“ The Conference of the Birds’ written by the Persian philosopher and poet Farid ul’ Din Attar in 1177 is a tale about a group birds embarking on a pilgrimage to find the illustrious Simorgh .They need to pass 7 valleys to get there. Along the way each of their strengths and weaknesses are revealed as are the obstacles or stimulus allowing them to reach enlightenment. Only thirty birds arrive at the journeys end and realize they are the ‘Simorgh’ themselves, a reflection of enlightenment.

Simorgh in Farsi is not only the name for Phoenix but also means 30 birds … si = 30 and morgh ………bird.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Conference_of_the_Birds

… and on a much less serious note I have decided to name this piece ‘The Conference of the Chicks” !

The Stitches

I have used a combination of both traditional embroidery stitches and Pateh Doozi stitches .Sue Spargo uses a large library of stitches with cotton and silk threads but the woolen yarns do not allow such complex manipulation so I have been limited to playing around with , size , direction and spacing .

Motifs

Folk Art represents the life of the local community and has strong roots in traditional folk law and cultural heritage.

https://dzignpatch.com/2018/09/29/embroider/

“Gol o’ Bol Bol” or “Gol o’ Morgh” is a very old and prominent motif in Iranian art and Literature , it translates as The Rose and the Nightingale. In Persian literature the rose serves as a literary metaphor for perfection , beauty and the Beloved with the nightingale as the Lover .The rose is proud , beautiful and often cruel while the nightingale sings endlessly of his longing and devotion .As a decorative theme it was used predominantly from the Safavid period onward to beautify all manner of objects from ceramics , manuscripts, miniature paintings and woodwork. The red rose is Irans national flower.

I have included birds from the simple sparrow to the proud peacock. The Peacock has a very great significance in Iranian culture that can be traced back to the Achaemenid era when it is believed to have been imported from India where it originated . It symbolizes power and monarchy as we can see in the Peacock Throne which was taken from India in 1739 to Iran by Nader Shah and is now part of the Iranian Crown Jewels in the National Archives. We can see peacocks in many of the older Pateh pieces and of course it is a pleasure to design with …so much colour and beauty !

The Parrot and the Mina bird are symbols of intelligence and the Parrot especially is admired for its wit . Smaller parrots and always portrayed in pairs as love birds .

The butterfly is also very symbolic in Iranian poetry representing the soul itself and its sacrifice for its Beloved either spirituality or physically , it could be a lover , a passion , a nation…. In literature the butterfly or moth singes its wings as it gets too close to the candle flame as the light is hypnotic ,it cannot help itself.

The Robin is for me and Christmas! Although it is said that The Magi , the three wise kings came from Persian and were Zoroastrian holy men who followed the Stars.