GHALAM AND KAR (QALAMKAR)

The art of Qalamkar (Kalamkari) is the delicate dance of drawing on the fabric, breathing life into the noble whiteness of a cotton or silk thread, whether through printing or painting with a paintbrush.  

It is in painting, that the brush spins around the soul of patterns; it imparts identity to them and creates a depiction of them on the fabric canvas of the painting. Furthermore, it is a Persian term that consists of two parts etymologically: Qalam “قلم” [meaning pen or brush] and Kari “کاری” [meaning doing something], and its meaning is the artistic work that is done with a brush.  

In the visual memory and preservation and transmission of narrative, ritual, and cultural values, there is a special place for Pardeh-Khani1 in Iranian art. Sourat-Khani2, Shamayel-Gardani3, and Parde-Dari are parts of Pardeh-Khani and cannot be considered synonymous with Pardeh-Khani (Beizai, p. 74; Gharibpour, p. 56).  

The emergence of this type of folk painting is traced back centuries before the advent of coffeehouse painting, concurrently with the ancient tradition of storytelling, elegy recitation, and lamentation singing in Iran, and it is attributed to the depiction on earthenware and the figures of Sog-Siyavash. (Bloch-Bashi, Elements, p. 175). Some also consider the paintings of Mani as the source of inspiration for these historical manifestations of religious motifs (Hasan Beigi, p. 340).  

The curtain is filled with folk paintings. A piece of fabric that captures one or several events. The curtain's paintings are folksy images based on the imaginations of the painter and historical, mythical, and legendary narratives (Hasan Beigi, p. 340).  

My imaginative creations, in the context of "Pardah" (curtain), intentionally focus on this void of value in the concepts of visual works, handwoven textiles, and narrative and cultural images in contemporary life. Curtains that embody the meanings of clothing, concealing, stitching alongside, and more unfold to explore a journey into a new world.  

With Qalam-Kar painting, the identities of curtains were captured, meanings unfolded, and the curtains became transparent and borrowed their role from the accumulation and movement of the brush, indentations, and herbal colors, and crafted the simplicity of a story with the clarity of the brush.

  The canvas (curtains) of Qalam-Kar painting and my imaginative creations include images of angles in various gatherings. In an endless sky or in heavenly gardens with sacred trees, there exists a state of joy, festivity, companionship, conversation, and listening. Additionally, there is the protection and preservation of sacred trees, along with a gentle motion during the decoration of heavenly gardens.  

And a critique it is of the contemporary human, who, in the age of cement and iron, recklessly engages in creating ugliness, dishonesty, and crookedness in life.