The arts of Iran

Crafts

Carpet looms dot the country. Each locality prides itself on a special design and quality of carpet that bears its name, such as Kāshān, Kermān, Khorāsān, Eṣfahān, Shīrāz, Tabrīz, and Qom. Carpets are used locally and are exported. The handwoven-cloth industry has survived stiff competition from modern textile mills. Weavers produce velvets, printed cottons, wool brocades, shawls, and cloth shoes. Felt is made in the south, and sheepskin is embroidered in the northeast.

A wide range of articles, both utilitarian and decorative, are made of various metals. The best-known centres are Tehrān (gold); Shīrāz, Eṣfahān, and Zanjān (silver); and Kāshān and Eṣfahān (copper). Khorāsān is known for its turquoise working and the Persian Gulf region for its natural pearls. The craft techniques are as divergent as the products themselves. Articles may be cast, beaten, wrought, pierced, or drawn (stretched out). The most widespread techniques for ornamentation are engraving, embossing, chiseling, damascening, encrustation, or gilding.

Numerous decorative articles in wood are produced for both the domestic and export markets in Eṣfahān, Shīrāz, and Tehrān (inlay) and in Rasht, Orūmiyyeh (formerly called Reẕāʿiyyeh), and Sanandaj (carved and pierced wood). Machine-made ceramic tiles are manufactured in Tehrān, but handmade tiles and mosaics, known for their rich designs and beautiful colours, also continue to be produced.

Stone and clay are also used for the production of a wide range of household utensils, trays, dishes, and vases. Mashhad is the centre of the stone industry. Potteries are widely scattered throughout the country, Hamadān being the largest centre.

Architecture

Iran’s ancient culture has a deep architectural tradition. The Elamite, Achaemenian, Hellenistic, and other pre-Islamic dynasties left striking stone testaments to their greatness, such as Choghā Zanbil and Persepolis—both of which were designated UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1979. Three monastic ensembles central to the Armenian Christian faith were collectively recognized as a World Heritage site in 2008; their architecture represents a confluence of Byzantine, Persian, and Armenian cultures. From the Islamic period the architectural achievements of the Seljuq, Il-Khanid, and Safavid dynasties are particularly noteworthy. During that time Iranian cities such as Neyshābūr, Eṣfahān, and Shīrāz came to be among the great cities of the Islamic world, and their many mosques, madrasahs, shrines, and palaces formed an architectural tradition that was distinctly Iranian within the larger Islamic milieu.

Under the Pahlavi monarchy, two architectural trends developed—an imitation of Western styles, which had little relevance to the country’s climate and landscape, and an attempt to revive indigenous designs. The National Council for Iranian Architecture, founded in 1967, discouraged blind imitation of the West and promoted the use of more traditional Iranian styles that were modified to serve modern needs. Perhaps the most striking example of the Pahlavi architectural program is the Shāhyād (Persian: “Shah’s Monument”) tower—renamed the Āzādī (“Freedom”) tower after the 1979 revolution—which was completed in Tehrān in 1971 to commemorate the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the Achaemenian dynasty.

Visual arts

Islamic culture never developed strong indigenous schools of visual arts, perhaps because of the religion’s rejection of any form of idolatry or graphic depiction of any form. A significant exception to that rule was the development in Iran of highly refined miniature painting—noteworthy were the Jalāyirid, Shīrāz, and Eṣfahān schools. Persian miniature, however, largely died out by the late Safavid period (early 18th century). That did not prevent Iranian artists from working in other media, such as calligraphy, illumination, weaving, ceramics, and metalwork. Western classical painting and sculpture were introduced in the late 19th century and were adapted to Iranian themes. The trend toward Islamization after the 1979 revolution restricted visual arts, but the medium nevertheless continued to develop through exhibits and, more recently, through access to the Internet.

Music

For centuries Islamic injunctions inhibited the development of formal musical disciplines, but folk songs and ancient Persian classical music were preserved through oral transmission from generation to generation. It was not until the 20th century that a music conservatory was founded in Tehrān and that Western techniques were used to record traditional melodies and encourage new compositions. That trend was reversed, however, in 1979, when the former restrictions on the study and practice of music were restored. Although officially forbidden—even after the liberal reforms of the late 1990s—Western pop music is fashionable among Iranian youth, and there is a thriving trade in musical cassette tapes and compact discs. Iranian pop groups also occasionally perform, though often under threat of punishment. In 2000, Iranian authorities permitted Googoosh, the most popular Iranian singer of the prerevolutionary era, to resume her career—albeit from abroad—after 21 years of forced silence.

Literature

Iranian culture is perhaps best known for its literature, which emerged in its current form in the 9th century. The great masters of the Persian language—Ferdowsī, Neẓāmī, Ḥāfeẓ, Jāmī, and Rūmī—continue to inspire Iranian authors in the modern era, although publication and distribution of many classical works—deemed licentious by conservative clerics—have been difficult. Persian literature was deeply influenced by Western literary and philosophical traditions in the 19th and 20th centuries yet remains a vibrant medium for Iranian culture. Whether in prose or in poetry, it also came to serve as a vehicle of cultural introspection, political dissent, and personal protest for such influential Iranian writers as Sadeq Hedayat, Jalal Al-e Ahmad, and Sadeq-e Chubak and such poets as Ahmad Shamlu and Forough Farrokhzad. Following the Islamic revolution of 1979, many Iranian writers went into exile, and much of the country’s best Persian-language literature was thereafter written and published abroad. However, the postrevolutionary era also witnessed the birth of a new feminist literature by authors such as Shahrnoush Parsipour and Moniru Ravanipur.

Cinema

The most popular form of entertainment in Iran is the cinema, which is also an important medium for social and political commentary in a society that has had little tolerance for participatory democracy. After the 1979 revolution the government at first banned filmmaking but then gave directors financial support if they agreed to propagate Islamic values. However, the public showed little interest, and this period of ideology-driven filmmaking did not last. Soon films that dealt with the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) or that reflected more tolerant expressions of Islamic values, including Sufi mysticism, gained ground. The religious establishment, however, generally frowns upon the imitation of Western films among Iran’s filmmakers but encourages adapting Western and Eastern classic stories and folktales, provided that they reflect contemporary Iranian concerns and not transgress Islamic restrictions imposed by the government. In the 1990s the fervour of the early revolutionary years was replaced by demands for political moderation and better relations with the West. Iran’s film industry became one of the finest in the world, with festivals of Iranian films being held annually throughout the world. Directors Bahram Bayzaʾi, Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Dariyush Mehrjuʾi produced films that won numerous awards at international festivals, including Cannes (France) and Locarno (Switzerland), and a new generation of women film directors—among them Rakhshan Bani Eʿtemad (Blue Scarf, 1995) and Tahmineh Milani (Two Women, 1999)—has also emerged.

Iran’s filmmakers are celebrated for films that deal with the lives of children (Bashu the Stranger, 1989; The White Balloon, 1995; Children of Heaven, 1997), the concerns and issues of teenagers (The Need, 1991; Sweet Agony, 1999), the beauty of nature (Gabbeh, 1996), and social and psychological abuse in marriage, divorce, and polygyny (Leila, 1996; Two Women; Red, 1999).