The Fish in Attarha's House

The solitude, peace, and silence of the House with the soft and silent movement of small red fish in the big blue pool in the dark of the night all ignite the imagination and energize body and soul to work and pour out the inspiration in a piece.

It was late 1997 when I started making the first sample of this collection. At that time, I had also started my first experiences in teaching art. I had some art classes held in the Faculty of Fine Arts, Tehran University which continued till the end of 2000. At that time, I could not use the experience to produce new works. Contrary to those days, work and life in Attarha’s House, an old and big monument located in Kashan, was quite different. A number of classes including pottery workshops were held at this monument. I had the chance to start this project. The motive behind this collection was not to add to my individual works. I thought I am teaching and working in the neighborhood of the well-known and history old Sialk Hills, I should do something and revive pottery in this city. Modern pottery in Iran has never been active as before and I wanted to do something to break the ice. The solitude, peace, and silence of the House with the soft and silent movement of small red fish in the big blue pool in the dark of the night all ignite the imagination and energize body and soul to work and pour out the inspiration in a piece. I seized the chance and started the project. This collection is an attempt to use traditional methods of pottery for producing and expressing aesthetic forms. This change was made possible by manipulating traditional methods of pottery making. The name of the collection- “The Fish in Attarha’s House”- also reflects and respects the significant role and form of fish in the Iranian art forms especially pottery which has been well-discussed and documented in different sources.
Working in Attarha’s House for years, my first which was to drain the blue pool in the House and fill it not with water, rather with hundreds and hundreds of small red fish. The idea was not to follow the new practices and trends of modern art including arrangement movement. The whole project was to express my indebtedness to Iranian traditional pottery and architecture.
This publication was made possible by sincere support and help of doctor Muhammad-Taqi Khaleqiyeh who is active in the production of industrial ceramic.