reza negarestani – cyclonopedia

‘BURKABONDAGE’ VON HELENA WALDMANN

mit Vania Rovisco, Dasniya Sommer, Acci Baba und Mohammad Reza Mortazavi

Infos unter: www.burkabondage.de

Indientournee Dezember 2010
06.12. – Chennai
10.12. – Colombo
12.12. – Bangalore
16.12. – Mumbai
19.12. – Delhi

— Burka Bondage

juan cole – engaging the muslim world

christopher i. beckwith – empires of the silk road

iranophobia – haggai ram

nasrin alavi – we are iran

So what is it about Persian calligraphy and the writing system that makes it so desirable to work with?

The secret lies in the script and its mechanics. This script, that is written in Persian or Farsi, is known as the Arabic Script. It should be noted that the technical term Arabic Script refers to the script used in Iran, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, other Arab countries, and more Indian regions where the Pashtu language is spoken. Moreover it used to be the official writing system in Turkey before its westernization by Ata Turk. Therefore its use for writing in over a dozen different dialects and languages has prompted a natural cultural adoption of specific styles and characteristics.

— pingmag – iranian typography now

calligraphy painting by Mohammed Ehsaei

Iranian Typography Now

calligraphy painting by Mohammed Ehsaei

The past few years have been quite exciting for Iranian graphic designers. As Iran’s design gains more international attention, the graphic designers face new challenges and rewards. In winter 2002 a poster exhibition by Iranian graphic designers called “Un Cri Persan” (A Persian Cry) was held in the city of Echirolles as a part of the Month of Graphic Design in France. The exhibition exposed a wealth of works that somehow escaped the spotlight for almost two decades. Ever since then Iranian graphic designers, many of them already internationally known, have been sharing more of their magic with the rest of the world.

Written by Behrouz

One of the qualities that makes current Iranian graphic design unique is its typography. The country has a rich history of visual arts and moreover the better part of this heritage consists of calligraphy. Throughout the times calligraphy has been inventing and reinventing itself and has influenced other forms of art. The incorporation of calligraphy into Islamic architecture is a fine example of this union. In recent times these treasures of beauty and harmony have inspired painters, sculptors, and in particular: graphic designers.

In comparison to Europe and North America calligraphy is a far more popular and practiced form of art in Iran and in most other countries around this area. You can spot at least one piece of calligraphy hung on the walls of most Iranian households.

Perhaps these are all reasons why it is not so easy to draw the line where calligraphy ends and typography starts. Some of the masterpieces of Iranian design are often the results of a collaboration between a designer and a calligrapher. One of the classic examples of such collaborations is the logotype of the Reza Abbasi Museum. The late Morteza Momayez (1936-2005) used the brilliant calligraphy of Iranian master calligrapher Mohamad Ehsaei to create this logotype in 1976.

logotype of Reza Abbasi Museum on the wall of the museum in Tehran

Mohammad Ehsaei has created numerous logos using various traditional aesthetics. His “Calligraphy Paintings” are highly praised for their complex compositions. In many of his works Ehsaei has extracted the essence of letters and traditional compositions and used them to create abstract works that are unmistakably Iranian in tone and character.

Mohammad Ehsaei: logotype for Abouzar Publication

logotype, Academy of Art, 2000

Mohammad Ehsaei: poster, Iranian exhibition in Bologna, 1977

calligraphy painting based on a Molavai poem

religious poster, 1999

poster, Iranian Artists in Bologna, 1977

So what is it about Persian calligraphy and the writing system that makes it so desirable to work with?

The secret lies in the script and its mechanics. This script, that is written in Persian or Farsi, is known as the Arabic Script. It should be noted that the technical term Arabic Script refers to the script used in Iran, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, other Arab countries, and more Indian regions where the Pashtu language is spoken. Moreover it used to be the official writing system in Turkey before its westernization by Ata Turk. Therefore its use for writing in over a dozen different dialects and languages has prompted a natural cultural adoption of specific styles and characteristics.

Persian calligraphy: some examples

style example from the Middle East

Middle East calligraphy: various styles

more from the Middle East

example for Persian calligraphy

Middle East style

another example of Arabic origin

The national language of Iran is called Farsi or Parsi. Farsi and Arabic use a similar alphabet but Farsi has four extra letters. In Arabic there is no Pe, Che, Zhe or Ge sound. That’s why in UAE you get Bebsi instead of Pepsi. Although both languages have borrowed from each other through history, Farsi’s vocabulary and grammar are very different from those in Arabic.

Farsi is written from right to left and it consists of 32 letters. Almost every word can be written without lifting your writing hand from the paper, meaning that usually all characters are connected. This makes Farsi a very fluid and flexible script. To be able to understand the complexity of the script it’s better to have a rough idea of the anatomy of Farsi letters. To make that easier, let’s forget about calligraphy for a moment and look at fonts designed for everyday purposes:

anatomy of Farsi Letters

Each letter can have a maximum of four different forms:

Free form: When it appears without being connected to another character.

Initial form: When the character is the first character in a word, therefore only connected to the character after itself.

Medial form: When the character is connected to the characters after and before itself.

Final form: When the character is connected only to the character before itself.

from right to left: Free, Initial, Medial and Final forms

As a characteristic of the particular letter, different forms of a letter have in fact one single shape with different extensions reaching out of that shape. These extensions end either on, below, or above the baseline. The extension always lands on the baseline if it is going to join two characters. In other words – every two characters always meet on the baseline.

So what happens as you type?

Farsi fonts have to be “smart fonts”. The font has to decide which form a letter should appear in, depending on its position in the word. Open Type has solved the problems by providing all the different forms of the letters and all the exceptions and special connections. Here is an example of letters joining as a writer types a four-letter word.

Notice how the tail of each letter changes as the next letter is typed in

Now let’s continue with calligraphy. Here is where the fun begins:

Nastaligh or Nastaliq is a cursive style developed in the late 14th century in Iran. It allows very dense compositions and is very fluid and expressive. Nastaligh is not directly bound to a baseline. The letters float and continue all the way below the baseline. This results in a well balanced line usually with an upward momentum at the end of the line. Understanding and mastering this balance takes years of rigorous practice under a master. A piece of calligraphy can be most beautiful when the artist bends the rules to create a unique yet aesthetically pleasing composition.

poem written in Nastaligh, calligraphy by Habiballah Fazaeli

Shekaste Nastaligh (meaning “broken” Nastaligh) is a style born out of Nastaligh. It is more angular and suitable for fast writing. And its long oblique strokes imply an incredible sense of motion and rhythm.

Shekaste Nastaligh by Habiballah Fazaeli

In the late 1800s two master calligraphers, Mirza Gholamreza and Mir Hossein, explored visual qualities of Nastaligh by creating pieces known as Siah Mashgh. Siah Mashgh was originally just a practice for the calligrapher to warm up his hand and to refine the shape of letters by repeating them over and over. These practices resulted in a page filled with words and letters, hence the name Siah Mashgh literally meaning “Black Practice”. When calligraphers realized how stunning some of these pieces were it was turned into a style of its own.In these pieces the sole intention of the artist is to create visually stunning works. Words and letters are repeated regardless of meaning, all for the sake of composition and style. In some ways, a Siah Mashgh explores the concepts of typography in a more complex manner.

Siah Mashgh by Mir Hossein, 18th cent.

Siah Mashgh by Mirza Reza Kalhor

Reza Abedini is one of the contemporary designers who has explored and expanded the possibilities of Farsi typography. In many of his works Abedini breaks up the baseline and manipulates individual words and letters to achieve his unique typographic style. Although Abedini uses modern typefaces, he tries “to revive the poetic qualities of Persian calligraphy in his posters”, as he puts it.

Persian Type and Typography, poster by Reza Abedini

Photo and Graphic – an exhibition by Mehran Mohajer and Reza Abedini, poster by Reza Abedini

exhibition poster by Reza Abedini

Since 2003 The 5th Color – a group currently made up of four well established Iranian designers: Majid Abbasi, Saed Meshki, Alireza Mostafa Zadeh, and Bijan Sayfouri – have organized three typography exhibitions in Iran.

Saed Meshki

book cover by Saed Meshki

CD cover for Ghazal by Saed Meshki

“40+40″ poster by Majid Abbasi for The 5th Color’s exhibition in Italy

Members of The 5th Color represent a generation of designers who have had a considerable role in shaping and fostering graphic design in Iran in the last two decades. Saed Meshki has brought typography into music stores and bookstores with his designs. In the past few years he has focused on book design and has started his own publishing house called Meshki Publications.

Another member of The 5th Color, Majid Abbasi, is the creative director of Did Graphics, a leading graphic design studio in Tehran. His works often feature very peaceful Farsi typography, giving the viewers a chance to appreciate the elegance of the letters.

“Man, Love and Life”: poster by Majid Abbsi in commemoration of pianist Emanuel Malek Aslanian

book cover by Majid Abbasi

more cover art work

Majid Abbasi

Majid Abbasi’s cover art

Typography exhibitions organized by The 5th Color have been an opportunity to see works of up and coming designers, design students and big names in Iranian design all in one place. The first exhibition was held to commemorate the 100th birthday of Sadegh Hedayat (1903-1951), an Iranian avant-garde writer. The event was titled “The Blind Owl” (Bouf-e Kour) after Hedayat’s best known book.

poster by Ali Khorshidpour, “The Blind Owl” typography exhibition

poster by Alireza Mostafazadeh , “The Blind Owl” typography exhibition

two-piece poster by Masoud Nejabati, “The Blind Owl” typography exhibition – left side

right side

poster by Mehdi Saeedi, “The Blind Owl” typography exhibition

The 2nd and 3rd exhibitions were held in 2004 and 2006 with the subject of Molavi – a mystic Sufi poet in the 13th century – and Iranian proverbs.

Farzad Fozouni and Iman Raad are two of the younger artists who stand out for their typographic approaches. Through their relatively short careers as designers they have created a wide range of charming and playful works.

poster for an animation festival by Iman Raad

more work by Iman Raad

poster for 21st Quran Festival for Students by Iman Raad

poster by Iman Raad for Molavi Typography Exhibition

more from Iman Raad

With all the energy and enthusiasm of designers the following years are definitely going to be full of surprises and astonishing works coming out of Iran. Thanks to all the artists who participated and sent us their works.

Straight.com had a piece reviewing some of the highlights of the Vancouver Queer Film & Video Festival, many that seem older than a year, or maybe it’s just been a long year in Cantonese pirate DVD land, and several that are pretty tranny-centric usually coming from somewhere in Asia where filmmakers seem to have a better grasp on reality than the English-speaking world. The film that grabbed me though, is I know that I AM directed by Peyman Khosravi, a documentary on transsexual and gay prostitutes in Iran. The trailer is on YouTube.

I Know That I Am

Despite the fact that much of the footage—shot in secret and smuggled out of Iran—was captured and presumed destroyed by local authorities, I Know That I Am exists thanks to the tenacity of director Peyman Khosravi.

Out On Screen is extremely proud to present the world premiere of this unique, powerful documentary. I Know That I Am reveals the little-told story of trans queers in Iran. Vilified by society and without support networks outside their small communities, theirs is one of survival against the odds: according to law, sexual “deviancy” is punishable by hanging. Through interviews with government officials, human rights advocates and trans people themselves, the film constructs a telling, important portrait of queer struggles amidst profound cultural restrictions.

— Vancouver Queer Film & Video Festival

i know that i am

Persian loses footage in escape to Canada

Filmmaker Peyman Khosravi didn’t stay in Iran long enough to experience the potential consequences of making a film about gay transsexuals.

Driven to tell a human-rights story, the then–TV executive producer had amassed a pile of footage about Iranian transsexual and gay prostitutes. About 10 months ago, he showed selections to his parents in their Tehran apartment. On his way home, Khosravi received a frantic call from a neighbour to say undercover agents were in his suite, going through the rest of the footage. He never went home again. Within two weeks, he had fled to Vancouver, leaving about 70 percent of his footage behind.

“If they find us brave, we don’t see it that way,” Babak Yousefi, the producer of I Know That I Am, told the Straight in a phone interview. (Khosravi filtered his comments through Yousefi in Farsi, as he didn’t feel his English was strong enough for an interview.) The film has its international premiere at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival this Sunday (August 20) at 7 p.m., at Tinseltown. “To us, it’s a duty. We’re just a couple of guys doing what we needed to do.”

In Canada, after Khosravi and Yousefi partnered under the name Taboo Productions, they heard that one of the film’s subjects was murdered. The two investigated and discovered that she was actually in prison, but the government would not say why. Another of the film’s subjects fled the country and is seeking asylum in the U.S.

Even here, the two found they struggled to gain the trust of the gay Iranian community. Through The Centre on Davie Street, Khosravi and Yousefi found the same kind of emotional scars on queer Iranians living in Canada as in Tehran. Potential subjects weren’t immediately willing to go on camera.

“At first we were angry,” Yousefi explained. “‘Hey—we’re two heterosexual guys caring more about your situation than you do.’ But then we grew to understand. They go through things that we can’t even imagine.”

On the eve of their premiere, the two are not sure what to expect. So far, the local Iranian community has sent nothing but blessings to Taboo, in the form of e-mails and phone calls.

Though anxious, they’re already planning their next projects, which will all highlight international human rights. Their Web site, which will be up within two weeks, is www.tabooproductions.ca.

— Straight.com