habib-o-llah ayatollahi dr

Various Persian traditional arts can be understood as different aspects of a unique concept. All of them represent substantial meanings which root in both Islamic and Iranian beliefs. The symbolic language of these arts and the ability of being expressed in various arts let artists to choose proper methods for their work. Rug and architecture are the most important Persian arts and two aspects of Persian symbolic design methods. This paper tries to focus on Mihrabi rugs as a direct reflection of one of architectural components of mosque architecture in rug design as a suitable carpet for praying time. The paper intends to show how ancient and Islamic architectural symbols affect symbolic expression of these rugs and how these different arts show a homogeneous idea in terms of their own capacities. This study uses a descriptive method and a comparative semiotic approach from historical and iconographical viewpoint and traces the mosque architecture elements and symbolic plant designs of Mihrabi rugs. Paradigmatic process shows some evidences regarding designers’ efforts to represent triple structure of ancient Mithraism altars in the form of mosque space structures and heaven on the limited space of rugs by replacing a triple division of floral patterns instead of architectural structure of mosques in a symbolic way, so the middle tree represents the ancient tree of life and recalls the main dome and two cypresses with their roots in ground and their heads up to the sky are the symbols of minarets. This fulfills artist’s objective to demonstrate such rugs as mosques and linkage between heaven and earth.

European tapestries and Persian kilims are the most useful types of flat and non-pile textiles in both regions bearing differences in terms of appearance such as: design, motif and color and texture and also in terms of specific functions which have been assigned to them. This study, therefore, has been conducted with the aim of identifying and comparing these valuable handmade textiles so that it may provide some grounds for improvement and development of Persian kilims while preserving their artistic identity. Although Iranian kilims and European tapestries use similar tools and materials and weaving technologies, but due to certain cultural and spiritual characteristics of Iran and Europe, they are different in terms of designs and patterns, color compositions, sizes as well as functions. Library-based and documentary studies were performed for achieving the aim of the paper and reviewing and comparing these types of Iranian and European handmade textiles revealed many similarities and differences.

This article aims at studying the geometrical proportions of five types of most outstanding designs of Safavid carpets as one of the most important styles in carpet art of Iran. This research has been conducted using geometric methods of translation of measures and finding the basic module for identifying the proportions in carpets for to determination and comparison of modules with each other. Then the findings of the research have been compared with reference geometrical proportions of the Iranian geometry. Ultimately, the findings of this paper have been compared with special proportions present in decorative arts of the Timurids, Ilkhanid, and Seljuk periods, which possess special and specific proportions according to researchers, in order for determining the origin of this system of proportions. The results indicate that the carpets have general geometrical proportions. Such proportions include certain proportions between the pattern and dimensions of carpets.

As patterns of other Iranian handicrafts, carpet patterns are valuable and extensively rich sources of visual elements to be used in today’s graphical works whenever appropriate. Due to the fact that these patterns have paved a long way through the history of carpet-weaving, they have been evolved into distilled and beautiful patterns of precise and orderly design structures. It is a cultural necessity that graphics students be acquainted with these patterns and gain knowledge and expertise about them because using these patterns plays an important role in both increasing their visual literacy and creating cultural identity. Obviously, appropriate employment of these patterns requires both suitable knowledge of them and recognition of the right and opportune time of using them which in its turn, demands skill and experience of graphic designers while employing these patterns. In the case of lacking each of aforementioned items by designers, these patterns can not be used appropriately and their aesthetic and cultural aspects will be destroyed.