Bita Ghezelayagh

Talismanic Fragments

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Bita Ghezelayagh, Talismanic Fragments, 2014, Felt, carpet, wire, screws, silken thread, old pen nibs and iron, 113 x 113 cm. Art Jameel Collection. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork Details

Artist

Bita Ghezelayagh

Title

Talismanic Fragments

Date

2014

Medium

Felt, carpet, wire, screws, silken thread, print, old pen nibs and iron

Dimensions

113 x 113 cm

Credit Line

Art Jameel Collection

Work Description

Talismanic Fragments was inspired by the art of felt making among Turkmen women, a form of storytelling, and each piece evokes tile designs prevalent throughout the Middle East. Similar in size and pattern, each square contains a fragment designed to provoke reflection on the values of tradition and conservation, with a particular emphasis on talismanic beliefs. Influenced by post-revolutionary popular culture, Bita Ghezelayagh uses found objects and other street symbols combined with printed phrases, silkscreen printing and embroidery to cover the surface of her work. 

Felt embodies qualities such as protection, heft and resilience. It also connects the past to the present and helps preserve one of the many traditions that the artist believes is gradually being forgotten in contemporary Iran. The series of fragments combine different patterns and signifiers, such as hanging threads reminiscent of the Islamic rosary, shadows are cast across a piece of calligraphy, pen-nibs and telegraph codes can be found. When seen collectively, these are all the components of a variegated view of shared roots across regions which face conflict and separation. 

The juxtaposition of urban imagery with a rural craft tradition creates a new visual language, which embraces both tradition and modernity. Originally inspired by the tradition of talismanic garments worn to protect the wearer from misfortune in battle, many of the garments would originally have been made from luxurious materials. Ghezelayagh’s works replace these with everyday rural materials such as felt, illustrating the handing down of heritages through generations and communities. 

Artist Biography

Bita Ghezelayagh (b. 1966, Florence, Italy) lives and works between Tehran and London

Bita Ghezelayagh has a master’s degree in architecture from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-La Villette, has worked in building restoration and interior design in Tehran and been an art director for three Iranian films. In 2003 she began studying traditional Iranian felt making and held her first exhibition at the House of Artists, Tehran in 2008. She has become to be best known as a textile artist, inspired by the aesthetic and symbolic properties of traditional Persian textiles, particularly carpets and folk garments, for which she was nominated for the Jameel Prize in 2011 and has held exhibitions at institutions such as Asia House, London (2017); Sharjah Art Museum  (2014); the British Museum, London (2011); Beirut Exhibition Centre, (2011); Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris (2011-12); Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Brasilia (2010-11). Her work is in the permanent collections of the British Museum, London; the Farjam Foundation, Dubai; Devi Art Foundation, Delhi; and Lajevardi Foundation, Tehran.

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