Ashura by Sadegh Tirafkan (December 24, 2009) 
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Introduction by Fariba Farshad
'All the world's a stage
And all the men and women merely players
They have their exits and their entrances
And one man in his time plays many parts
His acts being seven ages…'
(William Shakespeare, As You Like It)
The images I have chosen to present over the next seven days are by seven very distinctive Iranian photographers each of whom, in their own very particular way, presents us with glimpses of dramas unfolding or gone. Sometimes we arrive mid scene, sometimes we watch as the characters assemble and, occasionally, there is simply an empty scene. As we proceed, the focus narrows and the actors slowly exit right and left. We move from the wide, dramatic and populous scenes made by Sadegh Tirafkan and Abbas Kowasri to the individual, the face and the seemingly empty scenes created by Shadi Ghadirian and Abbas Kiarostami. Each of the dramas they have chosen springs from the culture, history and religious life of the Region.
We start with the work of Sadegh Tirafkan that focuses on Iranian traditions and religious rituals. He uses his knowledge of the culture to explore his Iranian identity and his strong attachment to his Persian roots clearly shows in his artwork. The stage in Sadegh’s work is already set by history, tradition and religion. His epic Ashura series, composed over fifteen years, depicts the rituals of Ashoura (the commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the 3rd Imam of Shiites) "I like the precision and aesthetic of a staged photo and strive for that without actually staging it." So, ordinary people are Tirafkan’s actors and when he shifts from the mass to the individual he becomes his own subject. It is hardly surprising that Sadegh cites Cindy Sherman as the major influence on his work. The difference of course being that while Sherman submerges herself in the character she has chosen to inhabit, Tirafkan is clearly, almost painfully, present.
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For the past 15 years, Tirafkan has recorded the annual festival of ‘Ashura’, held to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hossein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad, who was slain in the desert of Karbala, Iraq, over 13 centuries ago. Processions of men take to the streets and flagellate themselves to the rhythm of drums, in what is known as the month of mourning.
Tirafkan's ongoing Ashura series is the result of his annual visits to Tehran’s bazaar to photograph mourners. The Ashura series recalls his days in the bassiji (the young militia) and The Ashura Series was a collaborative project with a contemporary Iranian painter and the Tehran Museum of art. The project has resulted in both photographic and video works, and is a continuation of Tirafkan’s exploration of Persian traditions and religious rituals. Here the streets become a theatre for religious devotion, as the male members of Shiite families come out to mark this holy occasion.
Tirafkan’s photograph’s have an intimate quality, as he presents private moments of reflection and worship. Tirafkan was born in Iraq in 1965, from Iranian parents. His family, like all Iranian families in Iraq at the time, was expelled by Saddam Hussein in 1971. Several years later, Tirafkan witnessed the ensuing bloody war between Iran and Iraq. He became a member of the youth militia. During this time he buried young friends and lived the horrors of war and shared collective rituals. Given his background it is not surprising that ritual occupies such a prominent place in his work.
‘I try to find the hidden metaphors and allegories in Iranian culture by taking a new look at our national traditions. I believe that Iranian artists can discover the essence of art through a real understanding of their past. Doing so enables artists to achieve the universal objective of art, which is to awaken the aesthetics of humankind. In these photographs, I have tried to depict the rituals of Ashura (the commemoration of martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the 3rd Imam of Shiites) through a mixture of new paintings and photographs in order to fully appreciate this most important of Shiite an Iranian ceremonies.’
Sadegh Tirafkan (1965) lives and works in Tehran, Iran.
Click weblink tirafkan.com or browse our archives
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Posted in category 648
any chance to display just and only the photo number 8…?
Or.. any chance to cancel the number one at least? :P
Good luck and sincere happy new year to the photographer anyway!