In a world too often portrayed as exclusively fractured and discordant, there is an urgent need to counter this view, offering instead a clearer picture of the infinite ways humans have worked to create bonds of harmonious interaction, whether for pragmatic needs, such as trade and cooperative commerce, or prompted by moral and ethical imperatives. Behind the strife of war and conflict we are shown daily, there is and has been a constant underlay of social stability built on mutual agreement for the benefit of all. “Painting the Persianate World: Portable Images on Paper, Cloth And Clay” at Smith College Museum of Art brings societal collaboration to the fore through distinctive images from the Persianate world between the 13th and 19th centuries, sharing a living narrative of intercultural connection.
Since ancient times, Persia as a region has been home to diverse populations and cultures, beginning in the Bronze Age, three millennia before the common era. Over centuries, customs and mores were most often codified and preserved through visual, oral and literary records. Many of the artifacts on view in “Painting the Persianate World” have been preserved and restored with a freshness and luminosity belying their age and highlight extensive movement along trade and migratory routes between regions and nationalities spanning centuries, as well as the traveling nature of the painters themselves.
The use of transparent paper and deer skin as material facilitated an easy transfer of designs, and their light weight enabled portability.
History is often viewed as linear and misleadingly interpreted as relevant only to the past, but the immediacy of history as revealed through artistry can overtake and fuse with the present in its fullness and the vibrant story it tells. Four years in the planning, “Painting the Persianate World” holds unquestionable relevance to events unfolding today, revealing the Persianate region as a multi-faceted, deeply rich society abounding in embedded ethical, humanistic values.