Unique Art Workshops
We had two unique art workshops in partnership with and hosted by Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC) in related to the Interfaith Art Exhibition 2015. The details of the workshops are as follow.
May 1 and 2, 2015
Traditional Persian Calligraphy Workshop with M. Nazid Bazargan
The workshop began with an illustrated presentation on the history, principles, fundamentals, and tools for the Persian calligraphy by Arash Shirinbab, a local calligrapher. It then followed up by instructions on alphabets and words in Nastaliq style of calligraphy by Mr. Bazargan. And it continued with hands-on practices on the first and second day. On the first day, participants worked on writing some letters and sentences in Persian calligraphy. On second day they continued with sentences and created some beautiful compositions with the guidelines of Mr. Bazargan.
About the Instructor: Mohammad Navid Bazargan was born in 1963 in Tehran. He is an assistant professor of Persian Literature and writer of Encyclopedia of Persian Language and Literature in Iran. In addition to his academic career he has always been interested in painting and calligraphy. He has spent many years painting with different media and held several painting exhibitions in Iran and other countries. Simultaneously, he applied for the Iranian Association of Calligraphers from 1987 and after 5 years was granted the degree of “Outstanding Calligrapher”.
May 16, 2015
"Art and Design: Islamic Geometric Patterns" with Carol Bier
After a brief illustrated introduction to Islamic ornament in ceramic tile, carved woodwork, and illuminated manuscripts, Ms. Bier described the basic principles that underly geometric patterns in Islamic art through hands-on activities. Using paper-folding and coloring exercises participants learned to visualize circles and centers and the intersecting axes of grids that allow for the repetition of designs to create a pattern. They came to understand the organization of historical designs and find your own forms of expression through the use of color and symmetry.
About the Instructor: Carol Bier is Visiting Scholar with the Center for Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley CA. From 1984 to 2001 she served as Curator for Eastern Hemisphere Collections at The Textile Museum in Washington, DC, and has been Research Associate there since 2001. She is author of The Persian Velvets at Rosenborg, published in Copenhagen in 1995, and contributing author/editor of Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart: Textile Arts of Safavid and Qajar Iran, published by The Textile Museum in 1986. For many years she was editor of The Textile Museum Journal and is a past President of the Textile Society of America.
