Notes on Iran Week

Notes on Iran Week

The Migrating Kitchen Exhibition has inspired and empowered members of Iranian community in Wellington and beyond in so many amazing ways.  Some direct examples reflected in our programme during the week are:

1.         Specially Made Crafts:

Creation of 3 works just for the MK Exhibition which would be displayed as part of Iran week:

The Patchwork of My Home Country             Hand made quilt          by Zarrin Kordestani

Colours of Iran Flag   Latch hook woven rug             by Hamideh Moaveni

Red Paisleys on a Cyprus Tree   Felt and sequins construction           by Adelia Hogarth

The works are not for sale.  Hamideh intends to gift her latch hook rug to the first of her soon to be 6 grandchildren, Zarrin wishes to donate her quilt to the Iranian Embassy, and Adelia has found the entire creative process therapeutic.

You can find out more about each artist and their pieces in the attached documents.

2.         Original Music:

There is an original score for film written and performed by Shahram Aryan to accompany a 10 minute DVD on Iranian Community. This DVD is produced by the MK Trust.

3.         ‘Termeh’ Dance Group:

A trio of young Iranian women in colourful regional costumes performs a number of folklore dances at the weekend.  Mona, Narges and Faeze are self taught in the art of folklore dancing.  They are looking forward to teach a few moves to the interested public.

4.         Beyond Wellington:

We have had enormous support from the Iranian community not only in Wellington but from Christchurch and Auckland.

Our music duo is flying in from Christchurch for multiple performances at the MK Exhibition at the weekend of 27/28 August.  Farzad Mohebbi and Rahil Karkhaneh are husband and wife musicians.  He plays the traditional instrument”santoor” and she plays “daff”.   Farzad has studied santoor under musical masters in Iran for a number of years.  They were both very keen to perform at the exhibition and admit that practicing their pieces for this occasion has been a welcome relief and change of focus from the earthquakes of Christchurch.

Our Pre-packaged food and commercial items are generously sponsored by Vahid Khan Bigy the proprietor of Persian Network in Auckland. 

5.         Friends of Iranian Community:

The spirit of support and participation has touched our Kiwi friends too.  You can see them in action in the following forms:

Anna Williams is giving two short talks about Persian rugs on Wednesday 24th August and Saturday 27th August at 11.00 am. 

Anna has extensive professional and personal connections to Iran.  She has visited Iran four times buying wools and silk, and doing research into handmade rug making.   She has had her own business repairing handmade carpets for the past 19 years and is frequently invited to give talks about her areas of work and interest.

Anna is happy to talk to school age children on Wednesday.

Other kiwi friends are either helping us with the roster during the week or preparing to share with the exhibition visitors their passion and knowledge of what made them interested in Iran and its culture.

6.         Salam Rugby, The film

This is the film that put Iran as a rugby nation on the map in New Zealand in 2010.  It is shown as part of the exhibition film festival on Sunday 28th August at 2.00 pm.

The director, Faramarz Beheshti, is the guest of honour for Iranian community at opening ceremony of the MK Exhibition on the 18th August.  He is flying in from Auckland that day.

Salam Rugby the DVD is available for sale at the exhibition.                                         

7.         Calligraphy

Persian writing is from right to left, the alphabet is very different from English alphabet, and there are numerous styles of writing.  Two local Iranian calligraphers, Behnam ...and Hossein Shetabi would show how it is done and invite visitors to have a go at writing in Persian at the weekend.

8.         Craft on Sale:

There are 2 hand painted garments for sale by Iranian artist Hedieh Yousefi - Fard.  She was a visiting artist to New Zealand in March 2011 and has shown her paintings in Wellington, Nelson and Palmerston North.

Hedieh is donating 10% of her sale to the MK Trust.

9.         Poetry and Literature Reading at weekend (TBC)

For more information please contact:  Lobat Parsi, Iranian Community Coordinator: Mobile 027 206 7869, H: (04) 385 6099, lobat.parsi@gmail.com

Attachments:

Programme for Iran Week

Artists Brief:     The Patchwork of My Home Country, Zarrin Kordestani

                        Red Paisleys on a Cyprus Tree, Adelia Hogarth

                        Colours of Iran Flag, Hamideh Moaveni

                        Hedieh Yousefi-Fard

Iranian Flyer

PS = Product for Sale

Artists Briefs

The Patchwork of my Home Country

Artist:   Zarrin Kordestani

Zarrin Kordestani emigrated to New Zealand 25 years ago from Iran with her husband and two daughters. Zarrin enjoys all areas of handcrafts, is self taught in the art of quilting and is a proud member of the Karori Community Craft Group.

Zarrin likes to use a range of different fabrics and enjoys matching different colours and patterns to create extra depth within her work.

“I have been quilting for a few years now and have always wanted to create a piece that represented my homeland, Iran; this exhibition was the perfect opportunity to do that.

I was inspired by a quilt of the map of Australia that I saw in a crafting magazine and I began to design this quilt incorporating all the provinces that make up the beautiful country that is Iran.”

The quilt is made from 100% cotton.

Colours of Iran Flag

Artist:                Hamideh Moaveni

Description:     New Zealand wool, weaved with latch hook

Hamideh has been a crafts enthusiast since childhood and she is always on the look out to find and make new and varied forms of crafts.  Her favourite hobbies are knitting and crochet.

“I was inspired by the Migrating Kitchen Exhibition and wanted to make something that said Iran to me.  Dreaming of Iran and remembering the beautiful Persian carpets that always adorned the floors in our homes I wanted to learn the ancient Iranian craft of weaving a rug.

For my rug I used the colours of Iran flag.  Green symbolises development and abundance. White symbolises peace, and Red symbolises sacrifice.”

Red Paisleys on a Cypress Tree

Artist:   Adelia Hogarth

Paisley drops resemble the tears the artist has shed after experiencing love, loss, nostalgia, joy and hope.  Her experiences of profound emotions are captured in her tears, adorning the tree of life.       

Paisleys (botteh jegheh in Persian) are widely used in Iran in the design of fabrics, carpets, and jewellery. They come to represent flowers, pomegranate seeds, fire sparks, droplets of blood and tears.

Adelia Hogarth is a New Zealander of Iranian – Armenian origin, living in Wellington.

Painted Garments

Artist: Hedieh Yousefi-Fard    Iran, Tehran

Hedieh Yousefi-Fard was born on September 1985 in Tehran. She is currently doing a masters degree in drawing and painting at Tehran University in Iran. 

Hedieh has been drawing since the age of 13. She has experimented with several painting techniques such as oil, acrylic and metal paint.  Hedieh is one of the youngest established Iranian artists today.

Working in the traditional Iranian style of drawing and painting her innovative approach uses new mediums of metal, tiles and clay.  

Solo Exhibitions:

Feb 2001, Sabz Gallery, Tehran, Iran

March 2003, Barg Gallery, Tehran, Iran

Oct 2005, Darya Beigi Gallery, Tehran, Iran

June 2008, Banoo Gallery, Tehran, Iran

Feb 2010, Naghsh - e Jahan Gallery, Tehran, Iran

March 2011, New Zealand, 4 exhibitions: Nelson, Palmerston North, and Wellington