Quarterly Scientific-Research Goljaam

The arts are born out of the artist’s mind within the milieu of the culture of the period and the social environment. The craft of carpet weaving is no exception, as it is influenced by intellectual and cultural trends. Certain arts such as the art of the carpet have a very long life and have gone through the ages, while they are still alive. Such arts have obviously been influenced by various approaches and beliefs of each period, or have collaborated with various cultures due to the prevailing conditions. Symbolism is an integral part of Oriental art, and Iranian art and the art of the carpet, but at times we come across naturalism also. Therefore, the influence of naturalism on the art of the carpet is worthy of study. In this study using the library research method the hypothesis that “a kind of naturalism has been influential on the art of the carpet” has been tested. This study of the art of the carpet of the Islamic period has analyzed the available texts and pictures of carpet motifs and has confirmed the above hypothesis. The trend of naturalism in the Iranian carpet of the Islamic period has developed through the art of the royal courts since the Safavid period. It continued its development on the basis of Islamic ethics and culture through the Qajar period. However, since the Pahlavi era Western naturalism has influenced the art of the carpet also. In recent years, due to acceptance of Western culture as a result of the open door policies of the second decade since the revolution, as well as the propaganda programs of Western culture targeting Eastern countries, manifestations of Western naturalism in various arts including the carpet has increased.

Love of beauty and perfection is an inherent characteristic of human beings. The principle of “need” complements the sense that brings artistic creation in him to a peak, resulting in the formation and permanence of culture. The “carpet” may not represent a pure form of art, but it there is no doubt that its artistic and visual qualities put it beyond a mere commercial commodity and elevate it to the position of a work of art that embodies taste, thought, beliefs and a special custom. It presents the intellectual and cultural potentials of a people in the form of esoteric motifs and symbolic forms. The elementary motifs and patterns that are especially found in rural carpets and small carpets usually embody a purer content from the point of view of symbolic concepts that deserve a thorough investigation.

The Ziloo, as an ancient Iranian hand-woven textile, expresses its own history in its varied and rich motifs. This variation and richness are especially discernible in Mehrab (Saf) design Ziloos from Maybod, especially made as floor coverings in mosques. Because of this close connection with the mosque as a sacred and religious location, it has assumed a symbolic religious meaning and is considered a part of the mosque complex. Mehrab (Saf) design Ziloo is thus a symbol of the ranks of the faithful in collective prayer with all of its religious implications.

Iranian rural carpets are an important resource for studying the rural art and culture of Iran. They are also the most important area for staging the talents of, especially, rural girls and women. The common aspects of visual elements bespeak the prevailing spirit in these works under the influence of interaction with nature and lessons learned thereby. Also the availability of materials in the rural environment has the greatest influence on the physical aspects of design and texture. Rural-urban interaction and that with the nomadic population, and adapting the imported patterns to rural life is an outstanding feature of rural carpets. Adaptability of rural carpets to traditional rural applications and architecture is truly remarkable. The aesthetics of these works reveals their underlying principles, and the characteristics of their creators, and helps understand their worldview and attitude to their environment. Perhaps, that will present us with the gift of a new understanding of existence. The last point is that rural carpets are distinguishable from the urban and nomadic varieties.

The Textile Museum & The International Hajji Baba Club
Washington D.C. June 19, 2004

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Introduction
Handmade carpet production in Iran goes back to the history, of which is not the subject of this short paper and presentation. Carpet production and in general carpet culture especially in rural areas is combined and mixed with every-day life of many people. In rural places, almost all the women know how to make carpets. They learn this from their mother and grow up with it. Many of them weave the carpets to take to their new homes when they get married. In Iran, carpet is not a mere commodity. It has different cultural, artistic, and historical heritage attached to it.
National Statistics
The population of Iran is about 65 million. In Iran, there are around 1,200,000 looms scattered in 27,000 villages and 210 cities, on which 2,200,000 weavers work. Roughly, 300,000 people work in the related fields such as artistic work, wool preparing and spinning, dyeing, repairing, washing, exporting, transporting and etc. In the year 2002, the export value of handmade carpet was USD 517,000,000, which showed almost 1% decrease to the year before which was USD 522,000,000. In this year, 5,920,000 square meters of handmade carpets were exported from Iran. One square meter of exported Iranian carpet was priced USD 83.00. In the year 2003, the export value of handmade carpet was USD 573,000,000 which showed almost 11% increase compared to the previous year. In 2003, 5,728,000 square meters of handmade carpets were exported from Iran. One square meter of exported Iranian carpet was priced USD 100 in 2003. Table 1 shows the value of Iranian carpet export in US Dollar for the past few years. After oil, handmade carpet is the highest source of foreign exchange earning for Iran. The most important aspect is not the value, but the employment which carpet sector provides as a job, and in most of the cases as a complementary income for the housewives and the families.

The article first describes different ways of tentering (sar rast koni) through the use of the surveying method. It also elaborates on the various features of these methods and the facilities and equipment used in them. In order to provide this information, a complete statistical group throughout the Isfahan and East Azarbaijan provinces was visited and 33 workshops were chosen from the group based on a normal distribution in Tehran Province. The workshops were then studied. Finally, the distribution of these methods in various areas was studied and a conclusion was reached.

This study discusses the manifestation of carpets in children’s literature. Since carpets are one of the universal symbols of Iranian art and culture, scholars and educators should attempt to institutionalize this art and craft as a cultural issue in the society. Obviously, such a movement must begin from childhood and use methods and models based on children’s interests. A story is one model that children naturally admire. The present article is a case study of one of the best Iranian children stories on the topic of carpets. The article has presented and interpreted various parts of the story, demonstrating how the author, by pointing to the traditional motifs of carpets, making use of a symbolic language, religious and national symbols and values, the appropriate techniques of writing for children, as well as narrating the life of a little girl working in a carpet weaving workshop, has represented the features and values of carpets in both realistic and surrealistic contexts. The cultural and social status of carpet weavers and other groups involved in the production of carpets must be taken into further consideration. These people should receive due respect as artists preserving a major part of Islamic Iran’s cultural heritage.

New nanofiltration membranes were produced in the form of unfilled fibers through the photopolymerization method. Parastyrene sodium sulfonate was used as the vinyl monomer to reform the polysulphone ultra-filtration membranes. The modified membranes were used to purify colored solutions of three different pigments consisting acidic, reactive and direct (suitable for dyeing pile yarns and warps), in order to refine and reuse the pigment solutions. The effect of various parameters like pressure, electrolyte, time, and the kind of pigment on the extent to which the pigment is confined and the flux of the membrane outflow was assessed. Results showed that besides the effective function of bleaching, the problem of barred pores observed in most commercial membranes built of polyamide also reduced significantly in the new membranes.

A study of various deficiencies observed in the process of pile carpet weaving in the Province of Kashan has revealed that the most important defects are: unevenness, crimpled sides and erroneous application of the cartoon. Improving weavers’ skills will have a significant effect on reducing these defects. Therefore, weavers should be given educational advice on recognizing the capabilities of looms and other rug weaving equipment, the quality of raw materials and their harmonious use, the correct way of weaving flatwoven rugs, the manner of interlacing the wefts, and daftin-zadan (pounding an iron comb on the weft).

Carpet making in Iran plays an important role in creating job opportunities and increasing the country’s foreign exchange revenues. One of the fundamental and comprehensive programs that can guarantee the survival, expansion and extension of this art and craft is higher education. The course for carpets was first introduced in Iran’s higher education centers in 1375 (1996). Students can apply for a bachelor degree by competing in general examinations.
Others can apply for undergraduate diploma in the Inclusive Applied Science University and the Islamic Azad University. In the present research, efforts have been made to study the motives of students studying for an undergraduate diploma in the Inclusive Applied Science University (the higher education center of the Fars Agricultural Jihad Organization) in the years 1381 (2002) and 1382 (2003) and to identify factors that lead students to choose the topic of carpets as a university course. The results of the research show that the strongest factor leading to this choice is primarily personal characteristics (interests, tendencies and experiences), secondly social and family factors (social values and living atmosphere), followed by economic factors (achieving an income and employment).

This article argues that hand woven carpet - weavesrs’ job satisfaction is one of the most important factors that influences the quality of their works. Thus, it is proposed to study the degree of job satisfaction among them and some important factors which determine its variation. The scope of the research involved 834 carpet weavers in East Azarbaijan and Isfahan in 2004. in this research, a theoretical model based on objective and subjective variables has been applied.

Conservation and preservation of carpet design cartoons requires a scientific con servation plan appropriate for each case study. The research into the carpet designs of Kerman and Isfahan regions was carried out in 2003 in order to gain access to a comprehensive and exact method for their conservation. In this research, besides the differences in the techniques of producing carpet designs in these regions - based on microscopic observations - the kind of paper fibers used in Kerman was realized as a pine wood byproduct, while the Isfahan region cartoon paper was from ashwhite and pine trees. The kind of dyes that have been used in colouring of carpet designs in Kerman and Isfahan was determined on the basis of the elemental analysis of SEM and FTIR spectrum. Subsequently, the organic origin of the following dyes was established: black, dark- blue, blue, red and the black ink of the checkered paper (manual and printed). The other dyes were mineral. The compound white colour in Kerman carpet designs was white lead and the compound white of Isfahan (except light blue) was zinc oxide.

Since ancient times, “Tree” has been the focus of attention as a symbol, in works of art. In Mesopotamia and later in Iran, this symbol was known as a holy tree or tree of life as early as 3500 BC, and was delineated in different shapes. After the advent of Islam, this symbol prevailed in works of art; However, no longer as a mythological holy tree but rather standing for heavenly blessings and the paradise. This symbol has been used in different branches of art, including rugmaking. In the art of carpet patterning, the tree has prefigured a great variety of designs, notably the plant Mihrabi (prayer niche). No doubt, the predominance of the tree image in a large group of prayer rugs, is not accidental and must have an objective more than conveying mere beauty. One interpretion suggests an epitome of paradise. Given the Islamic restrictions imposed on the portrayal of human beings, a tree depicted in a prayer niche may well stand for a man in prayer.

In this research, an apparatus was designed and constructed in order to simulate the storage behavior of hand-woven carpet under different environmental conditions. Silk hand-woven carpet (“Gom”) with 115×75 cm dimensions and 102×97 knot per 10 cm was selected and then inserted into the packing simulator with two different laying configurations including flat and folded. The environmental conditions was adjusted at 3 different conditions including 25 ± 5% r.h and 30 ± 2°c (July-Tehran-Dry), 65 ± 5% r.h and 6 ± 2°c (February-Tehran-humid), 40 ± 5% r.h and 19 ± 2°c (October -Tehran-mild). The carpet sample was compressed under constant loads of 135 and 150 kg. The variation of carpet thickness with time in different parts of carpet was continuously measured using data acquisition system. The result of experiment shows that the carpet thickness is suddenly decreased at a short period of time and then reached to a stable condition. The variation trend of carpet thickness with time is accordance with a logarithm equation(y=a×Ln(t)-b) which is highly in agreement with Eyring model proposed in creep theory . But at the dry conditions, the variation of carpet thickness at the folded point follow a non-linear power equation (y=a×(t)^b) with a low correlation coefficient. However, the variation of carpet thickness at the non-folded point and flat configuration is very low.
Generally, at the humidity condition, maximum carpet thickness variation occurred at folded point with folded configuration. On the other hand, carpet thickness variations at dry condition are less those of at humidity and mild conditions. In addition, carpet thickness at dry condition more quickly reached to stable condition than those of at humidity and mild conditions.

Aesthetics of Iranian Hand Woven Carpets is one of the main reasons for its eternality. Recognition of such beauties, give one such scales for his/her evaluation about this matter. These elements are qualified features which affect on aesthetics of Iranian carpets and help to its eternality. This survey takes into consideration the main cases according to their relations toward carpet aesthetics. The main aim of this study is classifying, determining and introducing the reasons of carpet aesthetics and also the relations of these factors with cultural, artistic values of the society. To know if the Iranian Hand Woven carpets have aesthetics values or not and also if it has, determining such categories, are the main questions of this survey. In conclusion we understand that Iranian carpets have aesthetics features which I classified in two categories, one is intrinsic characteristics and the other is extrinsic. Also extrinsic category is divided in two fields and design, color and size are three factors among them.

Symbolism and love of beauty are two fundamental particulars of human kind having special effects on his works of art. Carpet, particularly in Iran, has been one of the grounds of manifestation of symbols and carpet patterns represent symbolic designs. This study is an effort to study this issue, especially in the Safavid and Ghajrid eras which are considered to be the flourishing age of Iranian carpet. Written references as well as 80 pictures of carpets of that period of time constitute the main resources of this study and confirm our hypothesis of great effect of symbolism on Iranian carpet designing. In this study, I have introduced the theoretical grounds of carpet patterns symbolism and for the first time a classification is drawn up which may be used as a starting point for other studies.

The pattern and the colour used in Sistan carpets is influenced by the climatic, cultural, historical, and image-weaving conditions of the region. In view of their conception, beliefs, culture and the historical antiquity of the region, the artists and weavers of such images choose peculiar patterns and colours bearing their overt and covert understanding that are depicted in their weaving works. This research after studying the patterns and colours used in them, takes into account those factors whose appearance has been truly effective in their formation and style. These pictorial phenomena that associate their rank and status with the degree of demand and selection of the masses enjoy varied meanings and concepts and the effect of the natural inspiration in them attains, at times, such an abstraction that their place in the surrounding phenomena could hardly be recognized. Visual qualities and values in the colour and the pattern of Sistan carpet are varied and extensive. One most significant of them is the value of in unity multiplicity portrayed in the Sistan carpet more prominently in two elements of color and pattern. Keeping in view the past history and the epic of the people of Sistan and the mode of beliefs and mores prevailing over the region, similarly the peculiar temperament of the land, the patterns and colours used in the hand-woven and other artifacts are a sort of symbolism and an association of events and incidents that are in fact a linkage between self-conscious rational world and the instinctive world; the weavers of this style resort to patterns and colors in order to express natural elements and their own ideals.

Bakhtiari carpet has been less studied and introduced in art studies. Compared with other carpets, its rich designs and forms are overlooked by researchers. In this study an attempt is made to investigate the value and significance of trees in Bakhtiari carpets, with emphasis on variety of its designs and forms.

variety of western carpet designs such as Bahaus School are characterized as different from the traditional designs and forms and are basically based on principles of visual arts. This variety pops up questions about the origin, causes, and relationship with oriental carpets. This paper is an attempt to answer some of these questions. To this end, history of western carpet by looking at art movements such as “William Morris Movement”, “Bauhaus School”, “Art Deco”, “Art Noveau”, and “Post-modern art”.

Hand-woven tribal and urban carpets are among the most valuable treasures of Iranian culture and art which have been overlooked in the past few decades. As carpet designs and forms reflect culture and life style of our ancestors and connect the past and the present, they deserves due attention. Reviving these designs and forms is way to preserve this cultural heritage. This article is an attempt to have critical view of the revival procedure and discuss the challenges that lie ahead.