Food in Persian Art & Culture

Written and researched by Alanna Trainor

Introduction

Food is often a universal agent that binds a culture or experience together over the course of generations or centuries. It comes with established traditions and etiquette from government regulations and the Shahnama, or Book of Kings. In this page we discuss miniature painting to contemporary art, exploring change over time and what that means for Persian identity.

Cultural Tradition and Identifiers

Cultural traditions are often organized into holidays and celebrations, gatherings of people with similar values and experiences. We see this in Persian art and architecture. Miniature paintings and poetry capture the luxury and joy of the ruling class in court celebrations, detailing great feasts and symbolic table settings that we can link to contemporary traditions like the haft-seen table of Nowruz, the Persian new year. The link between food and art is then tied to architecture as stimulants like coffee, wine and other substances enhanced the experience of looking at the miniature paintings as well as the stunning buildings and coffeehouses they were viewed in.

Cohen, J. (2015, May 19). Exploring Persian Literature in Bazm and Razm. Retrieved November 25, 2020, from https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/ruminations/2015/exploring-persian-literature?utm_source=Twitter

This rumination on the exhibition in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, entitled “Bazm and Razm: Feast and Fight in Persian Art” in 2015. The article uses Persian poetry to support the repetition of feasting as a royal and ceremonial tie to honor and valor, the tradition becoming more widespread as time went on. The tie between Persian pride and celebratory feasts is then immortalized in the great Shahnama, the Persian Book of Kings and a symbol of Persian culture.

Emami, Farshid. “COFFEE HOUSES, URBAN SPACES, AND THE FORMATION OF A PUBLIC SPHERE IN SAFAVID ISFAHAN.” Muqarnas, vol. 33, 2016, pp. 177–220. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26551685. Accessed 25 Nov. 2020.

This article addresses the development of coffeehouses, a public meeting place, became urban centers that shaped modern life through the expression of ideas and ways of thinking. These places, with the aid of governmental funding and a flourishing trade economy, brought Safavid Iran into modernity. The article argues, through spatial reconstruction, that coffeehouses, combined with food, drinks, and other stimulants, created a sensory experience that defined the art and social lives of Iranians during the Safavid Dynasty (1501–1736). The flourishing trade with neighboring and far away lands, specifically the import of coffee, became primary sources of income that funded great architectural structures and mosaic arts. Similar to that of wine, the consumption of coffee in these spaces of great beauty were even more impressive when under the influence of a stimulant—the food and drink was fundamentally connected to art and architecture.

Fulton, A., & Ardalan, D. (2016, March 20). Nowruz: Persian New Year's Table Celebrates Spring Deliciously. Retrieved November 25, 2020, from https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/20/471174857/nowruz-persian-new-years-table-celebrates-spring-deliciously

The celebration of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, is a profound example of how food and drink are integral both past and contemporary Persian culture. This article outlines the items on the haft- sin table, each representing a symbolic omen that the families want to bring into the new year. The cooking is an artistic tradition that is an important cultural identifier, celebrated in countries across the world. Holidays like Nowruz and it’s contemporary celebrations connect the older miniature paintings and luxury food items to everyday tables. The table settings that are seen in traditional and ceremonial miniature paintings are also symbolic to the Persian culture.

Miniature Painting

The Shahnama is a poem composed by Ferdowsi in around 1000 c.e., and is written as the ideal behavior, that by which everyone should model themselves upon. The manners and etiquette, especially the eating habits of Persians, rooted in Zoroastrianism, melt into that of the Muslim faith as well. There is a call for moderation, to separate the production and consumption, and a diet that stresses purity of the body and spirit. While these medieval guidelines later translate to prohibition of alcohol in the Muslim faith, there is a nuance between tradition and socially accepted behavior in these cultural populations. Those who did not follow the guidelines were considered to be other and apart from the culture. . In addition, miniature paintings, most often included in a studio’s commissioned Shahnama, have both a mystical and religious element, as well as a historical one. Historic kings and their courts are captured based on stories and poetry. Thanks to the regal influence, days of ceremonial significance, banquets, and feasts were painted. The purpose of entertainment and the state of mind of the people that viewed the paintings are discussed in the articles below.

Daryaee, T. (2012). Food, Purity and Pollution: Zoroastrian Views on the Eating Habits of Others. Iranian Studies, 45(2), 229-242. Retrieved November 27, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/44860982

This essay examines the Zoroastiran religion and its relationship and regulations with food as a way for Persian people to develop an identity. There is also an acknowledgement of the presidents of etiquette and societal practices, including relationships with food, set in the Shahnama, which translates into Persian miniature painting and contemporary interpretations. The article outlines this with specific diets through historical and religious contexts in the Book of Kings and Zoroastrian texts. It clarifies the importance of moderation when it comes to alcohol, which provides a clear path towards the transition to contemporary Islam.

Ergin, N. (2013). Rock Faces, Opium and Wine: Speculations on the Original Viewing Context of Persianate Manuscripts, Der Islam, 90(1), 65-105. doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/islam-2013-0004

This article argues the important role of food, wine, and other stimulants as their effect on the viewer as they look at Persian miniature painting. The original intent and experience for the viewer is an intimate one: a close examination of details and joyful discoveries. This is only known and understood because of what the stimulants do to the brain. It is argued that the discoveries and hidden faces would be much less entertaining without the food and drink.

Ziglar, Katie M. “A Persian Banquet.” Gastronomica, vol. 3, no. 4, 2003, pp. 8–12. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2003.3.4.8. Accessed 29 Oct. 2020.

The article argues that the visual component of the action of eating, the event of a feast, and the preparation of food as displayed in the context of Persian miniature painting is not ornamental but a snapshot of social customs and Persian tradition of the time period reflected. It does this by providing context to the scenes in the paintings, the roles of the figures interacting with food and drink, and it's symbolic connection to faith. This article provides specific narratives in which food is mentioned and depicted as well as visuals of those details.

Attributed to Muhammad Ali (Persian, active 1590-1620). (c. 1620). A feast in a pavilion setting. [Painting]. Retrieved from https://library.artstor.org/asset/24570359

Inge Morath © The Inge Morath Foundation. IRAN. 1956. Pepsi-Cola sign.. Artstor, ezproxy.tcnj.edu:2127/asset/AWSS35953_35953_37893654

Contemporary Art

The use of food and symbolic meaning behind it within Persian art is not limited to centuries old miniature painting and architecture. Food is brought into contemporary and modern art that is often translated as a kind of Westernization. Thanks to trade and more significantly to communicative technology across social classes and countries, brands of food and drink can be tied to more than one country but still retain a certain meaning. For example, it is unlikely for a person with access to media or the internet to not know the golden arches of McDonalds or the scripted Coca-Cola logo. Like the artist Andy Warhol, Iranian artists take those recognizable symbols, iconic of capitalism and inevitable westernization, and superimpose characters in traditional and ceremonial dress or characters from the Shahnama onto their work, mixing them with traditional Persian imagery to reflect changing times or convey a political message. In a quote taken for Jdeed Magazine, Rabee Baghshani, who accomplishes the blending of traditional and western with the inclusion of food, explains that ‘the brands used in my work are familiar in my country…using Pop Art, they [Iranian artists] are able to make a public critique of their community’ (Jdeed Team, 2017).

Chehabi, H. (2003). The Westernization of Iranian Culinary Culture. Iranian Studies, 36(1), 43-61. Retrieved October 21, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4311491

This article connects culinary elements we have seen in miniature Safavid painting to contemporary Iran. It acknowledges the difference between Iranian culinary practices and social aspects like table manners and roles of the host to that of Western civilizations and how that line has merged over time. This can be attributed to explain and describe how figures are dressed, architectural plans, food's connection to faith and give names to the items that are depicted being eaten. Moreover, Tehran municipalities decreed in 1928 that eating with hands is forbidden, cooking should take place beyond the view of a patron in restaurants, among other regulations of customs and eating habits. Through that connection and understanding we can better interpret the meaning behind Persian art.

Team, J. (2017, July 05). The Influences of Pop-Art on Contemporary Persian Artists. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from http://jdeedmagazine.com/the-influences-of-pop-art-on-contemporary-persian-artists/

While this article does present a narrow minded and orientalist view that western societies spearheaded the Pop-Art movement on their own, with Eastern societies trailing behind, it does make mention of several contemporary Iranian artists who have popular drinks in their compositions. Hushidar Mortezaie, Amir H. Fallah, Farbod M. Mehr, and Rabee Baghshani all use the Western symbols like Coca-Cola with symbols of Persian culture to convey a satirical critique on their own community. This bridges the gap that physical distance creates, creating a pictorial language any viewer can interpret.

To the Future

Food is a unifying force between cultures and peoples. Persian and Iranian people are no different. We can see the influence of food, wine and other substances in their art and architecture. Table settings used in holidays today are seen in parallel with paintings created centuries ago. In times where Persian people are found all over the world, not limited to one set of boundaries, it is possible for different cultures to understand experience traditions and points of view that are not their own. Schmitt writes about an artist who does this within his own art. Rakowitz has said that the practice of cooking and eating together, “is a public act that enlists an audience as vital collaborators in the production of meaning” (2012). As consumers of art, food, and politics, we can collaborate with these interlocking relations and bridge differences and heal wounds through mutual experiences and understandings.

Schmitt, C. (2012, August). Food as an Emerging Diplomatic Tool in Contemporary Public Art [Pdf]. Berlin: Academy for Cultural Diplomacy. This paper was one of the Participant Papers of the 2012 "The Arts as Cultural Diplomacy Conference".

This paper, submitted by a contemporary public mural artist, gives examples of shows and aid programs that use food and recipes that remind the chef of home as a form of diplomacy. In these examples, food is used as a talking point to discuss different cultural differences as well as an opportunity to find a common understanding. Artists that use food as a performance create a sensory experience that people will take beyond the gallery walls, while using the discussions and food as a source of mediation when representing their cultural identity. Food cannot heal wounds between places and people but perhaps it can bridge at least some of the gap and begin the process of healing.

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