Eternal Flight is an installation of bird-like mark-makings on wood from Tairāwhiti beaches. Central to this installation is the symbolic use of bird forms to represent freedom through mark-making methods and farsi calligraphy printed on wooden material, drift wood and slash from the post-cyclone Gabrielle floods.
The work is further inspired by the well known poem The Conference of the Birds by the poet Attar and The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah, the founder of the Baha’i faith. The work is dedicated to the women of Shiraz and the Global Campaign of #OurStoryIsOne. It represents the notion of freedom of conscience in the face of oppression and persecution.
There are two paintings he started more than 20 years ago which are a homage and dedication to his parents and his birth country of Iran. One features a portrait of his father painted by his daughter Carmel, who also painted a pomegranate in reference to the family’s pomegranate orchard in Iran. The second canvas is about the strong connection to his life and family in Aotearoa.
The work is inspired by the prayers that his parents used to chant. These prayers run through all of his work. The Phoenix and the Nightingales are a series of calligraphy/Persian carpet-like paintings that use the written form of farsi as the basis to symbolically visualise three Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah.
They represent the phoenix as a symbol of strength and power and the nightingale as the voice of the voiceless.
Adel is also part of a group exhibition at Tairāwhiti Museum where he has a sculpture called Tui & Tuna, a homage to all Pa harakeke destroyed by floods and slash.
Alongside his art, Adel has worked in education and race relations for the past 25 years. He moved to Gisborne with his family in 2019.
Carmel Aroha Salmanzadeh (Ngāti-Ira, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Haua, Waikato, Iran, Samoa, China) has an ink and acrylic canvas in the exhibition which draws on the traditional art and craft practices of her Middle-Eastern and Polynesian heritage.
Called Meet Me At The Courtyard, the work pulls together loose constructions of the “ghalamkar” (Persian textile prints) as well as Samoan “siapo”. Taniko inspired the patterns used on the outer borders of the work.
The centrepiece invites the view to a two-dimensional not-so-traditional Persian courtyard. Patterns found in the three border sections are two interpretations of maahi (fish in farsi) ika designs, one found in Pasifika designs and the larger fish design commonly found on Persian rugs and mats.
She also has a short video work called Rite of Passage in the exhibition which explores the small acts and material things that make her feel connected to her Persian homeland. Carmel is currently studying at Elam Art School in Auckland.
Her brother Haami’s short experimental film is also part of the exhibition. In the film he explores different editing styles and effects to create an interesting and visually stimulating viewer experience. Haami will start studying film-making at South Seas film school in Auckland next year.
The exhibition is on at Hoea Gallery — Level 1,- 100 Grey Street until January 20.
