The exhibition catalogue is an excellent additional resource for extended research. (Available from the Art Gallery Bookshop, $29.95 less 10% schools – fax order no: 8207 7069)

Education Officer exhibition floor-lectures: Bookings ph: 8207 7033 fax: 8207 7070

Family life

Hossein Valamanesh was born in Tehran to Azerbaijani parents in 1949. From the age of four until he began high school, he lived with his family in the remote town of Khash in the province of Sistan-e Baluchestan, a mountainous, arid region in the east of Iran near the Pakistani border. In 1960, the family returned to Tehran where they settled into a small house in the city’s down-at heel southern suburbs. Largely their mother and grandmother raised Hossein and his siblings, two brothers and a sister, while their father spent long periods of time working in other parts of the country.

Early training

From the earliest days at school Valamanesh had a strong interest in geometry and mathematics, and showed a particular talent for drawing. After three years at high school, in 1967 he was accepted into Tehran’s prestigious School of Fine Art.

Migration

In 1973, Valamanesh, during the social and political upheaval under the Shar’s regime, immigrated to Australia at the age of twenty-four, arriving initially in Perth. Later in 1987, his anguish and frustration of war was addressed in a series of drawings that included Holy war: forgotten key/hand of history. The cultural transition from Iran to Australia was at first a difficult one, as Valamanesh searched for threads of continuity between his native and newly adopted homelands.

Cultural influences

A breakthrough occurred in 1974 when he was invited to visit and work with several Aboriginal communities in the Outback. The profound experience with the desert and its people drew parallels with his childhood that produced a turning point in his art. With natural organic materials, Valamanesh explored the connection with nature, searching for a sense of place. Sand has since played a fundamental role in his work, including Man to Bird, 1977 and Day by Day, 1991; a pair of Iranian shoes filled with red sand refers to the artist fusing his past and present worlds.

Training

In 1975, Valamanesh decided to move to Adelaide to study at the South Australian School of Art where he met his future wife and collaborator, Angela Burdon, with whom he has shared his life ever since.

Public art

Throughout his career, Valamanesh has produced public art works on a regular basis. It is only in the last few projects that he feels the gap has narrowed between the studio work and commission work. The large mud brick Dwelling of 1980 was constructed in the Adelaide Parklands and was based on the Iranian kharabat or abandoned building. Another commission, Earthwork, 1981, was created for the First Australian Sculpture Triennial in Melbourne and consisted of a large-scale fingerprint dug into a flat grassy area. Other projects include Fault line, 1996 and In memory of snow, 2000.

Residencies and exhibitions

Between 1981 and the present time, Valamanesh has been Artist-in- Residence at various institutes around Australia and overseas, including New Zealand, Pakistan and Germany. His two-dimensional and three-dimensional works are included in permanent collections of Australia’s major museums, touring exhibitions and high-profile gallery shows.

Philosophy and ideas

While Valamanesh is not religious, his work is deeply spiritual, often reflecting his interest in Eastern philosophies, especially Sufism (a mystical branch of Islam) and Buddhism. Knocking from the inside, 1989 and The lover circles his own heart, 1993, were inspired by the thirteenth century Persian poet, Rumi. Concepts for his work are born out of his search for a sense of place and belonging, with the realisation that man and the universe are inseparable.

Personal symbolism

Inspired by memory, Valamanesh weaves together his contrasting homelands with symbolism and metaphor. His continual use of the four elements of fire, water, earth and air, combined with simple objects like a bowl, Persian carpet or shoes, translate into his exploration of self. His earlier work, like The untouchable, 1984, contains the simplicity of geometrical design and a sense of the mystical. Later Valamanesh incorporated archetypal forms into his art, such as the ladder and his own silhouette or shadow. Their repeated use has become a signature in his work, as in the examples Growing up, 1989 and On the way, 1990. In Longing belonging, 1997, a fire burns on a Persian carpet that lays in an Australian Mallee landscape. A circle of black velvet cloth creates the illusion of charred remains, suggesting loss and renewal. Over the years, throughout Valamanesh’s work, the recurring motifs have become integral ingredients in revealing the unseen to the seen in a subtle and sensitive way.

Intention of artist

The meditative art of Valamanesh transforms humble objects and raw materials into a beautiful poetic language. Sometimes using ephemeral elements that suggest ‘transience’, the artist encourages us to reflect on the fragility of life and look internally for universal truths and answers. The intension of the work is to be felt, rather than read, speaking to the spirit in a direct way and not to the intellect. Even though it is his own personal journey, based on memory and experiences, we, the observers, are invited to share in it and contemplate our own intimate relationship with self, others and the environment.

Symbols
Many of the symbols that Valamanesh incorporates in his work are of a highly personal nature and are often re-used.

Exploring the works

This section suggests research and studio explorations of some of the ideas associated with the artist’s work.

Growing up, 1989 A head-and-shoulders silhouette, made from earth, cloaks a wooden ladder. The shadow of the ladder is solid and at its end stands a ceramic bowl filled with water. Do you notice anything unusual about the work? (Clue: Look at the shadow running across the ground). The exhibition curator has suggested that Valamanesh is asking us to think about the nature of self-hood. Many people, including the artist, believe that we have an ‘inner self’. What do you think is meant by this? Have you ever asked yourself the question, ‘Who am I?’ If so what kind of answer did you get? Can you see how the artist has used symbols to express this idea? Find other works, which use the same symbols. (Refer to the list of symbols for help.)

Growing up, 1989, Adelaide, wood, sand, PVA, steel, ceramic, water, 185.0 x 45.0 x 280.0 cm; Collection: Bequest of Marion E. Wharmby, University of Tasmania Fine Art Collection, Hobart (photo Michal Kluvanek)

Longing belonging, 1997 On the gallery wall hangs a photograph showing a carpet in the Australian bush, a fire burning at its centre. Below the photograph, on the floor, is the actual carpet that features in the photograph. Black velvet defines where the charred remains would have been. In many cultures, burning is sometimes used as an important ceremonial or ritualistic act. Do you think there is anything ceremonial about this work? See if you can find other artists have used ceremonial burning in their work? When in the Gallery, you might like to go and see Allegory 111, 1988, in which the artist, Toshikatsu Endo, has used fire for symbolic purposes.
Longing belonging, 1997, Adelaide, direct colour positive photograph, carpet, velvet, 2 components: 99.0 x 99.0 cm; 215.0 x 305.0 cm; Collection: the artist (photo: Michal Kluvanek)

Untitled, 1995

Mounted on the wall is a neatly folded shirt made entirely of dried lotus leaves (an unexpected material) and beside it, a Sufi poem.

I tear my shirt with every breath for
the extent of joy and ecstasy of being
in love; now he has become all my
being and I am only a shirt.             Rumi

How would you interpret the words of the poem?

Find other works in the exhibition inspired by Sufi poetry.

Try making a work of art which as been inspired by a poem.

Take an everyday object and try to change its identity (or give it a new identity by putting it into or photographing it in) a very different environment to the one it’s usually seen in.

Consider making a model of an everyday or personal object using ‘inappropriate’ or unexpected materials. Perhaps your intention to make some kind of statement will influence your choice of materials.

Knocking from the inside, 1989 A site-specific public artwork, standing vulnerable to the elements, resembles ancient ruins. The sense of decay, as well as rejuvenation, seems interlinked like the cycles of nature. A door leans against broken sandstone columns and cut in its centre is the negative image of a figure. At the top of the stairway, in two halves, stands the silhouette cut from the door. A distance away, on the polished surface of a split boulder of granite, is etched a Rumi poem: I have lived on the lip of  insanity wanting to know reasons, knocking on the door. It opens. I’ve been knocking from the inside!
What do you think the words of this poem mean? Can you see any connection with the poem and the artwork? Leaving things deliberately unfinished forces the viewer to think about the work in a special way. Perhaps it forces the viewer to imagine what the work ‘should’ have looked like. Perhaps it suggests that no work (i.e. idea) is really finished. Consider making or designing a work, which is deliberately unfinished. Ask people who see it to tell you their responses to the work. Do you think that the fact this work is in a public, outdoor space next to very contemporary buildings shapes its meaning in any way?		Knocking from the inside, 1989, ASER Complex, Adelaide, sandstone, bluestone, granite, wood 280.0 x 2800.0 x 2100.0 cm (photo: Hossein Valamanesh)

Dwelling, 1980

Based on the Iranian kharabat or abandoned building, this temporary installation stood in the Eastern Park Lands of Adelaide. It is in the form of a humble Adobe structure made from the ephemeral (here today gone tomorrow) materials of earth, straw and wood. Its perforated screen walls have the character of Middle-Eastern architecture and up against one wall, leans a ladder. The construction gradually disintegrated, emphasising its vulnerability to time and change.

The curator has interpreted the artist by saying, ‘Perhaps Dwelling had to be removed for it to create a memory place.’ Everything in life is subject to change; nothing is permanent. The absence of something can intensify its meaning. Have you ever valued something after it was gone?

Consider constructing a work of art, which changes over time (eg is placed outside exposed to the elements). See if you can build some symbolism into this work and its gradual change in physical state.

Surface roots, 1999

Two panels of dried lotus leaves are interspersed with three panels of wisteria creeper formed in lead. There is a great contrast between the fragile leaves and the cold metal.

Why do you think Valamanesh has used this combination of materials?

Is it effective?

The untouchable, 1984 This geometric design uses the circle (5 meters in diameter) as its main form. Made from black hessian and edged with wood, a tiny flame burns at its centre. Four bamboo poles, dividing the circle into quadrants, are each counterweighted by a small cup of sand. These allow the poles to hover in a delicate but perfect balance, pointing toward the flame but not touching it. Concerning this work the artist has said, I realised it was about what you cannot touch because it resides in the centre. Physically, it describes the work and the feeling inside ourselves that we cannot lay hands on		The Untouchable, 1984, Adelaide, wood, ceramic, bamboo, sand, jute, oil burner, 15.0 x 500.0 cm diameter; Collection: the artist (photo: Michal Kluvanek)

What do you think the artist means by this statement?

This work is open to many different meanings. How would you ‘read’ the work? It’s been suggested for example that the division of the circle refers to compass points.

The idea of balance or achieving balance is an important one in different cultures and individual lives. Research this idea further and see if it helps you to ‘read’ this work.

Untitled, 1999 A lavender bush stands up-ended with its branches charred and roots removed. Secured at the apex is an oil burner with a flame. The curator states that in this work, Valamanesh uses the idea of the flame as cleansing. Check how many other art works use the flame as a symbol. Do they also represent cleansing? Think about this idea of fire a something, which cleans or cleanses. Can this be true? Can fire be a cleansing agent? Look at other references to or use of fire in this exhibition and see if they extend this idea in any way. What mood or feeling does the work awaken you? Could there be any particular symbolism in the upside down character of the work (i.e. inverting the bush and placing the flame at the base (now at the top)?

Untitled 1999, Adelaide, lavender bush, oil burner, 82.0 x 80.0 x 58.0 cm; Collection: Anne Kidman, Adelaide (photo: Michal Kluvanek)

Day by day, 1991

A series of ten small-format pictures, made up of linen cloth, hangs along the wall. Between two of them leans a ladder and down on the floor lays a pair of Iranian hand-knitted shoes, filled with red sand from the Australian desert.

The artist refers to this work as his travel stories and is not only a journey of time but also a journey of our selves.

Do you feel that it is necessary to know the specific stories in order to understand or appreciate this work?

Produce your own small image series, one that records different things, which have happened to you over a period of time (say a week). See if you can get the materials or designs to function as symbols to things which have personal meaning or which cannot be properly expressed in any other way.

Additional notes

Whirling Dervishes are Sufis, a mystical sect of Islam that traces its origin to the 13^th century Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Rumi, the great philosopher and writer, founded the Mevlevi Order. Dervish literally means ‘doorway’, believed to be the entrance between the material world and the spiritual world. Through ritualistic dance and chanting of religious text, altered states of consciousness purify the self, creating a personal union with God.

From the 14^th to the 21^st century, they have cultivated not only spiritual attainment but also cultural and artistic excellence, having a profound impact on music, classical poetry, calligraphy and the visual arts.

(http://www.lesartsturcs.com/whirling_dervishes/)

(http://planetexplorer.online.discovery.com/ref/culture/cultdervish.html)

Site-specific refers to art works designed specifically for a given site, taking into account, the design, materials, construction and placement of the work.

Ephemeral means short-lived or impermanent.