Excerpt of Lila Samari’s ‘Tapestry From the Past to the Present’
Tapestries are perhaps one of the oldest weaves in history. In Iran the oldest forms of tapestries belong to the Pazirik area and date to the first century AD. However, tapestries have been found across the world with innumerable designs that date even further back than this.
Through the centuries tapestries have adorned countless palaces, marketplaces and temples. Yet they reached the epitome of their perfection in Paris when the Gobelin workshop was set up in 1662. At this time such famous painters as Poussin, Boucher, Le Brun and Goya gave their designs to this workshop to be woven into tapestries.
As has been the case with various art genres, this genre too was at the mercy of rigid limitations and norms of various academies for centuries. It was not until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that a group of artists came together to change the conventional view on textiles and weaves in Europe. This movement brought about its own renaissance.
Three elements played a major role in this change:
1-William Morris’s re evaluation of the value of ‘handicraft’—a view that brought total upheaval in weaving. In terms of textiles it also changed the function of fiber and weave. Morris was thus able to not only influence Fiber Art in Europe but even in such countries as Japan as well. William Morris and his colleagues believed in the collaboration of the artist and the craftsman; a belief that brought about what is commonly known today as Art Nouveau. It also changed the traditional view of the relations between art, architecture and handicraft.
2-The founding of the Bauhaus School in Germany. This school of thought advocated the collaboration of the artist and the craftsman and believed in the unity of form (design) and technique (craftsmanship).
3-The Tapestry Biennial Exhibitions of Lausanne
In the Fifth Tapestry Biennial of Lausanne the following criteria were set:
a) Tapestries can be of absolutely of any form or material
b) the artist is free to use any kind of weave to express himself
c) there is no limitation to the functionality of tapestries. They can come as wall hangings, soft statues, and panels to separate architectural units…
In Iran we see a different functionality for tapestries and weaves. Since the advent of Islam and in an attempt to uproot idolatry the weaving of figurative forms was banned. It was not until the time of the Safavids that this art once again regained its rightful place and was able to change centuries old rigid rules and conventions. It was also at this time that craftsmen were able to weave rugs and gilims with figurative designs to decorate walls, bazaars and various entrances.
We have exceptional pieces left to us from the time of the Safavids and they all portray different weaves. Carpet, gilim, gold thread tapestries, and embroideries were but a few of the various weaves that were advanced at this time. However, at the end of the seventeenth century we suddenly see the mysterious disappearance of figurative carpet weaves from Kashan, Tabriz and Isfahan; the few pieces that survive show that these workshops were already working with such elements as silk, gold and silver. The designs these workshops used were made by the miniature painters of the Shah Abbas and Shah Tahmasb courts—two of the most prestigious schools of miniature painting in Iran.
From 1973 the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization set up workshops to teach figurative tapestry and gilim weaving. In fact after three centuries this ancient art was once again taught in Iran.
Master craftsmen like Jamshid Amini and Latif Taghdiri came forth to weave the masterpieces of such painters as Kamal ol Molk and Malek ol Shoara Bahar.
According to Parviz Tanavoli these carpets are immensely important for they speak of the influence of paintings and photography on carpet weaving. It is extremely difficult to weave these designs into carpets but due to public demand these new carpet designs have spread out and filled the homes and shops of Iranians of all walks of life.
Craftsmen used various subject matters in their carpets ranging from the portraits of historical figures, myths, legends, romances, religious narratives and even mystical stories. Today we see the works of miniaturists like Mahmoud Farshchian woven into the Iranian carpet.
From 1993 we have seen such modern designs as the works of Parviz Tanavoli, perhaps Iran’s leading contemporary sculptor and one of the founders of the famous Saghakhaneh movement in Iranian art, woven into carpets. In the succeeding years we even witness felt carpet exhibitions in which the works of modernist painters like Bahram Dabiri are depicted.
Gradually these fibers and designs have evolved and modernized to reach new heights of artistic creativity. Presently the weaver has been give free rein to let loose his fantasy and express himself through his weaves. The means no longer matter, what is at stake today is the method with which the weaver seeks to influence his audience and leave his mark on them.