Geometric ornamentation from Pirot to Isfahan

Art collection

Geometric ornamentation from Pirot to Isfahan

Familiarising myself with ideas of state administration and local government in Southeastern Europe, my attention began to surround the efforts of Serbia’s development of electronic administration known as eUprava and then the efforts of reforming the on the ground administrative service provisions through Jedinstveno upravno mesto (JUM). Geometric ornamentation from Pirot to Isfahan art collection began to emerge during an encounter with historic and cultural particularities of the Serbia’s city of Pirot that unveiled its Jedinstveno upravno mesto u Pirotu in December 2020. Pirot carpets are one of the notable features of Pirot. Pirot ‘ćilim’ when pronounced in Serbian and Pirot ‘kilim’ when pronounced in Bulgarian. Overall, the word is etymologically connected to the Persian ‘gelim’ and kilims are noted to be around since ancient times. Motifs of this flat-woven tapestry are not uncommon in the Ottoman Empire and later Turkish productions. Ćilim tapestry contains variety of geometric, vegetal, and figural ornaments. Geometric ornamentation from Pirot to Isfahan pursued to explore the particularly geometric designs. Ornaments can be treated as purely aesthetic or as embedded with deep symbolisms.

Daria Kotova
Independent researcher and consultant

Mixed media. Acrylic and spray paint on canvas.
Height: 30 cm / 12 in
Width: 23 cm / 9 in

Burdock with a cross

Showcased is a variation of ‘burdock’, also known as ‘pitrak’ in Turkish, ćilim ornamentation element. The symbol is believed to be able to ward off the evil eye, but also to mean abundance. The middle segment in this design contains across. This cross carries no Christian reference but is aimed to divide the gaze of an individual into four parts and there-fore reduce the power of an evil glance. Aesthetic nature of these types of symbolic interlacements became an important part of cultural heritage, becoming part of ethnic and national identities and a contribution to examples of national, transnational, as well as international visual culture.

Eight-pointed star

Another example of visual culture is found in the work of the eight-pointed star that can be spotted in Islamic architecture. The element is created based on the principles of geometric design variant predominantly associated with Islamic art and significantly different from the earlier shown burdock geometric design that originated from Pirot’s tapestry motifs. This design is comprised out of an eight pointed star, rays and petals. In fact, those elements are common in creation of complex compositions. Geometric compositions are products of both rules and creativity. All Islamic geometric designs can be created and recreated without mathematical calculations; the foundation of every geometric design is a circle that is elaborated. As much as the geometric design tradition as found in Islamic world-view is treated as a question of pure aesthetics to the eye, the spiritual and cosmological context of Islamic geometric design leads to the theoretical thoughts of the enabling nature of the Islamic geometric design in raising under-standing through contemplation of its complex patterns.

Mixed media. Acrylic and spray paint on canvas mounted on wooden stand.
Canvas height: 18 cm / 7 in
Canvas width: 12 cm / 4.8 in

Mixed media. Acrylic and spray paint on canvas mounted on wooden stand.
Canvas height: 12 cm / 4.8 in Canvas width: 18 cm / 7 in

Common burdock as an artifactual sense

Presented variation of the burdock is a common ćilim motif. The work can be thought of as an artifact in a miniature sense as it channels an artifactual contemplation with its background texture and colour scheme. It delves into considerations of ethnographic households and material culture highlighted by the wooden stand and setting forth a cherry red geometric ornament.

Madrasa polychrome

Continuing the collection is the depiction of a polychrome element found above the mihrab of the madrasa built by the Mongols in the Friday Mosque of Isfahan in Iran. As much as an example of decorative motifs, legacy of visual cultural production of the Persian architects, it is a reminder of broader ceramic traditions that can be observed in bowls and other dishes found in Iran. This work is made to resemble the smoothness representative of the ceramic and polychrome fragments and productions.

Mixed media. Acrylic and spray paint on canvas mounted on wooden stand.
Canvas height: 18 cm / 7 in
Canvas width: 12 cm / 4.8 in

Mixed media. Acrylic and spray paint on canvas mounted on wooden stand.
Canvas height: 18 cm / 7 in
Canvas width: 12 cm / 4.8 in

Madrasa polychrome in architectural sense

Unlike the Madrasa polychrome, the Madrasa polychrome in architectural sense is aimed to convey the more architectural historic essence adding to the artistic artifactual offering within the Geometric ornamentation from Pirot to Isfahan collection. The element is constructed based on the element found in Imami Madrasa in Isfahan that employed the best Persian architects for realisation of the building project prompted by the Mongol Ilkhanids.

Common burdock in embroidery

This prior encountered variation of the burdock channels the embroidery essence and addresses the geometric ornaments’ presence in traditional ethnic and national clothing, as well as other embroidered household belongings such as tablecloths and handkerchiefs of Serbia. Not to mention its presence in flat tapestry of the Serbia’s Pirot. The red is plain, but joyful and classic colour choice.

Mixed media. Acrylic and spray paint on canvas mounted on wooden stand.
Canvas height: 18 cm / 7 in
Canvas width: 12 cm / 4.8 in

Mixed media. Acrylic and spray paint spread across on three canvases.
Per canvas height: 25 cm / 9.8 in
Per canvas width: 20 cm / 7.8 in

Running water

Closing the collection is the ćilim geometric motif of running water. Stretching through three canvases the work can be brought closely together or spread across the wall or a room space adding to the details of the interior or serving as the extra touches to the houseplants.