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 Art and Individuality: An Iranian Perspective

We listen, we see and we are conscious. But, to you Na-Mahrams (strangers to the secret of existence) we are silent (Rumi).

Ancient civilizations and religions have evolved from the conviction that nature has consciousness and power. In India, the Vedic gods, Surya, Vayu, Agni and so on represents forces of nature; forces that were elevated to the status of divinity because of the reverence accorded to them. This reverence for nature was by no means confined to Eastern thought. The ancient Greeks too deified the forces of nature. Mitra, the Vedic god, was also worshiped by Greeks. The same god is mentioned in the Avesta the pre-Islamic religious text of Persia, by the name of "Mithr", later changing into "Mehr". This word is still in use in Persian, it means "Sun" and "grace".

It is a veneration of nature that has led to these divine forces assuming shapes of beauty in painting and sculpture.

According to the Irano-Islamic view, nature and man are of the same origin, and like man nature is alive and Intelligent. It (nature) is beautiful because it is infused with the light of Almighty. The idea of conquering nature being the basis of the modern thinking is entirely blasphemous and incomprehensible.

In this view, every atom in nature is believed to be living and conscious, and man may commune with nature through this consciousness and share its secrets.

Throughout the history and from times inmemorial the view of art has always been influenced by religious belief. With the advent of Islam, the polytheist view gave way to monoastic view and the worship of idols was condemned. This however, did not diminish reverence for nature. In the Islamic tradition, nature is a creation of Allah and the Quran devotes chapters pledging an oath to nature. Some of these chapters are even titled after natural forces, such as Al-Shams (The Sun), Al-Qamar (The Moon), Al-Ra’d (TheThunder) etc. Such is the Islamic veneration of nature that it is believed that "A single leaf of a green tree in the eyes of a prudent is a complete book of the wisdom of the creator".

It is an interesting fact, that one of the names of Allah Almighty is "Al-Musawwer" or "The Artist". Further, man is considered the greatest work of art created by Allah. In Islamic art representing the complete human form is frowned upon, for it may lead to man becoming idolised and his evanescence being forgotten. Art in the Islamic tradition extends beyond nature, in to wisdom contained in its depth, depths which can only be reached by the pure in mind and spirit. In the Persian tradition art or "Honor" is a holy act. But the definition of "Honor" is totally different from that of "art" in the modern context. An encyclopedic definition of "Honor" describes it as being a degree of perfection great enough to embrace insight, knowledge and vigilance. Thus the Sahib-Honor or artist is no ordinary being an exalted one.

Until the 16^th century, the boundaries demarcating religion, art, spirituality and nature were nebulous. A work of art that was not founded in the spiritual and the natural was inconceivable. The catastrophe that is Modernism has meant man’s estrangement from his basic origin, nature, and resulted in all his values, moral, religious, ethical as well as artistic radically changed.

One of the hallmarks of modern living is speed. Today there is perhaps no sphere of life that remains untouched by the hunger for speed. It has become so crucial to move as fast as possible man has forgotten where he is going. Speed that has become an ideology of the civilized life and affected art. But art is a spiritual journey, a seeking of truth and beauty in which speed can serve as a destructive force.

We must know that Art is not a sum total of its period plus material needs. Art was born with man and is a, part of his nature. Though art may be passing through a severe winter, the soil does not die, but awaits spring and rejuvenation. As for the future: time in nature and art is not linear, but cyclical. The signs that we may go full circle again are already evident.

An eastemisation of the west is taking place and al lover the world a synapse between east and west, between one extreme and the other, and between spirit and matter is being sought.

Chapter 24, Verse 35 of the Holy Quran states: "Allah is the light of heaven and earth… Neither eastern nor western… Allah guides through his light whom he pleases… and Allah is cognizant of all things."

Man seeks tranquility and equilibrium and when he finds it, so will his art.

Amir H. Zekrgoo

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