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VOLUME 21 NO. 1 MARCH 2012 Review TAASA c o n t e n t s

Volume 21 No. 1 March 2012

3 Editorial: the Persian art of Poetry taasa rEVIEW Susan Scollay, Guest Editor THE ASIAN ARTS SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA INC. Abn 64093697537 • Vol. 21 No. 1, March 2012

4 LOVE AND DEVOTION: FROM PERSIA AND BEYOND – AN EXHIBITION AT THE SLV ISSN 1037.6674 Registered by Australia Post. Publication No. NBQ 4134 Susan Scollay

editorIAL • email: [email protected] 8 POEtry in thE iranian PSYCHE: rEFLECtions on oMAR KHAYYAM’S RUBAIYAT General editor, Josefa Green Mammad Aidani publications Committee 11 LOVE or dEVOTION? froM PErsia or thE BEYOND – a PErsian sUFI PERSPECTIVE Josefa Green (convenor) • Tina Burge Rafal Stepien Melanie Eastburn • Sandra Forbes Charlotte Galloway • Jim Masselos • Ann Proctor 14 ‘WASHING HYPOCRISY’S DUST’: PERSIAN POETRY AND POPULAR IRANIAN MUSIC Susan Scollay • Sabrina Snow • Christina Sumner Gay Breyley design/layout Ingo Voss, VossDesign

17 DISCOVERING PERSIAN MUSIC printing Philippe Charluet John Fisher Printing Published by The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc. 19 POLITICs and PERSIAN MYTHOLOGy in thoMAS MOORE’S PARADISE AND THE PERI PO Box 996 Potts Point NSW 2011 Shelley Meagher www.taasa.org.au

Enquiries: [email protected] 22 PErsia and BEYOND: tWo rECEnt aCQUISITIONS By thE statE liBrary of VICTORIA Clare Williamson TAASA Review is published quarterly and is distributed to members of The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc. TAASA Review welcomes submissions of articles, notes and reviews on Asian visual and 24 TRAVEl in iran: BETWEEn aWESOME dESErts and EXQUISITE UNREALITIES performing arts. All articles are refereed. Additional copies and Christopher Wood subscription to TAASA Review are available on request.

No opinion or point of view is to be construed as the opinion of 25 in thE PUBLIC doMAIN: AN INDONESIAN QUR’AN IN AGSA The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc., its staff, servants or agents. James Bennett No claim for loss or damage will be acknowledged by TAASA Review as a result of material published within its pages or 26 BOOK REVIEW: PERSIAN ARTS OF THE BOOK in other material published by it. We reserve the right to alter Susan Scollay or omit any article or advertisements submitted and require indemnity from the advertisers and contributors against damages

28 2011 taasa CAMBodia toUR or liabilities that may arise from material published.

John Millbank All reasonable efforts have been made to trace copyright holders.

28 BOITRAN BEATTIE-HUYNH: 1957 – 2012 TAASA MEMBERSHIP ratES Ann Proctor $70 Single $90 Dual $95 Libraries (in Australia) 29 TAASA 20th anniVERSARY PARTY $35 Concession (full-time students under 26, pensioners Sandra Forbes and unemployed with ID, Seniors Card not included) $115 Overseas (individuals and libraries) 29 TAASA Members’ diary: MARCH – MAY 2012 advertisinG ratES

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The deadline for all articles for our next issue is 1 April 2012 Ibrahim holding court, LeaF from a disbound manuscript of Firdausi, Shahnama, c.1430 The deadline for all aDvertising AD, Shiraz, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, See pp4-7 of this issue. for our next issue is 1 May 2012

A full index of articles PUBlished in TAASA Review since its BEGinnings in 1991 is available on the TAASA web site, WWW.taasa.org.au

2 t a a s a C o mm i t t ee E d i t o r i a l : t h E PE RSIAN ART OF P O E t r y

Gill Green • President Susan Scollay, Guest Editor Art historian specialising in Cambodian culture

Christina sUMNER • Vice President ‘ Principal Curator, Design and Society, The focus of this issue is a landmark exhibition century Sufi poet Attar, while scholar and Powerhouse Museum, Sydney at the State Library of Victoria (SLV) from 9 playwright, Mammad Aidani, evaluates ANN GUILD • TREASURER March to 1 July, 2012. Love and Devotion: From the philosophic legacy of ‘Attar’s near Former Director of the Embroiders Guild (UK) Persia and Beyond celebrates the beauty of contemporary, Omar Khayyam. Dy andreasen • SECRETARY Persian manuscripts and literature. The world Has a special interest in Japanese haiku and tanka poetry of Persian stories and the illustrated volumes Gay Breyley, an ethnomusicologist, explores

Hwei-fe’n Cheah in which they were copied spread beyond interconnections between Persian poetry Visiting Fellow, School of Cultural Inquiry, Australian the territorial borders of Iran, unifying a and other art forms, especially music. The National University. cultural zone that incorporated Central Asia versatility of Persian lyrics, she argues, has JOCELYN CHEY and the empires of the Mughals in India and allowed their constant adaptation to changing Visiting Professor, Department of Chinese Studies, the Ottoman Turks in Anatolia and southeast political contexts. Shelley Meagher reveals the University of Sydney; former diplomat Europe. Articles exploring aspects of Love way the poet, Thomas Moore, made use of

Matt Cox and Devotion have been written by specialists key aspects of Persian poetry to comment on Study Room Co-ordinator, Art Gallery of New South who have played a role in developing the national affairs of his native Ireland. Philippe Wales, with a particular interest in Islamic Art of exhibition, and others whose research and Charluet and Christopher Wood contribute Southeast Asia experience relates to the exhibition themes. more personal insights into the poetic world Philip Courtenay of the Persians: through the music with which Former Professor and Rector of the Cairns Campus, James It is exactly 5 years since TAASA Review poetry is inextricably linked and through Cook University, with a special interest in Southeast dedicated an issue to the ‘Arts of Islam’ and reflection on Iran’s complex cultural landscape. Asian ceramics quoted the pre-eminent London collector LUCIE folan and philanthropist, Nasser Khalili, calling Finally Clare Williamson, Exhibitions Curator Assistant Curator, Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia for world citizens of all faiths to engage in at the SLV, and James Bennett, Curator of Sandra forbes dialogue and acknowledge the ‘ties that Asian Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia Editorial consultant with long-standing interest have existed among them for centuries.’ By (AGSA), report on the increasing number of in South and Southeast Asian art presenting the world of Persian storytelling significant manuscripts from the Islamic world Josefa Green and poetry from the classic period of secular entering public collections in Australia. The General editor of TAASA Review. Collector of Chinese Persian literature, the SLV exhibition offers AGSA remains our only cultural institution ceramics, with long-standing interest in East Asian a significant response to that call. Although dedicating a permanent gallery space to art as student and traveller little known in the West, Persian poetry’s the various arts of Islam, yet the SLV has MIN-JUNG KIM universal themes of love and devotion – to shown considerable initiative in expanding Curator of Asian Arts & Design at the Powerhouse Museum lover, friend, teacher, ruler and the Divine – its collection of Persian and other eastern ANN PROCTOR reveal echoes and parallels with European manuscripts and in developing this exhibition Art historian with a particular interest in Vietnam literature and the complex ideals and in association with the Bodleian Libraries. YukiE sato practices of mediaeval and pre-Renaissance Former Vice President of the Oriental Ceramic Society of life and patronage in both east and west. By so doing the SLV has positioned itself the Philippines with wide-ranging interest in Asian art alongside leading international institutions and culture Persian literature, seen through the lens of its seeking to challenge long-held notions of SABrina snoW memorable stories and great poets, is imbued perceived opposition between east and Has a long association with the Art Gallery of New South with love, often in allegorical form. Poetry west and uniformity in Islamic art forms Wales and a particular interest in the arts of China has been a key component of Iranian national by applying the more nuanced perspective Hon. aUditor identity, but also appreciated and emulated of recent scholarship. Iran now stands at a Rosenfeld Kant and Co by others through the centuries. Exquisitely crossroad in its long history, yet its poetry and stories endure - at once deeply symbolic and s t a t E r ep r e s e n t a t i ve s illustrated and illuminated manuscripts from the Bodleian Libraries at the University of approachable; celebrating Iran’s distant past, Australian Capital Territory Oxford dating from the 13th to 18th centuries, yet tolerant, relevant and astonishingly topical. Robyn Maxwell together with rare works from the holdings of Visiting Fellow in Art History, ANU; the SLV and other Australian institutions will Note: The terms ‘Persia’ and ‘Iran’ have been Senior Curator of Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia be displayed in the largest and most significant used almost interchangeably throughout this Northern Territory display of Persian manuscripts to be held issue. The language spoken by most Iranians is Joanna Barrkman in Australia. The Bodleian Libraries rarely ‘Farsi,’ but the term ‘Persian’ is widely accepted Curator of Southeast Asian Art and Material Culture, allow such a large number of manuscripts to in English. Persian words and names have Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory travel for exhibition at the same time. Usually been transliterated using a simplified version Queensland accessed only by specialist scholars, many of of that used by the International Journal of Russell storer the works will be exhibited and published for Middle Eastern Studies (IJMES). The consonants Curatorial Manager, Asian and Pacific Art, the first time. ‘ayn (‘) and hamza (’) are represented by Queensland Art Gallery apostrophes. Dated manuscripts are given South Australia For many Iranians the stories told by their their Islamic calendar (AH) dates first with James Bennett great poets of the past are a vital component the corresponding Christian calendar (AD) Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia of their national consciousness. Persian dates following in parenthesis. BC dates are

Victoria literature specialist, Rafal Stepien, reflects specified when appropriate. Carol Cains on issues of identity in the work of the 12th Curator Asian Art, National Gallery of Victoria International 3 LOVE AND DEVOTION: FROM PERSIA AND BEYOND – AN EXHIBITION AT THE SLV

Susan Scollay The youth and the singing girl, Leaf from a disbound manuscript of Jami, Baharistan, dated year 39, Ilahi era, reign of Akbar (1595 AD), Lahore, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford

he international exhibition, Love and T Devotion: From Persia and Beyond is the result of a unique partnership between the State Library of Victoria (SLV) and the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford. It is the first major exhibition of Persian manuscripts to be held in Australia, and will focus on the beauty of the manuscripts and the stories of human and divine love that are told through their pages. These tales were copied and sometimes reinterpreted over time, reaching far beyond the borders of Iran, speaking to the heart and soul of vast areas of Asia.

The other-worldly atmosphere and universal themes of Persian narrative and mystical poetry appealed especially to audiences in northern India during the Mughal era, and also in the territories ruled by the Seljuqs and later the Ottomans in Anatolia and further west in the region of modern-day Turkey. The lifestyle of the poets in these regions and the relaxed gatherings at which poetry was shared bore little relationship to political boundaries of the time (McChesney 1996). Through shared sources in antiquity and cultural exchange through trade, travel and diplomacy, many stories conveyed in Persian poetry intersected with European literature. Writers in Europe such as Chaucer, Dante and Shakespeare, increasingly reflected an understanding and interest in Persia through their plays, poetry and prose.

Persian literary culture flourished in the princely and imperial courts of Iran and its neighbouring empires where luxury manuscripts were crafted for elite patrons. Calligraphers, illuminators, painters and binders worked in teams, producing illustrated manuscripts in prodigious quantities, creating one of the richest periods in the history of the book. At the same time many of the stories contained in these manuscripts were embraced throughout all sectors of society, told and retold within families and at community gatherings.

The exhibition showcases a rich selection of works from the world-renowned holdings of the Bodleian Libraries, one of the oldest collections of manuscripts and printed books in the United Kingdom. These are complemented by rare works from the SLV and other Australian collections. The Bodleian Library’s founding in 1602 coincided with a time of increasing interest in the East.

4 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 The ghost of Nizami welcomes Nava’i, introduced by Jami. From a manuscript of Nava’i, Sadd-i Iskandar, one volume of a Khamsa, dated AH 890 (1485 AD), Bodleian Library, University of Oxford

Over subsequent centuries its holdings were augmented through the generosity and foresight of scholar-collectors such as Archbishop William Laud, Edward Pococke, Archbishop Narcissus Marsh, John Bardoe Elliott and in particular, the brothers Sir William and Sir Gore Ouseley. It is their role in the collection and preservation of these manuscripts that enables a wide range of scholars and audiences today to appreciate the significance and beauty of Persian literature.

The manuscripts travelling from Oxford range in age from the 13th to the 18th centuries, and include a large number of securely dated examples and several with an imperial provenance. These include a magnificent copy of the Baharistan (Garden of Spring) composed by the Persian poet Jami in 1487, and prepared for the emperor Akbar at Lahore in 1595, during an era regarded by many as the highest point of Mughal luxury manuscript production. One of its eight chapters is devoted to love. In it a young man hears a girl singing on the terrace of her master’s house and falls in love at the sound of her voice (Topsfield 2012). Some of these exhibition works will be known to specialists in the field from previous publications, while most are being exhibited and published for the first time in Melbourne.

For many in the western world our introduction to the world of Persian poetry and culture was through the pages of a copy of Edward FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. FitzGerald was an eccentric English scholar who, in Oxford in the mid-1850s, was encouraged by his Persian language teacher and friend, E.B. Cowell, to translate a 15th century copy of Khayyam’s original verses. The Bodleian Library had acquired the text, written in delicate Persian script, a little In a 1946 edition of Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat in agree that, as in his work on the Rubaiyat, more than a decade earlier. The short, witty the SLV’s collection, the frequently quoted FitzGerald captured the essential atmosphere verses had first been written in 11th century lines from the 11th stanza are accompanied and feeling of the original verse. Nishapur, an important city in north-eastern by an illustration by Sarkis Katchadourian Persia, where Khayyam was famous as an that captures the essential imagery of Persian The Persian language (Farsi) is written in astronomer and mathematician rather than as poetry. An idealised loving couple symbolise the Arabic alphabet that displaced many a writer. the connection between eternal beauty and local scripts as the religion of Islam spread the yearning lover. The young man offers the into Iranian territory in the mid-7th century FitzGerald’s imaginative rendition, first wine cup to his beloved as they sit surrounded after the fall of the Sasanian empire. Ottoman published in 1859, would eventually become by the accessories of romance – the wine Turkish was also written in Arabic script until one of the best-selling works of poetry in flask, food, a book of poetry and a musical 1928, and languages in northern India and in the English-speaking world and was also instrument (see p9 of this issue). Afghanistan still use it. Most Persian poetry translated into many other languages, is written in a style of calligraphy known as inspiring artists and musicians (Decker 1997). The Rubaiyat was not the only Persian work nasta‘liq, characterised by its elegant, looping While fanciful in parts and certainly not a translated by FitzGerald. A mystic narrative curves. It was the adoption of paper-making literal translation of the original, FitzGerald’s called Mantiq al-Tayr (Conference of the in 9th century Iran that enabled increased free interpretation offered Europeans a Birds), written by the 12th century Persian production of manuscripts in elite workshops. glimpse into the world of mediaeval Persia poet, ‘Attar, was treated by FitzGerald in a The khitabhana, as they were known, employed with its rich court life, ritual and ceremony; similar way, with episodes rearranged and papermakers, calligraphers and painters, its friendships and love affairs; fine costume, some imagery realigned to suit European bookbinders and designers and it was these garden parties, music and love of beauty. poetic understanding. Yet scholars generally artists who adapted the ornamentation of the

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 5 art of the book for use in all other media such in a palatial setting (see cover image). At the Nizami is best known for bringing together as ceramics and textiles. time the manuscript was produced, Ibrahim five of his long narrative poems into a Sultan was serving as the governor of Shiraz compilation called simply Khamsa - meaning The manuscripts displayed in Melbourne and his portrait in this copy of the Shahnama ‘five’ – a ‘Quintet’. The Alexander romance was are secular in origin, made for private use reinforces readers’ perception of him as a one of Nizami’s five works and generations of without the avoidance of figural images that generous patron and legitimate successor to poets afterwards wrote their own versions of characterises copies of the Qur’an or prayer the glorious kings of ancient Iran. each of the stories, all trying to outdo each other books made for religious use in the Islamic while trying to improve on Nizami’s original. world. Much Persian poetry has its origins A superb illustration from one of the Bodleian Such ‘emulation’ – tazmin as the Persians called in the pre-Islamic era of the great Persian manuscripts helps explain the central place it - was the mark of a skilled poet and much empires, yet as the stories were retold and that poetry and poets held in Persian culture. valued in Persian culture. refashioned many acquired a spiritual overlay, Beautifully painted in the 15th century, the stemming from visionary mysticism rather work, which illustrates a re-interpretation of The illustration is one page of a manuscript than religious doctrine. The verse is highly a romance first made popular by the great composed by Nava’i, the pen name of Mir symbolic and an ideal vehicle or bridge to link 12th century Persian poet, Nizami, was once ‘Ali Shir, a high-ranking court official and earthly and heavenly images – profane and considered to have originated in the workshop close companion of the reigning sultan, as spiritual ideas. Sufi mystic thought permeates of Bihzad, possibly from the hand of the his version of Nizami’s Persian original. An all poetry after the 12th century, even that master himself. Recent scholarship however ethnic Uighur from east Turkestan, he chose written at court. attributes it to a painter whose name, Qasim to write it in an eastern form of Turkish, ‘Ali, appears in the text (Barry 2004). though as a cultured and educated person he Poetry and other forms of literature were, also spoke and wrote in Persian. and still are, regarded as the highest form of The manuscript is copied on highly polished, culture in the Persianate world. Poets and their gold-sprinkled paper, with outstanding This evocative scene of a number of skilful use of highly ornamented language calligraphy carefully set in places at an revered Persian poets both living and dead, played a key role in the creation of a courtly angle. It recounts the story of Alexander measuring only 12cm by 16cm, is set at night culture in which the book arts, prestigious the Great, who was known in the Islamic with a deep-blue, lapis lazuli sky pierced by a gift exchanges of illustrated manuscripts and world as Iskandar, a figure seen as not only crescent moon shining directly on the central the formation of imperial libraries were vital a great military leader and wise ruler, but figure of Nizami. Moonlight illuminates the components of kingship. An outstanding copy also as enlightened to the point of spiritual whole scene, without shadows and without of Firdausi’s 11th century Shahnama (Book of perfection, ‘the perfect human’. The poet, perspective as Western artists understand it. Kings) produced in Shiraz circa 1430 includes Nizami, is depicted as a wise old scholar or Nizami’s slightly stooped upper body echoes a portrait of its patron, Ibrahim Sultan, a sage seated just left of centre, dressed in a the curve of the lunar crescent as he leans grandson of the great Central Asian leader, dark red robe and blue shawl, his writing towards the two living poets on his left: Jami Timur (Tamerlane), depicted holding court tools on the ground in front of him. and Nava’i himself (in a green robe, humbly

Zulaykha’s maids overcome by the beauty of Yusuf, From a manuscript of Jami, Yusuf u Zulaykha, dated AH 977 (1569 AD), Bodleian Library, University of Oxford

6 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 The marriage of Yusuf and Zulaykha, From a manuscript of Jami, Yusuf u Zulaykha, dated AH 1004 (1595 AD), Bodleian Library, University of Oxford bowing to the old master). Nizami’s posture is that of the old Sufi masters who have spent their lives in prayer and contemplation.

In the visual language of illustrated Persian manuscripts, the crescent moon is a symbol of mystical Sufis, many of whom were also poets who spoke, wrote and sang about human love as the first step on the way to spiritual love, the journey towards attainment of unity with the Divine. The scene is an idealised version of reality, conveying the cultural and spiritual ideas of the world of the Persian poets and their historical and geographical reach.

Many of the classic stories written by these poets are recounted to this day throughout the Persian - speaking world. The exploits of their iconic protagonists - the great hero Rustam; the love triangle of Khusrau, Shirin and Farhad; the tale of Bahram Gur and the seven princesses in the seven palace pavilions he built for them; the love story of Yusuf and Zulaykha; and the tragedy of Layla and Majnun, described by Lord Byron as the ‘Romeo and Juliet of the East’ and the inspiration behind Eric Clapton’s 1970s song of thwarted love, ‘Layla.’

Like many Persian stories, the story of Yusuf and Zulaykha is ancient in origin and archetypal in its plot. It relates a tale of an unusually handsome and chaste young man who resists the advances of an older woman. Many in the western world know the story from the Biblical book of Genesis as the account of the virtuous slave, Joseph, and the wife of the Egyptian official, Potiphar. Previously in commentaries on the Jewish scriptures the female protagonist was named as Zulaykha. In the version in the Qur’an, Yusuf (Joseph), the manifestation of Divine Beauty, is described by the women of Egypt as ‘not a man but a noble angel.’

Scholars tell us that at least 18 Persian poets final mystical marriage after Zulaykha gains Susan Scollay is an art historian specialising in the wrote their versions of the story based on the spiritual enlightenment and her youth and Islamic world. She is guest co-curator of Love and Qur’anic account but with embellishments of beauty are miraculously restored. Devotion: From Persia and Beyond and editor of the their own. The great mystic, Rumi, mentions publication that accompanies the exhibition. it frequently in his poetry; Sa‘di from Shiraz The rarity of the manuscripts and strict retold it in the 13th century; and one of the conservation considerations mean that REFERENCES best-known later versions was written in 1484 the exhibition will be limited to a 16 week Barry, Michael. 2004. Figurative Art in Medieval Islam. as a mystical allegory by the great religious season, exclusively at the SLV. After this, Flammarion, Paris. authority, Jami, from Herat. It was this version the manuscripts will return to storage at the FitzGerald, Edward. 1997. Rubáiyát of Omar Kháyyám: a Critical Edition, ed. Christopher Decker. University Press of Virginia, Bodleian Libraries and in December 2012 the written by Jami that is still regarded as the best Charlottesville. example of a mystical love story in all Islamic exhibition will be remounted at the University McChesney, R.D. ‘“Barrier of Heterodoxy”?: Rethinking the Ties literature. Some episodes from the story of Oxford. The exhibition is accompanied Between Iran and Central Asia in the C17’ in Charles Melville ed., were particular favourites of illustrators and by a publication with more than 130 full- 1996. Safavid Persia: History and Politics of an Islamic Society, I.B. exhibition visitors will enjoy pages depicting page colour illustrations, and essays from Tauris, London. Zulaykha mad with love for Yusuf (Joseph) Australian and international specialists. Topsfield, Andrew. ‘Images of Love and Devotion: Illustrated after she first sees him in a dream, Yusuf being A conference supported by the Australian Mughal Manuscripts and Albums in the Bodleian Library’, in Susan Scollay ed., 2012. Love and Devotion: From Persia and Beyond, sold into slavery, Zulaykha’s maids fainting at National University and by TAASA will be Macmillan Art Publishing, in association with the State Library of the sight of him, and the grace of the lovers’ held at the SLV from 12-14 April, 2012. Victoria and the Bodleian Library.

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 7 P O E t r y i n t h E i r a n i a n P s y C H E: r E f l EC t i o n s o n o M a r K h a y y a M’ s R ubaiyat

Mammad Aidani

Rubaiyat, Illuminated title from a manuscript of Omar Khayyam, Dated AH 865 (1460 AD), Shiraz, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford

A consciousness associated with the soul is more relaxed, less intentionalised than a consciousness associated with the phenomena of the mind. (Gaston Bachelard 1969: xvii)

oetry plays a unique role in the psyche P of Iranians, the majority of whom have remained closely connected to their poets throughout the centuries. Speaking to the New York Times in August 2011, Professor Ehsan Yarshater of Columbia University and general editor of the Encyclopedia Iranica project, was quoted as saying that Persian poetry was Iran’s greatest cultural contribution.

Persian poetry and poets, throughout Iranian history, have played a pivotal role in enriching as well as shaping the foundations of Persian culture and its complex and multi- ethnic components. In their day-to-day lives, regardless of their social and cultural position, Iranians have consciously taken their poets into their hearts. Among the long line of historical poets, Omar Khayyam (1048–1131) holds a special place, both in the western understanding of Persian poetry and culture, but also in Persian hearts and minds. His personality as well as his poetry appeals to ordinary Iranians, who have a collective connection to his masterpiece, the Rubaiyat.

Omar Khayyam was an important mathematician, philosopher and astronomer. He was born in Nishapur, which was the capital of Khorassan, a province of Persia (modern Iran) in the north-east of the country. It was the first Persian province to be invaded by the Turkmen tribes under their Seljuq rulers in 1040, before they expanded their rule from Nishapur to include all of Persia and Mesopotamia. In the introduction to their translation of the Rubaiyat, Avery and Heath- Stubbs point out:

Khorassan was commercially rich. Its principal cities lay on the trade routes which extend from the Far East through Persia to the Mediterranean. It was also fertile and so attracted invasion by the nomadic people of Central Asia once their tribal hosts had come as far west as the river Oxus. Throughout the Middle Ages the inhabitants of Khorrasan were taught painful lessons in sudden reversals of fortune (qtd. in Aidani 2010: 27)

8 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 Omar Khayyam’s approach to the questions case that he was the first Iranian thinker who it. According to him, we do not know how to of human existence and of temporality was explicitly raised the question of consciousness answer the questions of why we are here and arguably one of the most innovative of the in the self and its direct embodiment in the what is awaiting us elsewhere, beyond those Middle Ages and up to the Renaissance, when, way one perceives and experiences the world. fading moments. As he puts it in the following for the first time in the history of western ruba‘i (quatrain): philosophy, the question of the existence of This concept, advocated by Omar Khayyam the self was discussed by the metaphysical in his poetry almost eleven centuries ago, Awake! For Morning in the Bowl of Night and rational 16th-century philosopher, Rene should be recognised as one of the ideas Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars Descartes. Khayyam’s ideas transcended his that dominated many of the great 19th and to Flight: own background and made him one of the 20th century Western philosophers such as And Lo! The Hunter of the east has caught great universal poets whose philosophical Nietzsche (1844 – 1900), Jean-Paul Sartre (1905 The Sultan’s Turret in a Noose of Light. insights have contributed enormously to our – 1980) and Jacques Derrida (1930 – 2004). (A. J. Arberry 1982: I) understanding of how to reflect and learn A vigorous interpretation of his Rubaiyat and, by extension, to recognise that we live suggests that Omar Khayyam was one of the This challenging concept is one of his very in the moment; that we need to embrace the first existential thinkers of the last millennium. significant contributions to an ontological idea that moments pass, and with them our search for the meaning of our existence in ephemeral existence. Omar Khayyam directed his thinking to the the world that not only fascinated but also question of ‘being’ in order to challenge well- vigorously engaged the greatest thinkers of As a poet-philosopher, Omar Khayyam may established views that ignored the primacy of the west throughout the 20th century. The be understood as the first rationalist and human beings in the world, considering them eventual re-appearance of Omar Khayyam’s scientist to turn to the question of ‘being’ in as mere objects. This led him to elevate human Rubaiyat from centuries of obscurity and order to focus his attention on the problem beings in his poetry to the level of masters of its celebrity in western literature are due to of existence. His poetry is the product of his their own choices in life and owners of their the English writer and translator Edward questioning. He encouraged his readers to ask experience in the world. Khayyam invites his FitzGerald (1809–83), without whom this the same questions and seek the meaning of readers to recognise and embrace that they old man of the east would not have been their being in the world. Omar Khayyam was are living in ‘moments’ and to acknowledge the subject of so much interest and of such arguably the precursor of those thinkers who that each moment passes and does not return. a multiplicity of interpretations. Khayyam’s put forward the concept of living poetically in For him, we are all embedded in this world verses had been translated previously, but the world. In other words, one could make a and do not know where we are going beyond when FitzGerald made his version from a

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Edward FitzGerald. Illustrated by Sarkis Katchadourian, Grosset and Dunlap, 1946. State Library of Victoria

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 9 15th century Persian manuscript held in the regardless of the hardship they experience in Bodleian Library it was eventually noticed by the world. This existential attitude was made INSIDE BURMA: a succession of poets, artists and orientalists explicit by one participant in my survey when THE ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE that included Dante Gabriel Rossetti and we discussed Omar Khayyam’s influence on John Ruskin. Later revisions of FitzGerald’s his life. The man suddenly recited to me: 26 October – 14 November 2012 translation went on to become best-sellers in Few people have immersed themselves the English-speaking world, and were later If only there were occasion for repose, as deeply in Burma as TAASA contributor translated into a number of other languages If only this long road had an end, Dr Bob Hudson. His longstanding annual Burma (Williamson: 2012, 171-72). It is even argued And in the track of a hundred thousand program features extended stays in medieval Mrauk U, capital of the lost ancient kingdom that it was through FitzGerald that Iranians years, out of the heart of dust of Arakan (now Rakhine State) and Bagan, found their true Omar Khayyam. Hope sprang, like greenness. rivalling Angkor Wat as Southeast Asia’s richest archaeological precinct. Exciting experiences Iranians who know Omar Khayyam’s poetry, Poetry and the meaning of existence are in Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay and a private understand its essence and meaning to be entrenched in the psyche of those Iranians cruise down the mighty Ayeyarwady are also included. Limited places available. deeply rooted in ancient Persian philosophical who are deeply attached to the rich cultural Land Only cost per person perceptions of existence and belief. As Avery and creative legacy they have inherited from twinshare ex Yangon $3990 and Heath-Stubbs explain: their great poets, whose works are eloquently expressed in their beautifully poetic and CAMBODIA: ANGKOR WAT [T]he frequent imagery of mortal clay musical Persian language, Farsi. This body of AND BEYOND turned into pots, or of flowers and the work represents for Iranians a great source of edges of book that were once human lips resilience when facing difficulties. It enriches 29 October – 15 November 2012 and limbs, can be considered pantheistic. their individual and collective identity as well Angkor’s timeless grandeur is unmissable.Yet But the emphasis is on Man rather than being an ongoing fount of joy and hope. Cambodia offers a host of other important cultural and travel experiences: outstanding ancient, on God, and in Persian thought it is not vernacular and French colonial architecture; so much a matter of ‘pantheism’ as of the Dr Mammad Aidani is an award-winning playwright spectacular riverine environments; a revitalising sentiment that all the elements of God’s and inter-disciplinary scholar specialising in urban capital in Phnom Penh; interesting cuisine creation - of nature - are inextricably and hermeneutics philosophy, cultural theory and and beautiful countryside. Gill Green, President sympathetically combined. Thus the narrative psychology based in the School of Historical of TAASA, art historian and author specialising in and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne. Cambodian culture; and Darryl Collins, prominent ‘pantheism’ in the imagery of Persian Australian expatriate university lecturer, museum poetry cannot be taken unreservedly as This essay is an extract from a longer manuscript curator, and author who has lived and worked in representing what is meant by this term in being prepared for publication. Cambodia for over twenty years, have designed the West. Its origins lie in a deeply rooted and co-host this annual program. Oriental acceptance of nature’s oneness, a REFERENCES Land Only cost per person concept which may not include belief in Aidani, M. 2010. Welcoming the Stranger: Narratives of Identity twinshare ex Phnom Penh $4600 a divine Creator in or outside the natural and Belonging in an Iranian Diaspora. Common Ground Publishers, Melbourne. order. (qtd. in Aidani: 2010: 28) ISAN: THAILAND’S ANCIENT Bachelard, Gaston. 1969. The Poetics of Space, trans. from French KHMER CONNECTION by Maria Jolas, Beacon Press, Boston. The following lines clearly and powerfully The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Other Persian Poems: an 07 February – 25 February 2013 illustrate the oneness of nature as Omar anthology of Verse Translations, ed. A.J. Arberry. Reprinted 1982. Isan is the least visited part of Thailand. Khayyam perceived and understood it within L.M. Dent and Sons Ltd. London. But this north-eastern region has a distinctive his Persian culture: Williamson, Clare. 2012. ‘Imagining Persia: European Travellers’ identity and, in many ways, is the Kingdom’s Tales and their Literary Offspring,’ in Susan Scollay ed., Love and heartland. Here older Thai customs remain more Since nobody has a lien on tomorrow, Devotion: From Persia and Beyond, Macmillan Art Publishing, intact and sites of historical and archaeological in association with the State Library of Victoria and the Bodleian significance abound. Darryl Collins and Gill Green Gladden the sad heart now; Library. (see above) expertly host this new journey which Drink wine in the moonlight, my dear, Omar Khayyam (in Persian), http://www.afarzaneh.com/khayyam.pdf includes spectacular Khmer temples such as Because the moon will revolve a long time Prasat Phimai, Phanom Rung, Prasat Meung Tam, and not find us. and Ban Chiang (the most important prehistoric settlement so far discovered in Southeast Asia). (qtd. in Aidani 2010: 28) Other inclusions, including a sidetrip across the mighty Mekong into Laos to explore Wat Phu In my recent study of Iranians’ experiences of Champasak, are also scheduled. displacement and in the process of collecting Land Only cost per person their life stories (Aidani 2010), many of the twinshare ex Bangkok $4500 participants made reference to the importance To register your interest, reserve a place or for of Iranian poets and writers in their lives. further information contact Ray Boniface Among these, Omar Khayyam and the profound message of his poetry featured ERITAGE ESTINATIONS H NATURE • BUILDINGS D • PEOPLE • TRAVELLERS strongly. There is no doubt that Khayyam has been a source of deep insights to these Iranians PO Box U237 and seems to relate directly to their displaced University of Wollongong NSW 2500 Australia lives. In particular, Khayyam’s philosophy of p: +61 2 4228 3887 m: 0409 927 129 e: [email protected] ‘being’ in the world and ‘now-ness’ provides ABN 21 071 079 859 Lic No TAG1747 them with the capacity to reflect more deeply on their lives - wherever they are and

10 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 LOVE o r d EVot i o n ? f r o M PE r s i a o r t h E BE yo n d ? – a PE r s i a n s U f i PE r s PEC t i VE

Rafal Stepien

ove and Devotion: From Persia and Beyond worldly and other-worldly loves collide, and The figure of the Simurgh is rooted in the oldest L – such is the title of the exhibition of loyalty to one’s beloved may mean infidelity recesses of Persian religion and folklore. The Persian and other manuscripts at the State to one’s faith, what should a Sufi do? name derives ultimately from Saena, a bird Library of Victoria to which this issue of mentioned in the Avesta, the basic collection TAASA Review is devoted. Surely this sounds Some 190 works have been attributed to ‘Attar of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, the primary innocent enough? And yet, in what follows, over the centuries: an exaggerated number religion practiced in Iran until the Arab I would like to consider the oppositions that which attests to his popularity throughout the invasions and subsequent mass conversions such a title implicitly calls into play, and eastern Islamic world. Of the handful of books to Islam in the 7th century. Pahlavi-language the questions these raise for our informed agreed by modern scholars to be authentically sources from the Sasanid Dynasty (224 – 650 appreciation of the works from the Bodleian his, the Mantiq al-Tayr (Conference of the AD) speak of the ‘Senmurv’, whose nest lies Libraries, on display in Melbourne. I will Birds) stands out as ‘Attar’s undisputed on the “tree without evil and of many seeds” do so from the perspective of a Persian Sufi poetic masterpiece. A masnavi or religious (Schmidt 2002). Generally identified as a poet universally acknowledged as one of the epic, the work is composed of 4724 rhyming bringer of rain, this Senmurv is a benevolent greatest exemplars of the art: Shaykh Farid al- couplets in the most authoritative modern figure in the largely arid Iranian plateau, Din ‘Attar Nishapuri (c. 1145 – 1221). I mean edition (Shafi’i Kadkani, AH 1387 (2008 AD), in contrast to his counterpart ‘Kamak’, who to allow ‘Attar, as it were, to tell us what he and includes well over 100 well-wrought prevents the rains from falling by spreading would make of love and devotion, of passion illustrative tales set within the over-arching wide his enormous wings, and thereby for one’s homeland (in this case Persia) framework of the journey of the world’s bringing drought (Schmidt 2002). and the lure of all that lies beyond it. When assembled birds to the Simurgh.

THE HOOPOE TELLS THE BIRDS ABOUT THE SIMURGH, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF ‘ATTAR, ‘ATTAR CONVERSING IN A COURTYARD, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF A WORK ATTRIBUTED TO GAZURGAHI, MANTIQ AL-TAYR, DATED AH 898 (1493-94 AD), BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD MAJALIS AL-‘USHSHAQ, DATED AH 959 (1552 AD), BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 11 The Simurgh maintained its hold on the Persian And yet, in order to arrive at Its nest, the birds standing attentively in front of the larger- imagination into Islamic times, appearing have had to traverse the seven valleys of all than-life figure dominating the illustration. notably in the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of worldly and spiritual pursuits, including Whatever we may make of this illustrated Firdausi (940 – 1020). In choosing to utilise this even the final valley, that of Poverty and Self- scene, there can be no doubt that the 15th figure so deeply grounded in his own Persian Extinction, only to be told that: century illuminator of ‘Attar’s masterpiece mythological heritage to structure his Sufi took great pains to leave us wondering – narrative, ‘Attar perhaps wished to convey All these valleys that you have left behind again – about identity. something of the ambivalence he may have And all these manly deeds that you have done felt toward himself as a Persian Muslim. The Perhaps we can better understand this theme related themes of home-leaving and home- Throughout you have but acted in My acts of identity – be it personal, national, or spiritual coming, community and alienation, national Your valleys of essence and attribute were – by turning to the issue of love and religious and spiritual identity, recur throughout ‘Attar’s but dreams devotion as portrayed in the Tale of Shaykh San’an. collected works: it is in the figure of the Simurgh (Mantiq al-Tayr 4281-82). This is by far the longest and most famous of all that we find these themes most conspicuously the stories gathered in the Mantiq al-Tayr, and is drawn together. I propose that ‘Attar’s Simurgh thus represents placed by ‘Attar at a crucial point in the epic’s the fundamental ambiguity in which every plot. Many of the birds have just presented their ‘Attar’s Simurgh has been described as seeker finds him or herself on the spiritual various excuses as to why they cannot set out “enigmatic beyond description… It is the journey toward one’s own true self. In seeking on the quest. In a bid to silence all their doubts king that all the birds seek and, yet, none the Simurgh beyond the confines of their and imbue them with the requisite fervour, the other than their own reflection” (Keshavarz common nests, the birds must traverse both Hoopoe tells them a tale which goes something 2006: 125). What on earth could this mean? the external borders of their homeland and the like this: Shaykh San’an, esteemed ascetic and And could it mean anything earthly at all? On internal barriers of self, leaving behind all traces paragon of piety, leaves Mecca in search of the the one hand, it is obvious that the Simurgh is of their own identity. In explaining all the fuss ‘idol’ appearing in his dreams – idol-worship understood to be an allegorical representation about the Simurgh, ‘Attar has the Hoopoe, leader being one of the gravest of Islamic sins. Having of the transcendent Divinity; on the other, it is of the pilgrim-birds, recount the story of how one found her – a Christian girl as it turns out – he but a bird like all the others. In characteristic of Its feathers once fell from the heavens in China: falls inconsolably in love, such that: fashion, ‘Attar parries these questions with a pun - the single most celebrated pun in all That feather is now on display in the Love of the girl plundered his soul of Persian literature. Though a multitude of Chinese gallery Infidelity streamed from her tresses, birds set out on the arduous quest in search That’s why “Seek knowledge even if it be flooding his faith of the Simurgh, only 30 birds (si murgh) arrive, in China” (Mantiq al-Tayr 1237). and thereby realize that they are nothing other (Mantiq al-Tayr 740). than the Simurgh Itself: The shaykh rejects all his disciples’ pleas for This refers to the well-known saying of the him to turn away from his newfound beloved. As soon as the thirty birds looked at It Prophet Muhammad, traditionally understood She initially pokes fun at his professed piety They could but see that thirty birds were to mean both that the truth-seeker must and advanced age, but eventually consents to Simurgh needs leave the comforts of home, and that accept him on four conditions: everywhere – even somewhere as far away Their heads all spun in bewilderment as China – has knowledge to offer. One’s own Bow down before an idol, burn the Qur’an They knew not this until they became that home too can be a source of knowledge, and Drink wine, and sew your eyes shut to thus one does not need to go anywhere after all your faith They saw themselves to be all the Simurgh to find the truth! (Mantiq al-Tayr 1350). Simurgh Itself had always been the thirty birds One gets a very vivid sense of this ambiguity The shaykh accepts all she bids of him, and (Mantiq al-Tayr 4263-65). ‘Thirty birds’ is in in an illustration accompanying ‘Attar’s ends up not only abandoning Islam, but even all cases the literal translation of ‘si murgh’. verse in the Bodleian manuscript, MS. Elliott agreeing to work as a swineherd. All this is too 246, dated AH 898 (1493-94 AD). Here, the much for his disciples, who eventually forsake The Simurgh, then, is an irreducibly birds are urged by the Hoopoe to set out to him to return to Mecca. Once back, however, paradoxical figure, straddling what ‘Attar find the fabled Simurgh. The depiction of the they meet the shaykh’s closest companion, often calls “the two worlds” of this life and assembled birds is as expected - until one who upbraids them for turning their back on the afterlife, the mundane and divine realms. notices the central figure. This bird is not the shaykh, and immediately sets out with Only a few lines later, the Simurgh Itself speaks only far larger than any other but is decked them to reconquer the shaykh’s lost soul. of Its own presence as a mirror in which each out with kaleidoscopic feathers, a streaming Having prayed and fasted for 40 days and 40 thing is restored to its own self-identity: ruff, upturned comb, and gloriously billowing nights, the pilgrims are rewarded with a vision streamers. He stands quite apart from the of the Prophet Muhammad, who assures them: Each one who comes sees himself in It relatively drab mob around him, so much Body and soul see body and soul in It. so that one wonders whether this is not a Know with certainty that a hundred portrayal of the Simurgh Itself. It is surely not worlds of sin Since you’re thirty birds who have the Hoopoe, which is usually depicted as a Are set alight with one sigh of repentance come here small brownish bird with comb and fine beak. (Mantiq al-Tayr 1520). As thirty in this mirror you appear (Mantiq al-Tayr 4274-75). In the Bodleian manuscript, the Hoopoe Upon seeing his erstwhile disciples return, the seems to be represented as the small bird shaykh is suddenly recalled to Islam, such that:

12 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 THE SHAYKH OF SAN‘AN BENEATH THE WINDOW OF THE CHRISTIAN GIRL, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF ‘ATTAR, MANTIQ AL-TAYR, DATED AH 898 (1493-94 AD), BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Infidelity rose from the road, and faith set in The idol-worshipper of Rome returned to worship of the Lord (Mantiq al-Tayr 1539).

Spurred by her own dream-vision, the Christian girl then begs the shaykh to accept her conversion to Islam. Newly converted, however, she cannot bear the pain of separation, and dies on the spot. ‘Attar concludes that:

Such fate befalls one oftentimes upon the road of love They only know who know the load of love (Mantiq al-Tayr 1597).

This story – to whose poetic beauty the foregoing summary does scant justice – seems on the surface to present a rather orthodox view of the relation between love and religious devotion. The shaykh, it appears, was quite simply blinded by passions he would have done well to suppress. All ends well, however, though not without the merciful intervention of Muhammad himself, spurred by the piety of the shaykh’s disciples. Indeed, the climactic death of the girl despite her conversion seems only to confirm this rather righteous reading, according to which she, unfaithful temptress, gets but her just desserts, while the shaykh is returned to his rightful role in the God-given dispensation.

Such an interpretation runs into difficulties, however, once we try to take into account the prelude to the tale which ‘Attar puts into the Hoopoe’s beak. As with his more frequent epilogues, such preludes function to give a certain sense to the story, be it in terms of a moral These lines make ‘Attar’s position clear: the fitting tribute to him and his fellow devotees exhortation, doctrinal lesson, or some such other exigencies of love override all other interests, of the one Beloved. hermeneutic key. In the case of Shaykh San’an, including even those concerned with one’s we find the following verses introducing the tale: spiritual well-being. ‘Ditch your soul,’ he Rafal Stepien studied Persian language and literature urges, and to hell with the afterlife! Indeed, at the University of Isfahan, Iran, and holds degrees If they should tell you to renounce your faith as the foregoing account of Shaykh San’an from the Universities of Western Australia, Oxford Or if you should be told to ditch your soul shows, this is precisely what the story’s main and Cambridge. His current doctoral research at protagonist does… but only to find release Columbia University, New York, explores intersections Who are you? Leave behind both this and from the torments of love (and from the infernal between poetry of the Buddhist and Sufi traditions. that torments that would have awaited him) in the Abandon faith and cast aside your soul final peace of devotion to the divine. REFERENCES Keshavarz, F. 2006. ‘Flight of the Birds: The Poetic Animating the An apostate may call this iniquity In summary, then, we see that the central Spiritual in ‘Attar’s Mantiq al-Tayr’ in Lewisohn, L. & Shackle, C. (eds.) ‘Attar and the Persian Sufi Tradition, I. B. Tauris, London. Say: Love is greater than faith and figures of the Mantiq al-Tayr are portrayed infidelity by ‘Attar in such a way as to render any easy Ritter, H. 2003. The Ocean of the Soul, (Radtke, B., trans.), Brill, Leiden. characterisations impossible. The Simurgh Schmidt, H.P. 2002. ‘Simorg’ in Encyclopaedia Iranica, accessed at What’s love to do with infidelity and faith? and the Shaykh embody both their homeland http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/simorg What could a lover care for his own soul? and what lies beyond; and in proposing Shackle, C. 2006. ‘Representations of ‘Attar in the West and in ‘ them as models for our own pursuits, Attar the East: Translations of the Mantiq al-Tayr and the Tale of Shaykh Each one whose stride is sure on love’s shows us that attachment to either passion San’an’ in Lewisohn, L. & Shackle, C. (eds.) ‘Attar and the Persian long road or dispassion will leave us far removed from Sufi Tradition, I. B. Tauris, London. Has left Islam and infidelity in his tracks what was never distant. I suspect that ‘Attar Shafi’i Kadkani. AH 1387 (2008 AD). Mantiq al-Tayr., M-R. (ed.), (Mantiq al-Tayr 1173-76, 1184). would thus have very much appreciated an Milli, Tehran. exhibition dedicated to Love and Devotion; a

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 13 ‘W a s h i n G h y P O C r i s y ’ s d U s t ’: PE r s i a n P O E t r y a n d P O PU LAR IRANIAN MU s i C

Gay Breyley A prince and princess feasting on a terrace, From a manuscript of Hafiz, Divan, copied before 1717, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford

Bring wine, that by Hafez’s will, from a pure heart, I may wash Hypocrisy’s dust, by the goblet’s grace (Hafiz 2001: 30) I n Persianate cultures, the various arts have maintained their close interconnectivity to a greater extent than in Western cultures. Poetry, in its aural and visual forms, music, calligraphy, painting, metalwork, stucco, architecture, garden, carpet and textile design and other arts share crucial principles and, to varying degrees, are interdependent. The importance of symbolism and allegory and the capacity to bring to life the past, with its contemporary implications, and to inspire love and devotion, through connections to others and to God, cross artistic forms.

In this context, an ideal social and spiritual encounter satisfies all the senses. Persian texts contain many poetic accounts of the pleasure derived by all, from kings to poor poets, from gatherings that achieve this aim. The sounds of an accomplished singer accompanied by sensitive musicians, in a visually beautiful setting, whether ‘natural’ or skilfully created, with the textures of fine fabric and the taste of abundant wine and food, are complemented by the sweet perfume of roses, musk and loved ones.

In such a scene, the most significant component is the use of language – the words that accompany each art form and, usually through metaphor, reveal ‘the truth’. Each art form’s status has shifted over the centuries, but poetry has held a dominant position and has shaped the other arts, especially music. The rhythmic and melodic patterns of Persian art music are drawn directly from classical poetry. Throughout most of the long history of Persian music, its lyrics have been viewed as the most powerful element. In Persian, there is one word, she’r, for poetry and lyrics. Most classical vocalists and some singers of popular music contexts, the power of music, encompassing While art music was largely confined to the select texts from the repertoire of classical poetry poetry, has always been acknowledged. In court until the 19th century reign of Nasir-al- to suit their audiences’ situations and reflect Firdausi’s Shahnama, or ‘Book of Kings’, the din Shah, other musical forms, including the their moods. Improvisation has been central musician Barbad chooses a royal garden recitation of the Shahnama, were available to to this process, demanding great sensitivity, as as the setting for his conquest of the king’s the less privileged. Before literacy became well as virtuosity, of musical performers. heart, which he achieves with a repertoire of widespread, the performance of poetic texts balladry, heroism and spirituality. Barbad’s was central to cultural and social life. Texts Although the moral role of music has been musical performance, his versatility, sweet gained new meaning with each performance, the subject of debate and the social status of nature and poetic words ensure his rise to as they were linked to current events and musicians has mostly been low in Persian personal power. listeners’ personal situations. Melodic

14 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 Shah Nowruz invites Nightingale to join his party, From a manuscript of Badi‘ al-Din Manuchihr al-Tajiri al-Tabrizi, Dilsuznama, dated AH 860 (1455 AD), Edirne, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford recitation and music were the primary means of transmitting poetry across social classes, including people without access to books and other inscribed art.

Although an ephemeral art, musical performance was one of the most easily transported, repeated and remembered. Performers were responsible for the interpretation and presentation of a range of narratives, ideas and facts. In contexts where direct speech could disadvantage or even endanger the speaker, a skilful performer conveyed messages metaphorically. Metaphor also enabled multiple layers of meaning, especially around the crucial theme of love and the torment of separation from the beloved. Of course, the beloved may represent a male or female romantic partner, a spiritual companion, God, an ideal such as freedom or justice, or any combination of these. Guided by a poet’s words, then, a musical performer works with his or her audience to create new meaning from old. In broad terms, this tradition persists, even in some of today’s popular music.

The notion of ‘washing hypocrisy’s dust’ recurs in different forms in the verses of Hafiz (c. 1324- 89), Iran’s most popular poet. Hypocrisy is often represented as a major obstacle to true love and devotion – to the desired union of apparent opposites – and as the principal corrupter of social, cultural and spiritual life. While the symbolic but ‘true’ words of a poet reveal truth and enlighten audiences, the false words of hypocrites deceive and pollute, leaving layers of destructive dust. The desire to ‘wash’ such ‘dust’ has linked Persian poetry and music for centuries. This is true even of some Westernised popular music, with contemporary lyrics, in Iran’s more recent history.

There are many different ways to define popular music, but it may be seen as beginning in Iran as references expected by readers of Persian lyrics that the song’s narrator was a political part of ruhozi, a tradition of comic improvisatory poetry. Such songs were often read as poetic prisoner sentenced to death; this is implied theatre. Ruhozi songs, while musically and protests against hypocrisy, injustice or from the first lines: ‘Kiss me, kiss me for the lyrically simple, mocked the powerful and other obstacles to freedom and love, and as last time; God keep you, I am going to my fate’. hypocritical with varying levels of wit. In the articulations of longing for truth and freedom. Subsequent lines are read as revolutionary: ‘I 20th century, with the advent of radio, the have to give up this bright morning because Allied military presence during World War II As with art music compositions, there are I have a blood pact with a brighter morning’ and the Pahlavi Shahs’ Westernisation policies, popular songs that have returned throughout and ‘I have to start fires in the mountains’. a new popular music industry developed. As Iran’s modern history and gained new levels well as the Western influences, this music came of meaning with each return. One of the most The timing of the song’s initial release shaped to be closely linked with the film industry and successful pop songs of the 1950s was Ma- these readings, as popular anger about the was influenced by developments in Arabic- ra bebus or ‘Kiss me’ (1955, lyrics by Haydar 1953 coup had just been compounded by the speaking countries, especially in the 1950s, Raqabi, music by Majid Vafadar, first recorded execution of 30 members of the Marxist Tudeh when Egyptian film was popular. by Hassan Golnaraqi). Under the Pahlavi party’s military branch. In this context, the regime, the singer Golnaraqi was sentenced to song’s narrator was popularly imagined as male, Most songs in this genre were composed for a short prison term for his performance of the although some researchers claim that the lyricist the purpose of light entertainment, but among song, but Ma-ra bebus remained clandestinely wrote the piece in the voice of a dying woman. them were pieces that drew on Persian poetic popular throughout the 1960s and, indeed, is This is one of many examples of the versatility of traditions, or were interpreted as containing still played in Iran today and invested with Persian lyrics. It is fitting that the details of poetic the multiple layers of meaning and allegorical new significance. Most listeners read into the meaning are constantly improvised to satisfy

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 15

A ROYAL PICNIC (DETAIL), FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF ‘ATTAR, INTIKHAB-I HADIQA (EXTRACTS FROM THE HADIQA). COPIED C.1575, BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Shahram Nazeri combined Kurdish and (www.mohsennamjoo.com). Namjoo’s work Persian musical structures with the words of is highly innovative as he combines elements the renowned poet Rumi, (known in Iran as of Persian art music, traditional recitation and Maulana, 1207-73): western folk and rock in new ways. Hafiz’s notion of the need to ‘wash hypocrisy’s dust’ You too can go away and leave me alone now is echoed throughout Namjoo’s repertoire. Why not abandon this ailing, broken Among other things, his lyrics recount a creature of the night wartime education in absurdity and illuminate I am no longer disturbed by the waves of many aspects of postrevolutionary sensibilities. lonely days and nights In his song Gozar, he sings ‘See how they have It’s your choice to come back, forgive, or go made hypocrisy fashionable ... See how we away in betrayal (Namjoo 2006). see dollar signs everywhere’. Namjoo’s setting of Hafiz’s ‘Zolf Bar Bad’ gained considerable Folk rock singer-songwriter and musician popularity in Iran and the diaspora. ‘Zolf Bar Mohsen Namjoo describes Nazeri’s post- Bad’ displays Hafiz’s customary wit, imagery, revolutionary album as ‘a musical blessing paradox and hyperbole, leaving many semantic for the nation’, as it musically and lyrically possibilities open for the listener: articulated the complex feelings of pride and national unity, determination and despair, Since the day I was captured by you, that accompanied the outbreak of war. Nazeri I am free... their changing contexts. However, the principles also selected lyrics that linked ‘truth’ with Show your face, to make me indifferent that accompany these shifting meanings remain ‘righteousness’, as well as with love and the to the flower little changed; these are the principles of truth, suffering of the devoted. In the context of post- Show your height, to make me free from love, devotion and freedom. revolutionary Iran, where many felt abandoned the cedar... by former ‘friends’, this could be read as multi- In the 1970s, Iran’s popular music industry layered criticism of the hypocritical nature of Ultimately, this piece follows the tradition of underwent an acceleration of both all forms of false friendship. evoking love and devotion, which remain as Westernisation and expressions of resistance. compelling in the 21st century as they were in Queen of pop Googoosh (1950- ) epitomised After the Iran-Iraq War and Iran’s subsequent the 14th. this decade, with a range of Westernised period of reconstruction, Mohammad musical styles and Persian love lyrics, laden Khatami was elected president in 1997, The above examples illustrate just a few of with a plethora of ‘light’ metaphor. While bringing with him a program of minor many connections between poetry and music Googoosh dominated fashion and every cultural reform. This included the resumption in Persian contexts. Today, along with art form of media, some of her colleagues, such of locally produced popular music, with music, fusion, rock, pop and folk, hip-hop has as Farhad and Dariush (Eghbali, 1951- ), government authorisation. Classical poetry a very significant following. Many Persian achieved popular success with arguably more now expanded its popular realm from art rap texts also reflect their historical context of ‘serious’ allegorical songs. music to pop, rock and fusion. classical poetry and related arts. For centuries, palaces, teahouses and private courtyards In 1978, Dariush’s hit Bu-ye Gandom (The Scent Fusion, or talfiqi, combined such instruments were venues for the dissemination of poetry of Wheat), reportedly inspired many young as electric guitar and keyboards with the in Iran and the Persianate world. Performers people to join the burgeoning revolutionary kamanche (a bowed spike fiddle, which, much and listeners took great pleasure in the sounds movement. One such former revolutionary earlier in the 20th century, had been one of the and semantics of the Persian language and its reminisces that it was this pop song that gave first Iranian instruments to be replaced by its capacity for interaction with other arts. Today, him and his friends the belief that revolution Western relative, the violin), setar (one of several venues include the internet, concert halls and was a realistic possibility (Jamal, personal forms of long-necked lute), daf (frame drum) private basements, but the union of Persian communication, Los Angeles, 2010). Again, or santur (dulcimer). Rock and pop groups poetry and music continues to provide elegant timing was crucial to popular readings of this often combined Western instruments, rhythms entertainment and inspiration. symbolic pop song. Beginning with the line and melodies with Persian texts, including the ‘The scent of wheat is mine, everything I have poetry of Hafiz, Rumi and Sa‘adi (c. 1213-92). Gay Breyley is an adjunct research associate at Monash is yours’, the lyrics contain references to all One of the most popular of these groups was University, where she completed a postdoctoral the senses, a collective thirst and a desire for O-Hum (www.o-hum.com), which recorded its fellowship in 2008. In 2010 she was an Endeavour the earth’s beauties to be shared. first album, Nahal-e Heyrat (Sapling of Wonder, research fellow (Austraining International), hosted by the a term drawn from Hafiz) in 1999, launching University of Tehran. With Sasan Fatemi she is co-author The 1979 revolution was closely followed by it online in 2001. O-Hum made more songs of Iranian Music and Popular Entertainment: From the 1980 invasion of Iran by Saddam Hussein’s available online in 2002, under the title Hafez Motrebi to Losanjelesi and Beyond (Routledge, 2012). Iraq, which resulted in eight long years of in Love. The group’s second album, Aludeh war. During the 1980s, as the Persian pop (Polluted), was released in Canada in 2005. REFERENCES Hafiz. 2001. Divan of Hafez Shirazi. Farhangsara Mirdashti, music industry shifted its centre from Tehran Tehran. to Los Angeles, many of Iran’s art musicians More recently, Mohsen Namjoo has emerged as Namjoo, Mohsen. 2006. ‘In Praise of the Minor Key, A – one of Iran’s most popular ‘serious’ musicians. sought to reverse Western influences on The Third Note.’ TehranAvenue. their music and its lyrics. This included a Namjoo has set classical Persian poetry to music Mohsen Namjoo. www.mohsennamjoo.com return to classical poetry. On his album The in unconventional ways and today he uses his Language of Love, popular art music vocalist own wry word play and metaphor in his lyrics O-Hum. www.o-hum.com

16 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 DISCOVERING PERSIAN MUSIC

Philippe Charluet MAULANA MUHAMMAD TABADKHANI AND OTHER DERVISHES DANCING, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF A WORK ATTRIBUTED

TO GAZURGAHI, MAJALIS AL-‘USHSHAQ, DATED AH 959 (1552 AD), BODLEIAN LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.

n early 2010, I was invited to contribute I a number of audio-visual components to the State Library of Victoria’s (SLV) exhibition, Love and Devotion: From Persia and Beyond. These included a full-length documentary film framed around the exhibition settings, a unique opportunity to explore extraordinarily rich themes, including Persian literature, poetry and book arts, and their intersection with the West; and an audio-visual exhibition component made up of classical Persian poetry and music performed live.

Music is usually the starting point of any of my projects. It defines its emotional path by setting the mood and the rhythm of the film. In addition, when exploring other civilisations like Persia, the sourcing of authentic music is crucial, as it informs the cultural context. I knew nothing of Persian music so I set out to learn more, quickly sourcing and purchasing music CDs (I was travelling to Paris at the time and was blessed with meeting an expert in this field, who, surprisingly, was a young Frenchman in his mid-twenties!).

I was astonished by what I heard. The purity of the music, the way it deeply connected, dare I say, to my spirit. I felt I was hearing something created very much in the depths of time. I was lucky enough to hear great contemporary masters like Ali Reza Ghorbani (particularly his album Les Chants Brulés and Ivresse) and Shahram Nazeri & Hafez Nazeri (The Passion of Rumi). Of note also, are albums by Jordi Savall, including Istanbul and Orient – Occident, which explore the dialogue of Ottoman music with that of the West.

When discussing Persian music, we must include Persian poetry because one does not exist without the other. For Persians, poetry does not make sense if there is no music and music does not make any sense if there is no poetry. They are absolutely intertwined. As Dr Mammad Aidani of the University of Melbourne said when I interviewed him for the film: “The soul of Persians, as I understand it, is embedded in the poetry of these great poets that we in the West read - particularly Omar Khayyam, Hafiz, Sa‘di, Jami and especially Rumi, who we call Maulana.” The music is “like a fountain embedded in the poetry” according to Dr Aidani, and as in poetry, everyone has their own responses, or reactions, to it.

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 17 THE MEHR ENSEMBLE WITH TOOFAN TOGHYANI, TINA ARBATAN, SAMIRA KARIMI, MEHDI MIRZAEI,

JOEL CERDOR, SEPEHR TOGHYANI, POOYA MEHMANPAZIR (LEFT TO RIGHT)

Persian music has two distinct strands: the first may be termed ‘traditional’ i.e. the indigenous, classical musical tradition of Iran; and the second is what I would call a ‘mystical’ strand, and often accompanies poetry expressing notions of Sufism. My personal taste very much attracted me to the second, as this has a depth and connection that I have rarely felt with any other music I have encountered (except maybe the purest Gregorian chants in the West). I now often refer to mystical Persian music as ‘the music of the human soul’.

After listening to much Persian music, I went to a concert in July 2011 in Melbourne performed by the Mehr Ensemble, the only Persian music performance group based in Australia. As is the custom, they were seated with their instruments on finely decorated Persian rugs and cushions. The Mehr Ensemble was formed in Tehran, Iran, in 1999 and is now based in Melbourne after the group’s leader, Pooya Mehmanpazir, migrated to Australia in 2006.

The first hour of the concert was devoted to the poetry of Rumi, the great Persian mystic poet. beauty of the most refined instrument of all, The musical introductions were perfect As Susan Scollay, the SLV exhibition co-curator the human voice. for what we set out to achieve, providing said when interviewed: “Rumi currently tops a simple emotional dialogue to the poetry the best-seller lists for poetry in the US and is In Persian music and songs, the vocalist plays and taking the audience into a wonderful also very widely read throughout the rest of a crucial role, not only providing the mood world of images that ranged from that of the Western world. Surprisingly perhaps, this and driving the piece but the voice itself is fierce princesses, kings, historical myths and best-selling Persian poet lived and wrote in used like an instrument, in ways rarely heard demons to that of the Lover, both in human the 13th century in the city of Konya in central in any other culture. The singer allows words form and that of the seeker of mystical union Anatolia, the Asian part of what is now the to almost take flight, prolonging each syllable with God. So my discovery of Persian music modern-day Turkey. At that time Konya was and letting them ring magically in his/ her is just the beginning of a wonderfully rich part of the great empire of the Seljuq dynasty throat. In many songs, the music is played as journey of discovery, unearthing this prolific and a multicultural, multilingual cultural an emotional response to the voice rather than culture, and its poetic treasures. centre of note.” as an accompaniment. I was mesmerised, my spirit lifted. Philippe Charluet is a documentary film producer and The musicians wore white as a sign of purity director specialising in the arts. His award winning of spirit for this mystical part of the concert. These musicians were a perfect choice for documentaries include The Medieval Imagination It is also important to note here that Persian the audio-visual component of the State (SBS) about medieval manuscripts, Dreams of poetry is usually sung, not recited as it is in Library exhibition and I approached them Darkness (SBS) about the photographer, Bill Henson, the West. The second hour was of a more immediately. We set out to collaborate in and Romeo and Juliet: A New Vision (Stvdio) traditional nature, almost folkloric in parts, the making of an 11-minute film that would examining the creative process of choreographer, and, to reflect this, the musicians changed to show the extraordinary detail of some of the Graeme Murphy. The documentary Love & Devotion brightly coloured clothes. manuscripts whilst the Persian-language will be released in June 2012 (stellamotion.com.au) poetry written in the manuscripts was I was fascinated by the instruments, the both recited and sung. The accompanying The Mehr Ensemble will perform a concert at the State simplicity of design and material, yet soundtrack would be made up of music Library of Victoria on 31 March, 2012 (mehrensemble. producing such exquisitely pure sound. The performed on only a few instruments. com.au) and is releasing their first CD to coincide with long-necked lutes, such as the setar, tar and the exhibition. tanbur or the bowed spike-fiddle kamancheh, I had noticed that Persian music relies on which produce such rich sounds with only both improvisation and composition. The a few strings; the daf, a circular animal skin early part of each song, the introduction as I framed-drum which sounds like a dozen would call it, is usually a rhythmic prelude drums played at the same time; the ney, a of more than a minute, to set the mood of the simple bamboo flute, played straight through piece. Again, this is the part that I found of with no reed, that seems to touch the inner real interest, acting almost as a meditation depths of one’s being. Yet, none of these to set the desired tone, both literally and instruments approached the purity and emotionally.

18 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 POLITICS AND PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY IN THOMAS MOORE’S PARADISE AND THE PERI

Shelley Meagher

PARADISE AND THE PERI, TITLE PAGE, THOMAS MOORE. DESIGNED BY OWEN JONES. DAY AND SON, 1860. STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA

n its publication in 1817, the Irish O songwriter Thomas Moore’s long poem, the ‘oriental romance’ Lalla Rookh, made a hit. Within a year it had gone into seven editions: Moore’s publisher, John Murray, later referred to it as ‘the cream of copyrights’. But, as an examination of Paradise and the Peri, the second of the poem’s tales reveals, its popular success tends to obscure its polemical nature, which draws on an unconventional view of Islam and its Persian sources.

In the 19th century Paradise and the Peri was the most popular of the four tales recounted by the minstrel in Lalla Rookh. It inspired paintings, a ballet, and whole books of watercolours and engravings; Schumann adapted it to opera. Its appeal is not surprising. The tale contains a mixture of exotic snapshots of Iran, India, Egypt and Syria, historical information, and sentimental speeches. It is the 19th century counterpart to 21st century popular television history series. The narrative’s fluid rhyming couplets sweep the reader across Iran, Afghanistan, India and the Levant, swooping down on select historical events, providing factual details while conveying the perspective of an ‘ordinary’ person of the period. While all the events take place in the Islamic world, however, the selection of sites and historical events has far more to do with the poet’s own political agenda.

The tale’s theme is the possibility of returning to grace for those who have fallen. In the 19th century many people turned their imaginations to the issue of how to regain a blessed state once lost. How a woman who has transgressed social rules may regain acceptance was a popular version of this question. So was the fate of the destitute and how they may attain economic security; century, an enormously popular theme of a student in the 1790s), and although Moore in its spiritual sense the question is deeply redress for those who have fallen. read all he could of Persian literature, he had no entrenched in Western culture through its access to translations of the crucial texts. treatment in the Bible. As Moore knew from George Sale’s intro- duction to his 1734 English translation of the So Moore understood that Peris had been Paradise and the Peri hits many of the buttons Qur’an, the Qur’an incorporated the ancient assimilated into Islamic theology. Their of the 19th century interest in this question. Persian mythology concerning Peris into the provenance is clear in Paradise and the Peri. Lalla Rookh’s minstrel tells the tale through new faith at the time of the first emergence When the Angel at the gate of Heaven tells the the eyes of a Peri, a kind of fallen angel in of Islam. Sale and the late 17th century Peri that he will let her back into heaven if she Persian mythology. Moore makes his Peri French orientalist encyclopedist Barthélemy brings ‘the gift that is most dear to Heaven’ female, searching the world for an offering d’Herbelot were Moore’s main sources on to redeem her sin, the Peri flies away on her of atonement through which to regain Peris, for although they feature in key works quest musing over the magical treasures of heaven. Largely unfamiliar to Moore’s of Persian literature such as the poet Firdausi’s ancient Persian mythology, such as the rubies primarily British and Irish readers, his Peri Shahnama or ‘Book of Kings’ completed in 1010 beneath Persepolis and the jewelled cup of figure offered a novel and whimsical way (two manuscripts of which were held by the Jamshid. But she quickly concludes that these of exploring what would become, by mid- Trinity College Dublin library when Moore was things will not suffice for ‘Allah’: ‘gifts like

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 19

PARADISE AND THE PERI, THOMAS MOORE. DESIGNED BY OWEN JONES. DAY AND SON, 1860. STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA these are not for the sky’ (the requirements of rhyme determine the weak euphemism for paradise). The type of Peri this tale concerns is clearly one that is bound up with Islam.

This makes it all the more striking that the Peri’s first offering of atonement is the blood of a Hindu soldier who dies fighting Mahmud of Ghazna - the Central Asian leader to whom the poet Firdausi presented his epic Shahnama. As a footnote in Moore’s work points out, Mahmud of Ghazna went on to conquer northern India in the 11th century as its first Islamic ruler. The narrative does not explicitly state that the tragic hero whom Mahmud kills is a Hindu, but his faith is evident from the allusions to the material culture of Hinduism:

Land of the Sun! What foot invades Thy Pagods and thy pillar’d shades – Thy cavern shrines, and Idol stones, Thy Monarchs and their Thousand Thrones? (Moore 1817: 137-38)

Pagodas, idols, shrines in caves in an eastern land, all these were markers of Hinduism for Moore’s readers, and the verse portrays the region as wholly Hindu. Moore stresses that Mahmud’s conquest of this land involved the brutal destruction of a whole civilisation.

The Hindu soldier’s sword is broken and he is down to his last arrow when he encounters Mahmud, who offers him his life and wealth if he accepts Mahmud’s sovereignty. But for the soldier, the Muslim conqueror’s atrocities and destruction of his people and homeland associated with the Irish, both through theories of the legislature, which would increase means that there can be no negotiation. He that the Irish were descended from Persians, the likelihood of achieving constitutional answers Mahmud by firing the last arrow and through ideas of Persian as a sweet and reform. ‘Your courage,’ Moore tells the at him, but misses and is killed. The Peri lyrical yet deceptive language, and of the Irish Dublin Catholics, ‘will rival the gallantry of descends to earth and collects as her offering as passionate, heated and peculiarly attuned to that youth, who courted his mistress, at the to heaven the soldier’s last drop of blood, Persia. Moore’s first reviewers had no trouble moment when she was dying of the plague, remarking afterwards that: detecting in the Muslim minstrel Feramorz a and “clasping the bright infection in his figure for the Irish songwriter Moore. arms,” restored her to health and beauty by Though foul are the drops that oft distil his caresses.’ (Moore 1810: 33) On the field of warfare, blood like this, To anyone familiar with Moore’s Irish For Liberty shed, ...holy is... polemics, the Peri’s second choice of gift In Paradise and the Peri, it is the bride who (Moore 1817: 140) to heaven – the dying breath of a woman caresses her stricken bridegroom, and she nursing her lover as he dies of the plague succumbs to the infection and dies shortly This surprising celebration of Hindu heroism – indeed indicates that he has Ireland in after he does. Heaven rejects the Peri’s first offers more than a hint of protest against mind in this tale. In 1810, in his polemical two offerings as good, but not quite good England’s treatment of Ireland, about which pamphlet, A Letter to the Roman Catholics of enough to atone for sin. So if sympathy with Moore had been increasingly outspoken over Dublin, Moore had used this very same trope Irish nationalism is latent in the Peri’s first the decade preceding the publication of Lalla to advocate that the Dublin Catholics concede offerings to heaven, Moore does not portray it Rookh. By 1817 he was famous for his ‘national a power of veto to Westminster in Episcopal as a viable road to happiness for Ireland. melodies’ of Ireland, songs which lament Catholic appointments - if, in return, the loss of Ireland’s historical glory, and the Westminster would annul its prohibition The anomalousness of the Peri’s first choice of repercussions for its leaders of the failed 1798 against Catholics standing for Parliament. offering to Allah – the blood of a Hindu Indian and 1803 Irish rebellions. The very notion of To concede the veto power may be daunting, nationalist shed in an attempt to kill a Muslim Peris, when raised by Moore, was obliquely Moore had argued, but these anxieties pale in in a religious war – is all the more striking for reminiscent of Ireland, for in the later part of comparison to what it might achieve, namely, the fact that in Lalla Rookh’s framing narrative, the preceding century, Persians had become Catholic Emancipation and the expansion Paradise and the Peri is recited by a Muslim

20 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1

PARADISE AND THE PERI, THOMAS MOORE. DESIGNED BY OWEN JONES. DAY AND SON, 1860. STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA

of Asia.’ (Edinburgh Review 29 1817: 2) The problem for Jeffrey and later critics is that the characters are too like Europeans: they are not different enough to be Indian or Persian. But this attack – like those of the opposing viewpoint which complains that 19th century European literature too often portrays Muslims as fundamentally different from westerners – overlooks the claim central to the political allegory, that what is true of Islamic imperialism and the Islamic faith is also true of Christian imperialism and Christianity.

Despite the recognisably Muslim aspects of the second episode, its recommendation of natural and simple reverence transcends the boundaries between Islam and Christianity. Paradise and the Peri thus belongs to a minor but longstanding tradition, dating back to the 17th century, which saw Christianity and Islam as fundamentally similar. It also emerges in several others of Moore’s writings. In 1810, he had compared sectarian prejudices in Britain and Ireland to parts of the Qur’an written after Muslims had won several battles, in order to illustrate a universal principle: that an increase in power always leads institutional religions to become intolerant. His article on early Christianity, The Church Fathers, published in The Edinburgh Review in 1814, discusses the common origins of Christianity and Islam and points out that the scriptures of both have been influenced by the Persian and Arabic mythology that predated them.

Because the tradition which saw Christianity and Islam as fundamentally similar was not minstrel to a Muslim princess, a descendent Whilst this claim was pertinent to Britain’s the dominant tradition, it is easily overlooked of Mahmud of Ghazna. But the tale does not policies in Ireland, most salient, given the today in analyses of orientalist literature. condemn Islam in its entirety. For the final tale’s partial Indian setting, was its critique of But this outlook is crucial to Paradise and gift that the Peri offers to heaven, the gift Britain’s imperialist adventures in India. So the Peri, as to others of Moore’s works, that succeeds in opening paradise to her, are the tale asserts a general principle about piety, because it provides the basis for a critique the tears shed in penitence by a murderer, militant evangelism, and imperialism and it on imperialism in principle, a critique whose and his repentance takes a distinctly Muslim indicates that this principle applies to all acts implicit application to British India in Lalla form. Encountering a Muslim boy at dusk, the of imperialism, regardless of which particular Rookh paved the way for mutual Irish and murderer instinctively thinks to kill him. But faiths or sects are concerned. The condemnation Indian sympathies a century later. the innocent joy of the boy as he plays in a of Mahmud implicit in the Peri’s first offering garden brings a calm over the murderer. When to heaven rests on his brutal imposition of his Shelley Meagher is a writer and academic based in the evening call to prayer sounds and the boy faith on the Hindus of India: that is, on his Melbourne. She holds a doctorate from the University obeys it, the murderer recalls the innocence imperialism, rather than on his Islamic faith, of Oxford and has held lectureships at Oxford and of his own childhood. As he opens his heart even if he uses his faith to justify his brutality. Queen’s University Belfast. Her doctoral thesis he is moved to remorse and penitence, and investigated knowledge and representations of Islam he kneels and joins the child in prayer – and, The tale’s function as a parable has led critics in British and Irish literature 1660-1850. Shelley forgiven, returns into God’s tribe. to attack Moore for using Persian mythology recently completed her first novel. and oriental settings simply to veil a The narrative paints Mahmud’s imperialism European discussion. From the outset, critics REFERENCES in the same forms as it later paints murder, complained that the characters in the tale Jeffrey, Francis. Review of Lalla Rookh in the Edinburgh Review, 29, November 1817: 1-35. linking the murderer’s sins to imperialism. were more European than Persian or Indian, Moore, Thomas. 1810. A Letter to the Roman Catholics of Dublin, The tale of the sinner – what leads him into sin Francis Jeffrey declaring that: ‘They are, in Dublin. and what leads him to penitence – thus implies truth, poetical imaginations; – but it is to the Moore, Thomas. 1817. Lalla Rookh: an oriental romance, London. that imperialism is unjustifiable, and that the poetry of rational, honourable, considerate, Moore, Thomas. “The Church Fathers” in the Edinburgh Review, only way to be a good believer is by the private and humane Europe, that they belong – and November 1814: 55-75. practice of faith, and not by the sword. not to the childishness, cruelty, and profligacy

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 21 PErsia and BEYOND : tWo rECEnt aCQUISITIONS By thE statE liBrary of VICTORIA

ARCHERS ATTEMPT TO SHOOT AN ARROW THROUGH Clare Williamson BAHRAM GUR AND DILARAM, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF AMIR THE SULTAN'S RING ON TOP OF DOME, FROM A MANUSCRIPT KHUSRAU, KHAMSA, DATED AH 1007–08 (1599–1600 AD), OF SA‘DI, GULISTAN AND BUSTAN, DATED AH 1258 (1842–43 AD),

STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA.

n the past two years the State Library I of Victoria (SLV) has acquired two Persian manuscripts that complement and counterpoint each other in a number of ways. Between them they say much about the two- way dialogue between Iran and India during the mediaeval and early-modern periods. One manuscript was produced in Iran and presents a major work of India’s pre-eminent Persian-language poet. The other was produced in India and presents a key work of one of Iran’s great poets of the classical era, thereby revealing the active appreciation, and shared aspects, of the literature and book arts of each culture.

In April 2010 the Library acquired, at auction in London, a manuscript of Amir Khusrau’s Khamsa (Quintet). This followed, in May 2011, with the acquisition from a book dealer in Paris, of a manuscript containing both Sa‘di’s Gulistan (The Rose Garden) and Bustan (The Orchard). The State Library’s collections have historically revealed a western emphasis, reflective of both the Library’s origins and of broader attitudes throughout the 19th and much of the 20th centuries. Its more contemporary collections are broad in their international scope, and recent exhibitions all re-tellings of those in Nizami’s version. For fine nasta‘liq script set in the four columns and publications have sought to redress the example he re-tells Nizami’s Layla u Majnun traditionally used for poetic works. The first imbalance within the Library’s historical and Khusrau u Shirin as Majnun u Layla and folio contains an opening dedicatory shamsa collections by presenting examples of non- Shirin u Khusrau. And in his Hasht Bihisht and each book begins with an illuminated western culture such as Japanese woodblock- (Eight Paradises) he has, in some ways, headpiece. The work is illustrated throughout printed books, Ethiopian prayer scrolls and a ‘gone one better’ than the Haft Paykar (Seven with a total of 20 miniature paintings, the last West Africa Qur’an. Beauties) of his predecessor. of which is unfinished.

Amir Khusrau (1253–1325) of Delhi, who The State Library of Victoria’s copy of Amir Composed some 45 years before Amir became known as the ‘Parrot of India’, Khusrau’s Khamsa is signed and dated. It was Khusrau’s Khamsa, Sa‘di’s Bustan (1257) and wrote in both Persian and Hindi. A prolific copied by the scribe Mu‘izz al-Din Husayn Gulistan (1258) each have a series of moralistic poet, he claimed to have composed more Langari and four of the five books contain tales at their centre. Sa‘di (c. 1215–1292) than 400,000 couplets in his lifetime. He colophons dating the manuscript to various dedicated both works to his patron, prince also wrote prose and made important months in AH 1007–08 (1599–1600 AD). The Sa‘d ibn Zangi of Shiraz. contributions to the development of music in place of production is not stated, however the India. Amir Khusrau’s Khamsa is one of the style of illustration suggests that it was copied Written in lyrical verse and comprising more most frequently illustrated works composed in Iran. The painted lacquer binding was than 4,000 couplets, the Bustan contains around in the Persian language (Brend 2003; xix, produced later, most likely in 19th century 160 tales addressed to rulers. The tales convey xxiii). In it he acknowledges his debt to his India. It is richly decorated in gold, red and Sufi mystic ideas and imagery that were widely Persian predecessor, Nizami (d. 1209), whose green and the outer panels of both the front understood in literary and intellectual circles original Khamsa is one of the masterpieces of and back boards contain large painted floral in Iran at this time. The Bustan is divided into mediaeval Persian poetry. motifs within their central oval medallions. ten chapters, each addressing a virtue such as Original bindings of mediaeval Persian justice, charity, love and humility, concluding Amir Khusrau’s Khamsa is both an homage manuscripts are rare as copies were regularly in the final chapter with the state of being in and an emulation: an approach admired rebound after heavy use or to suit the tastes of communion with the Divine. in Persian literature in which a poet pays a new owner. tribute to, but also seeks to improve upon, While verses of poetry are interspersed the work of an earlier master. The five books The 278 folios of the manuscript, measuring throughout the Gulistan, this work is generally contained within Amir Khusrau’s Khamsa are 275 x 180 mm, each contain 17 lines of regarded as the most influential work of

22 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 prose written in the Persian language (Lewis contemporary to the manuscript. It is in cloth second is an early 19th century manuscript 2001). Like the Bustan, it consists of a series of and paper, which has been printed in a green of the Tutinama. The acquisition of these moralistic tales, in this case grouped into eight geometric pattern. The text throughout is in manuscripts, together with those described rather than ten chapters. Sa‘di included much a fine nasta‘liq script set within cloud-like above, will create for the Library a small but seemingly autobiographical information forms on a gold ground. Produced during valuable collection of Persian manuscripts throughout both the Bustan and Gulistan, the final years of the Mughal Empire, the that can be studied and appreciated by however he is likely to have exercised much manuscript reflects the continuing place of scholars and general audiences alike. poetic license in incorporating such anecdotes Persian poetry and language within Indian as a means of enhancing his arguments culture of the period. Clare Williamson is Exhibitions Curator, State Library (Wickens 1990). of Victoria, and co-curator of Love and Devotion: The two manuscripts described above From Persia and Beyond. The manuscript acquired by the Library was were acquired in the lead-up to, and will copied in AH 1258 (1842-43 AD). It comprises be displayed as part of, the Library’s major REFERENCES 143 folios, each measuring 288 x 170 mm, and international exhibition Love and Devotion: Brend, Barbara. 2003. Perspectives on Persian Painting: Illustrations is illustrated with 18 miniature paintings in From Persia and Beyond. It is illustrated with 15 to Amir Khusrau’s Khamsah. RoutledgeCurzon, London. the Kashmiri style of the 19th century. The miniature paintings in the Shiraz style. At the Lewis, Franklin. 2003. ‘Golestan-e Sa‘di’, Encyclopaedia Iranica, text of the Gulistan is presented throughout time of writing, the SLV is also in the process vol. XI, pp. 79–86. the central panel of each folio, with that of of acquiring two additional manuscripts, one Wickens, G.Michael. 1990. ‘Bustan’, Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. IV, pp. 573–574. the Bustan running at an angle throughout the of which is an outstanding copy of Nizami’s borders. The binding is likely to be Indian and Khamsa. Dated AH 915–16 (1509­–10 AD). The

BAHRAM GUR AND THE PRINCESS OF THE YELLOW PAVILION, FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF AMIR KHUSRAU, KHAMSA, DATED AH 1007–08 (1599–1600 AD). STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 23 t r a VE l i n i r a n : BE T WEE n a WE s o ME d E S E r t s a n d EXQU i s i t E U n r E a l i t i E S

Christopher Wood SHRINE OF SHAYK SAFI AL-DIN ( 1252-1334), ARDABIL, IRAN. BEGUN IN THE 15TH CENTURY, THE COMPLEX HOUSES

THE TOMBS OF FIVE SAFAVID ERA SHAYKS. PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER WOOD I ran presents many complexities and conundrums to Western travellers, who must avoid applying foreign norms to Iranian identity as expressed in narrative, ritual, social life, aesthetics and the meaning of place and space.

Similarly, Iranian miniature paintings cannot be approached using Western aesthetic standards. These small luminous works portray exquisite, closed imagined worlds in which superbly dressed poets, sages, kings and lovers assume courtly poses. Even warriors or hunters in scenes of combat seem immersed in choreographed rituals rather than deadly contests. clothes and am used to interacting in a direct Do Iranians, therefore, ignore or fear this Westerners can be confused by Iranian manner. A friendly greeting leads reasonably grand empty topography, locating their mimesis, which is figurative rather than literal. quickly to the nub of our conversation. identity in the imagination, or in cities Space in miniatures is readable, but neither with their warren-like, teeming bazaars? infinite nor continuous as in Post-Renaissance In Iran my friends preface all interactions with Their ‘invented’ flora and the horror vacui Western art with its deep, measurable space intricate, wordy, seemingly endless, poetic of elaborately patterned tiles that cover disciplined by mathematical perspective. In prologues of polite exchanges about each others’ monuments like Isfahan’s exquisite Masjid-i Iranian miniatures, palace floors rise vertically health, family wellbeing, etc. My impatience Shaykh Lutfullah suggest this to be true. Most up the picture plane, enabling artists to seat begins to seem childishly hasty as it dawns on Iranians do consider uncultivated land to be their lovers against fields of richly patterned me that in their exchanges, form and meaning wasteland; for millennia they have tamed carpets. Carpet-like battlefields likewise tilt interact quite differently. Whilst driving through small tracts of desert using mountain water up to reveal every stream, rock, and plant in Iran, I exclaim at Iranians’ reckless disregard flowing down long underground aqueducts, contrived landscapes of poetic pattern and for road rules and the directives of the traffic qanats. Iranian gardens, moreover, are walled, rhythm rather than naturalistic vision. police. My friend, who has visited Australia, intensely cultivated paradises contrasting says laughingly, ‘Chris, you live in such an markedly to their inhospitable surroundings. A gifted Iranian-Australian miniaturist I know authoritarian country’. To Iranians, Australians’ depicts flowers with the intricacy and finesse lawfulness seems hopelessly literal. Iranians nevertheless do appreciate their desert of an accomplished botanical illustrator. Her landscapes as deeply as they do the schematized images, however, beguile the uninitiated. Her The closed palace worlds, choreographed garden motifs in their intricate carpets. This plants seem at first sight to be naturalistic poses and the manicured landscapes of attachment derives, not from a (Western) products of patient, microscopic, empirical Iranian miniatures, my miniaturist’s fanciful Romantic passion for wilderness, but from a observation, but are, on closer observation, flowers, the lyricist’s exaggerated metaphors, unique sense of territory. Ever since the 7th poetic fictions. They are not botanical records the embellished politeness of Iranian social century, when Arab invaders destroyed the last but flower-like imaginative simulacra. exchanges, and the unwillingness of Iranians great Iranian empire, that of the Sasanid, Iran Likewise, the lyrics of a popular Iranian singer to take rules of the road literally, all reflect has suffered countless further invasions; the songwriter exasperate English translators. Iranians’ very distinctive relationship between vast majority of Iran’s rulers have been Turko- Inspired in part by Sufi poetry, his evocations imagination and the world around them. Mongolian foreigners. These dominated Iran of beautiful gardens, extravagant metaphors territorially but were conquered by their subjects’ for his love of God, in English can sound Given the foregoing, one would be correct in high culture; hence Iranians’ unique, seamless impossibly flowery and almost tritely emotive, expecting Iranians to have a very different mix of urbane cultural pride, epitomized by their offending even the least prosaic Anglophone. approach to the physical geography of sophisticated poetry and miniatures, and their their country to that found in the Western territorial sense of place. Despite their aridity, To an Australian traveller like me, even tradition. Iran’s topography of vast, empty, Iran’s deserts are precious and inviolate. Iranians contemporary Iranians’ everyday grooming, arid deserts framed by grand, snowcapped treasure this territory as signifying national deportment and social interaction seem far mountain ranges contrasts markedly to the identity rather than appreciate it in a Western from pragmatic and down-to-earth. Each intricate, almost claustrophobic world of aesthetic or ecological sense. morning my Iranian friends spend at least Iranian miniatures, but no Iranian naturalistic two hours grooming themselves. Dressed landscape painting school developed to Christopher Wood is the founding director of Australians Studying Abroad (ASA). Since 1977 impeccably, even when travelling in the match those of the West. Western travelers the company has organised cultural tours to more Iranian desert, they seem to interact with may think Iran’s natural grandeur ‘sublime’, than 45 countries. Christopher has been personally other Iranians in a poetic, figurative, courtly but such aesthetic concepts express landscape leading tours to Iran for the past ten years. way. I, of course, am dressed in practical values foreign to Iranians.

24 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 I n t h E P ub l i C d o m a i n : AN INDONESIAN QUR ’ A N I N A G S A

James Bennett

he recent acquisition of a Qur’an by the and the lavish use of gold leaf confirms an Indonesia during the 17th – 19th centuries. It T Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) account that this Qur’an was commissioned by closely replicates the 1624 headstone of Queen is the culmination of a long search for such a a religious scholar (ulama) of Madurese royal Ratu Ibu Sarifah Ambani, a descendant of manuscript that commenced in 2005 when the descent around the end of the 19th century. The the great Javanese Muslim saint Sunan Giri Art Gallery became the first public institution exceptional dimensions of the manuscript, and (b.1442), at Aer Mata, Bangkalan. The Madura in Australia to establish a permanent display its intricate decoration, suggest it may have royal cemetery is still regarded as a sacred site specifically dedicated to the art of the Islamic been intended for use in a public context such for pilgrims today. world. It is especially significant that the as a mosque. The production of a hand-written rare two-volume manuscript originated Qur’an was of special ritual significance at a time Al-Khaf receives its title from its account of from Indonesia, whose art is extensively when printed versions were becoming more and the parable of the ‘people of the cave’ that represented in the collection. The manuscript’s more widely available. The first Qur’an printed is derived from the Christian legend of the extraordinarily lavish illumination epitomises in Southeast Asia was produced on a lithograph Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. The text refers the great international heritage of Islamic press in Palembang, South Sumatra, as early as to Moses and a ruler named Dhul-Qarnayn, manuscript decoration. 1848 and, by the time of the creation of AGSA’s believed to be based on the character of Qur’an, mass-produced editions from Singapore Alexander the Great (known as Iskandar in The hand copying and decorating of Al-Qur’an is and India were being distributed throughout the the Islamic tradition), from whom several regarded as the noblest of all arts in Islam. Muslim archipelago (Ali Akbar 2012). Indonesian sultanates claimed descent. Al- tradition reveres the Holy Book as containing the Khaf commences with the opening lines: Divine Revelation gifted, through the archangel A number of 19th century hand-written Qur’an Gabriel, to the Prophet Muhammad. Wherever from Indonesia contain colophons dating their Praise to Allah, who hath sent His Islam spread, unique regional traditions of creation to the holy fasting month of Ramadan servant The Book, and hath allowed Qur’an illumination developed. Southeast Asian which is considered a period of exemplary piety therein no crookedness. He hath made Qur’an varied in style from simply transcribed in Islam. It documents the belief that the copying it straight and clear in order that He texts on beaten bark paper (Javanese: dluwang) to of the holy book is regarded as a spiritually may warn the godless of a terrible ornate illuminated manuscripts using imported auspicious act that obliges the calligrapher/ punishment… laid paper, such as those produced at the regional illuminator to be in a ritually pure state. (Sura XVIII: 1-2) centres of Terengganu, Aceh, and East Java where this Qur’an was created. It is written in The double-page, illustrated here, marks the James Bennett is Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of elegant naskh script and features the distinctive commencement of the 18th chapter (sura) South Australia. Indonesian convention of illuminated double- titled Al-Khaf, meaning ‘The cave’, which pages at the commencement, middle and closing was delivered by Muhammad in Mecca. The REFERENCES sections of each volume. border frame features the shape of a stylised Akbar, Ali. ‘Jejak Qur’an Usmaniyah di Indonesia dari Masa ke Masa’, paper presented at the conference From Anatolia to Aceh: mountain filled with flowers and vegetal Ottoman, Turks and Southeast Asia’ in Banda Aceh, 11 – 12 The majority of surviving Southeast Asian scrolls comparable to the ‘tree of life’ motif January 2012. Islamic manuscripts date from the 19th century of Indian palampore trade cloths traded into

QUR’AN, EAST JAVA, INDONESIA

C.1900. PAPER, INK, PIGMENT, GOLD

LEAF, LEATHER, TWO VOLUMES EACH:

43.05 X 29.0 X 3.0 CM; ART GALLERY

OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, BOXALL

BEQUEST FUND 2011

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 25 B o o K r EV I EW: PERSIAN ARTS OF THE BOOK

Susan Scollay

Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp: Gifts of the Sultan: The Arts of Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art The Persian Book of Kings Giving at the Islamic Courts Sheila R. Canby et al. Sheila R. Canby Linda Komaroff (ed) Yale University Press, November 2011 Yale University Press, November 2011 Yale University Press, June 2011 rrp: $79.95 rrp: $250.00 rrp: $85.00

arly in the New Year when lists of parchment, to luminous glass vessels, panels continents. In 1981, Martin Dickson and Stuart E ‘cultural milestones’ from the year just of tiles with designs as carefully drawn as the Cary Welch published a 2-volume study of the ended were being prepared in newspaper and manuscript pages that inspired them, bold ‘Houghton’ Shahnama, as the manuscript is magazine offices around the world, one event velvets, spectacular carpets and an entire sometimes known. Now its pages have been dominated. The October, 2011 reopening of the reception room, panelled, painted and gilded photographically reassembled by the MMA, Islamic galleries of New York’s Metropolitan in the style of affluent, 18th-century Ottoman in full colour and in one volume, printed Museum of Art (MMA) after an eight-year, Damascus. The book’s more than 400 pages in two editions: one hardbound in cloth in 40-million dollar refurbishment was widely almost sparkle with the beauty of these a handsome slip-cover, the other bound in – and deservedly – lauded and topped many objects and the intelligence with which they stamped and gilded leather in homage of the lists. ‘A galaxy of cultures’, declared Peter have been selected and their interconnections opulent original. Brown, writing in The New York Review of reassessed. Books, ‘…an art of luxury that crossed all At nearly 27 cm x 40 cm, almost as big as the frontiers.’ More than 1200 works from the The book pays tribute to the generous original folios, the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp: MMA’s Islamic holdings are now presented collectors and benefactors who laid the The Persian Book of Kings is a large book with in 15 gallery spaces, spanning the 7th – 19th foundations of the MMA’s Islamic collection. a price tag to match. It is not a facsimile in centuries and a vast geographic reach spelt Among them, Arthur A. Houghton Jr., who in the true sense of the word in that it does not out in the installation’s newly-conceived title: 1959 bought an intact and superbly illustrated reproduce Tahmasp’s Shahnama page by page. ‘Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central copy of the Shahnama (Book of Kings) crafted It offers instead an opportunity to turn one Asia and later South Asia.’ in the royal workshops of 16th century magnificent leaf after the other, delighting Tabriz during the rule of the Safavid Shah in the illustrations produced over a period The exhibition design is as vibrant, detailed Tahmasp (r. 1524-76), a renowned patron of of 20 years by what is said to be the largest and transporting as the works themselves the arts. Houghton subsequently dispersed assembly of paper and pigment makers, – and fortunately for those unable to be in the manuscript’s 258 illustrations (out of a scribes, illuminators and artists ever to work New York, or who wish to savour and reflect total of 759 folios), donating 78 of them to on one manuscript. on some of the exquisite works displayed, the MMA and selling most of the others on an elegant catalogue, Masterpieces from the the international art market. After his death The whole sweep of pre-Islamic Iranian Department of Islamic Art in the Metropolitan in 1990 the remaining illustrated pages, the history and story-telling of the great epic Museum of Art, has been produced to mark binding and text went to Tehran, exchanged is painted here in works that evoke both the historic occasion. Edited by a team for a Willem de Kooning painting owned by grandeur and intimacy, all set within wide, including the MMA’s curator in charge the Iranian government. gold-speckled margins: the legendary of the department of Islamic Art, Sheila Gayumars, Iran’s first king, surrounded by Canby, and with contributions by a range of The illustrated leaves of this masterpiece, his courtiers dressed in leopard skin cloaks specialists, there are more than 300 illustrated considered the supreme example of Persian and headgear as the monarch sits, enthroned catalogue entries for works ranging from arts of the book, are now held in institutional in an elevated and otherworldly rocky early examples of bold calligraphy on and private collections spread over three landscape of mystic blues and greens; the

26 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 albino hero, Zal, who has been raised by the illustrated manuscripts held in the Topkapi Of special interest is a lively account from magnificently plumed Simurgh, spotted by a Palace Museum collection. Sometime before Marianna Shreve Simpson of gift exchanges passing caravan; Rustam tearing his shirt to 1903 the manuscript left Istanbul and entered between the courts of the Persian Shah ‘Abbas bare his chest as he weeps over the body of the collection of Baron Edmund de Rothschild, I (r. 1587-1629) and Philip III, the Hapsburg the son he has killed in battle, their respective and thence to Houghton. ruler of Spain and Portugal (r. 1598 -1621). horses looking on from the very edges of the The vast scale of the preparation, cost and carefully composed scene; the elegance of The significant role of gift exchange in transportation of such exchanges between the leaping flames that engulf white-robed disseminating individual works of art, the Islamic world and Europe in this period Siyavush as he rides his black steed into a including luxury manuscripts, and the impact has only recently come to light. Ironically huge fire to prove his innocence; Bahram Gur of this practice on artistic production for such efforts, according to Simpson, ‘seem[ed] riding his camel through turquoise-coloured, elite court circles in the Islamic world has to have been for naught’ in terms of any flower-strewn terrain as he hunts with his long been recognised. Yet an exhibition and success on the part of either party in gaining favourite slave-girl playing her harp as she publication produced for the Los Angeles the diplomatic or trade agreements they so sits behind him; and the musician Barbad, County Museum of Art in June 2011 are determinedly sought. hiding in a cypress tree as he plays music the first to comprehensively examine this that enchants King Khusrau and the courtly widespread phenomenon, a key component In a year when the State Library of Victoria’s gathering seated with him in a leafy palace of diplomacy and sovereignty. exhibition of Persian manuscripts will raise garden. This last folio will be remembered by awareness of Persian literature and book Sydney audiences as it was part of the major The exhibition publication, Gifts of the Sultan: arts in the wider Australian community, all exhibition of works of Islamic Art from the The Arts of Giving at the Islamic Courts, edited by three of these books could not be more highly Khalili Collection at the Art Gallery of New Linda Komaroff, follows the satisfying format recommended – or more timely. South Wales in 2007. of a number of longer essays interspersed with shorter, pithier contributions - all generously Susan Scollay is an art historian specialising in the Long before its dispersal in the 20th century illustrated and followed by a glossary, Islamic world. She is guest co-curator of Love and the manuscript had left Iran. In 1568, Shah bibliography and useful catalogue details of Devotion: From Persia and Beyond and editor of the Tahmasp sent it as a gift to the Ottoman 259 exhibited objects. The volume’s appeal publication that accompanies the exhibition. sultan, Selim II, who placed it in the Ottoman is increased by its consideration of gifts of imperial library. Its presentation at the differing status: personal gifts and pious Ottoman court, along with other luxurious donations as well as the better-known gifts of offerings, is recorded in a number of state both within and without imperial borders.

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 27 2 0 1 1 t a a s a C A MB o d i a t o U R

John Millbank

MEMBERS OF THE 2011 TAASA CAMBODIA TOUR AT KOH KER

aving been to Cambodia 10 years ago I was Nokor, an Angkorean period Hindu temple H immediately interested when TAASA, harbouring a 1960s Buddhist Wat, and the in collaboration with Heritage Destinations, early (7th to 8th century) capital of Sambor offered a tour to Cambodia as part of its 20th Prei Kuk now in a national forest complete anniversary celebrations in 2011. Especially as with overgrown bomb craters, reminders of the tour was to be led by our President Gill the secret B-52 bombing campaign of 1969-70. Green, an expert on Cambodian textiles, and In the countryside not far from Siem Reap, long time Cambodian resident Darryl Collins, a lone 12th century naga bridge still spans museum curator, lecturer and author, and a river: an introduction, as it were, to the currently restorer of traditional Khmer houses expansive Angkor district. in Siem Reap (see TAASA Review, March 2010). On my first trip I had only been able to visit On one excursion from Siem Reap, we headed Angkor, flying directly in and out of Siem north to Koh Ker, where in the middle of the Reap. This tour offered the chance to see what Angkorean period the evidently megalomaniac I had previously missed. Jayavarman IV briefly established his capital, characterised by its own rather squat and ugly So one morning last October I found myself but undeniably massive sculptural style. Much at a conference table in the National Museum more graceful, no less for being in picturesque of Phnom Penh with my fellow travellers, ruin, was the 12th century temple of Beng being briefed by Darryl about the history of Mealea, to the east of Angkor. the museum and its collection. The museum itself offers an unrivalled overview of Khmer But Angkor itself must be the highlight of any art, mainly sculpture - an excellent foundation tour of Cambodia, and it was wonderful to for the remaining trip. linger again over the remains of the Baphuon and the incredibly vivid bas-reliefs of After a little time acquainting ourselves with Angkor Wat and the Bayon in Angkor Thom. My personal highlight was the culmination Phnom Penh’s palaces and pagodas, markets Wonderful also to finally be able to see the of an ambition formed in 2001: the best part and restaurants (surprisingly sophisticated miniature “rose temple” of Bantay Srei, now of a day spent bicycling around the Angkor and good), we set off in a wide anti-clockwise easily reached by expressway from Siem Reap National Heritage Park, a blissful way to circle around the dominant feature of but not accessible to us in 2001, the atrocious absorb the sights and sounds of the forest central Cambodia, Lake Tonlé Sap, to take road being (supposedly) closed for repairs. and the crowning achievements of Khmer in numerous Khmer sites before reaching And the graceful Roluos monuments, prelude civilisation. Angkor itself. In the south we saw Wat to the high age of Angkor.

B o i t r a n BE a t t i E- H U y n h : 1 9 5 7 - 2 0 1 2

Ann Proctor

A most active advocate for Vietnamese art, the art-historian and curator Boitran Beattie-Hyunh suddenly passed away in Singapore on 16 January 2012.

Boitran will be from history. Significantly, this research Monash in 1996, Boitran was a lecturer at remembered by some was carried out from an institution outside the Dong Nai College of Decorative Arts TAASA members Vietnam. Her courage and determination to in Ho Chi Minh City from 1983-1995 and for her presentation retrieve the stories of those artists, who were again between 1996-2001. She curated many at the 2002 seminar exiles from the communist regime and, in exhibitions, including the outstanding 2009 Vietnamese Arts: many cases, became refugees after the end of Nam Bang! exhibition and seminar at the Tradition and Modernity the war, was extraordinary. Coinciding with Casula Powerhouse and was a participant in held at the Powerhouse her research was some moderation in the many international and local seminars. Her Museum where she Vietnamese Government cultural policy, and many achievements include being the first presented her research works by these influential and historically Vietnamese Community Ambassador at the on the abstract artist important artists are now included in major AGNSW. Boitran will be sadly missed: she Ta Ty. At that time, she was also completing museums in Vietnam. was a bridge between cultures and people. a PhD at Sydney College of the Arts, on the subject of Saigonese artists: artists whom Prior to coming to Australia to complete My thanks to John Clark and Annette Van den the Vietnamese Government had excised a Graduate Diploma in Art History at Bosch for their contribution to this obituary.

28 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1

t a a s a 2 0 t h a n n i VE r s a r y P a r t y t a a s a MEMBE r s ’ d i a r y 6 D ecember 2 0 1 1 , S ydney MARCH – MAY 2012

Sandra Forbes SPEAKING AT THE TAASA 20TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY – GENE SHERMAN (L) AND GILL GREEN (R). PHOTO: NGUYEN KIM LONG

TAASA’s anniversary celebration party Special Viewing of Love and Devotion: kicked off in grand form at the Sherman From Persia and Beyond, State Library Contemporary Art Foundation in Sydney of Victoria, Melbourne last December. Gene Sherman had most 6-8pm Wednesday 11 April 2012 generously offered TAASA her gallery’s Exclusive visit for TAASA members to premises for the celebration, and what an ideal this beautiful exhibition of rare 13th to venue it was. Entry required guests to don 18th century Persian, Mughal, Indian and ‘snowshoes’ and progress towards the party Ottoman Turkish illustrated manuscripts itself through a white blizzard: a sensation from the Bodleian Libraries of the University provided by the Sherman Foundation’s blizzards in Mongolia to pursue a forthcoming of Oxford, as well as the collection of the SLV. surprising and beautiful installation Waterfall loan exhibition. TAASA President Gill Green The visit is timed to allow TAASA members by Tokujin Yoshioka. thanked those Committee members whose to attend the SLV conference Love and efforts were particularly associated with this Devotion: Persian Cultural Crossroads on After encountering the art in the gallery, anniversary year, and launched the bumper 12 – 14 April (with discount available to guests joined the convivial throng in the 20th Anniversary issue of TAASA Review TAASA Members). courtyard (yes, the rain held off!). More than Vol.20, No.4 (copies of which were made 160 members and guests attended, including available to members as they left the party). Susan Scollay, co-curator of the exhibition, some from interstate. As usual for TAASA will take TAASA members on a tour of the events, many wore gorgeous garments in The final ceremony of the evening was the exhibition following drinks and canapés at various Asian styles, contributing noticeably presentation of cheques to the joint winners the Library. to the colour and atmosphere of the evening. of the TAASA Essay Prize, a project initiated specifically to celebrate TAASA’s 20 years. TAASA Members $40; non members: $50. The guest of honour, Edmund Capon, One of the winners, Matthew O’Farrell, was Bookings essential. TAASA’s first Honorary Life Member happily present to receive his award, while For bookings or further information: and retiring Director of the Art Gallery of the parents of the equal winner, Hannah contact Gill Green (02) 9331 1810 or NSW, attended with his wife Joanna. That Beasley, who was (appropriately) travelling in [email protected]. Edmund made time in his particularly busy Asia, had come from the Southern Highlands schedule to speak at TAASA’s event was to accept her award on her behalf. Both essays Jordan & Lebanon: Arts and Culture, much appreciated – as was his speech itself, were published together with the Anniversary Ancient and Modern in which he congratulated the Society on its issue of the TAASA Review. Travel with TAASA in association achievements over 20 years and wished us with Alumni Travel well for the next 20. This significant and enjoyable occasion in a 10 – 28 October 2012 very attractive venue certainly had the true Jackie Menzies, Founding Life Member and buzz of friendship and celebration for TAASA Christina Sumner, TAASA Vice President ex President of TAASA, and Head Curator of and its achievements. and Principal Curator, Design & Society Asian Art at the AGNSW, was scheduled to tell at the Powerhouse Museum will lead this us something of TAASA’s history, but sadly tour. Covering the major archaeological (for us) she had whisked herself away to real sights of Jordan and Lebanon such as Petra and Baalbeck, the tour will offer focused visits to museums, craft workshops and contemporary galleries as well as the opportunity to experience the natural beauty of these vital Middle Eastern countries.

For information contact Alumni Travel (02) 9290 3856/1300 799 887 or robl@ alumnitravel.com.au

GUEST OF HONOUR, EDMUND CAPON, SPEAKING AT THE TAASA 20TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY. PHOTO: NGUYEN KIM LONG

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 29 W h a t ’ s o n i n a U STRALIA AND O VE r s E a s : MARCH - MAY 2012 A SELECTIVE ROUNDUP OF EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS

Compiled by Tina Burge

ACT Arts of Asia lecture series 2012 Love Hannah Pang: Double Happiness Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Portrait of a Chinese Wedding Lectures & screenings On Tuesdays from 6 March, 1-2pm RMIT Gallery, Melbourne National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 17 February - 24 March 2012 The uplifting and transformative experience of Global Modernism and the Indian love is the theme for the 2012 Arts of Asia lecture Hannah Pang has had a long association Avant-Garde 1922-47 series. The lectures will offer fresh insights with the fashion industry and is known for 20 March 2012 at 12.45pm into the interpretation of love in the religious, her innovative use of textiles. Her latest Indian art historian, Emeritus Professor Partha literary and artistic worlds with a broad range of collection is a contemporary interpretation Mitter, will discuss Indian Modernism as topics including romantic love, devotional love, of 1930s and 40s Chinese weddings in explored in his book, The Triumph of Modernism: parental love and forbidden love. Shanghai and the surrounding region. Pang India’s artists and the avant-garde, 1922-47. is renowned for pushing the boundaries of 6 March: Stefano Carboni, Director, Art traditional handicrafts and in the exhibition Every cloud has a golden lining Gallery of Western Australia on ‘Famous the fabrics she uses have been specially 24 April 2012 at 12.45pm Persian love stories’. developed using a combination of techniques Dr Olivia Meehan, Assistant Curator at the including gradation hand-painting, tie NGA, will talk about the Japanese screens in For further information go to: dyeing, weaving and embroidery. the Gallery’s collection. www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/calendar/arts- asia-lecture-2012/ For more information go to: Mural painting traditions (DVD, 2010) www.rmit.edu.au/rmitgallery 29 April 2012 at 2.00pm VICTORIA Two documentaries by Benoy K. Behl, The Sweets: tastes and traditions Verdant Hills, paintings of the Himalayan regions In the Steps of the Buddha – from many cultures and Pan Asian Art, murals from Sri Lanka, Selected Programs Immigration Museum, Melbourne Myanmar, Thailand and Bali will be screened. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 15 March 2012 For further information go to: www.nga.gov.au Live: Zen Meditation - The art of just sitting This exhibition will celebrate the historical 10 March and 15 April, 2012 from 12-1pm and cultural significance of sweet foods The Zen monk Seikan Čech, will demonstrate and why difference cultures use sweets for the practice of Zazen - the art of Zen meditation. different purposes and reasons. Through objects, photographs and multimedia, the Maitreya Project Heart Shrine Relic Tour exhibition will explore sweets from India, 16, 17 & 18 March from 10am-5pm Japan, Turkey and many other cultures. View sacred relics, found in the cremation ashes of great Buddhist masters from across Asia. For more information go to: www.museumvictoria.com.au/ Workshop: Zen Meditation - The art of immigrationmuseum Mother India: transactions in the construction of pain 2005. just sitting Nalini Malani, video play. Art Gallery of NSW. 15 & 29 April 10-11am INTERNATIONAL NEW SOUTH WALES An introductory workshop with Zen monk Seikan Čech. FRANCE Mother India: video plays by Nalini Malani Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney For other events and more information SHO 1 to 41 Contemporary 11 February - 20 May 2012 go to: www.ngv.vic.gov.au Japanese Master Calligraphers Musee Guimet, Paris 14 March - 14 May 2012 Indian artist Nalini Malani's multi-media works focus on issues including identity, gender, migration and political violence. Her The main trends of contemporary Japanese major work, Mother India: transactions in the calligraphy will be seen in the work of 41 construction of pain 2005, together with earlier contemporary calligraphers which reflect videos recently acquired, are now presented the diversity and liveliness of this ancient for the first time in Sydney. They complement style. Their work will be contrasted with two suites of drawings by Malani in the the Guimet’s own collection of Japanese Gallery's collection: The Degas Suite 1992 and calligraphy along with selections from the Lohar Chawl 1991. Mainichi Shodokai Foundation.

For more information go to: For more information go to: www.guimet.fr www.agnsw.com.au. Seikan Čech, Zen monk. Photo courtesy Melbourne Zen Centre

30 TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 SINGAPORE the centuries for the millions of pilgrims who have made the journey. On display is Patterns of Trade: Indian Textiles a range of objects including historical and for Export, 1400-1900 contemporary art, textiles and manuscripts Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore that bring to life this profound spiritual 15 November 2011 - 3 June 2012 experience that has remained largely unchanged since the 7th century. The exhibition presents over 70 works of strikingly patterned and brightly coloured For further information go to: Indian trade textiles, some of which are over www.britishmuseum.org 600 years old and have never been on public display before. The exhibition will explore how USA the trade of these sensational textiles made a huge impact on decoration across the globe. Byzantium and Islam - Age of Transition Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York For further information go to: 14 March - 8 July 2012 www.acm.org.sg The Eastern Mediterranean comprised the UK wealthy southern provinces of the Byzantine Empire at the start of the 7th century. By that Hajj - Journey to the Heart of Islam century’s end, the region was central to the British Museum, London emerging Islamic world. The exhibition will 26 January - 15 April 2012 be the first to display the complex character of the region and its exceptional art and One of the five pillars of Islam is the Hajj - culture during the era of transition - from the pilgrimage to Mecca that every Muslim its role as part of the Byzantine state to its must make at least once in their lifetime if evolving position in the developing Islamic they are able. The exhibition examines the world. extraordinary travel logistics involved and how the pilgrimage itself has changed over

Whether you want to study textiles in Laos or India, discover ethnic minorities in remote Viet Nam or North East India, if you seek to uncover the cultural complexities of the Caucasus, China, Central Asia or Iran, or to visit Morocco, if food culture is key, we can help you in 2012.

New programs include two textile tours covering Mumbai, Kachchh, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Udaipur, Jaipur and Kolkata with Carole Douglas, ’taking you beneath the surface and into the fabric of traditional culture.’

And don’t forget our special TAASA tour to Jordan and Lebanon with Christina Sumner.

www.alumnitravel.com.au For a hard copy brochure, email: [email protected]; Phone: (02) 9290 3856 or 1300 799 887 (ex Sydney metrop.), or Fax: (02)92903857

TAASA REVIEW VOLUME 21 NO.1 31