), Mosavvadeh (Draft writing) which gave different pattern for this art form.
 
The art reached its highest peak after the coming of Islam where holy books were ornamented. Especially different verses from the Quran were beautified and hanged on the wall. This art form was also applied in mosques, and their gates started to reflect this art genre.
 
It is not only for decoration. Most calligraphers were spiritually attached to this art for putting codes in the Holy Quran about people’s destiny.
 
The art immersed in the daily lives of the ordinary Iranian people but it also spread into other parts of the world like India and Syria.  Nowadays this art form is witnessed everywhere in poetry, literature, metal work, cloth design, in diverse inscriptions on  carpets, mosques, wooden doors, earthenware and metallic vessels. All these things have touches and traces of this specific art.
  
At this time many artists, like Ahmed Bahamani Pooya, started the conscious mixing of calligraphy with contemporary painting. In this exhibition he displayed four kinds of Persian calligraphy namely Shekassteh (broken), Sols, Nastellic and Naskh. The pieces are mixed with painting techniques; they glorify Allah and the different speeches of Allah.  The writing is so glamorous, that it moves the words looking like dancing with each other. “In contemporary Iran we use it for religious things and also for celebrities’ speeches.” States Ahmed Bahamani Pooya.
 
This artist is a professor at the Iranian Calligraphy Institute, who had 25 previous exhibitions. And for the first time he exhibited his work in Ethiopia.
 
For the other artist, Farajollah Atabaki, it’s also the first time to exhibit here in Addis. His paintings portray the specific landscape of Iran with its four seasons. His deep appreciation of nature drove him to explore the diverse natural components and to put it on his canvass - the sunrise, the waterfall, and the sunset were all captured on his brush.
 He even depicts the lifestyle of his people within the landscape, portrays the houses they live in and so on. He shows nature as it is. But the most amazing thing is that you feel like you are inside the actual portrayed place.

 “I love nature and usually I sit for hours and paint there.” explains Farajollah Atabaki.
 He is deeply impressed by the landscape of Ethiopia where he is taking pictures now to transform them later on canvas.

Other artifacts presented in this exhibition were the exquisite carpets of Persia which show Cleopatra, Moses (the work of Michael Angelo) and different calligraphies inside those marvelous carpets.

  “The history of painting in Iran goes back to the cave age. In the caves of Lorestan province, painted images of animals and hunting scenes have been discovered.,” explains Gholam Alae, the director of the cultural section of the Iranian Embassy. “W. Semner discovered paintings on the walls of buildings in Mallyan heights and in Fars, which are more than 5,000 years old. Such paintings discovered on earthenware in Lorestan, Sialk and other archeological sites prove that ancient artists of this region were brilliant in the art of painting.”