Artist-printmaker Jila Peacock was born in Iran. In this talk she focused on the making of her hand-printed book of shape poems ‘Ten poems from Hafez’, which won the British Book Design Awards for literature in October 2006. As well as slides, there was a short animation film made with two images from the book with which she won a BAFTA nomination in 2008.

Hafez was a 14^th century poet and a seminal influence on Persian literature and art. Jila said that the aim of her project was to make what she called visual translations out of whole poems in which Hafez uses various creatures, – birds, insects, fish – as poetic metaphors, symbolizing various aspects of the human condition.

There are very few accurate details about Hafez’s life. He was born around 1320 in Shiraz where he spent his life as a court poet. He died in Shiraz around 1390, making him a contemporary with Geoffrey Chaucer in England and Dante Alghieri, in Florence. Unlike these writers however, you can find a copy of his poems in every Persian-speaking household.

The precise origins of the Arabic script/calligraphy are unknown although a Semitic script was in use on the Arabian peninsula in the 6^th century. In Persian poetry the beauty and the meaning of a poem are enhanced by its calligraphy; this elegant, legible form of writing lends itself perfectly to copying love lyrics and mystical or romantic epics.

There is a long tradition of the Persian Artistic practice of using calligraphy to make an image of what is best described as a ‘shape poem’. These could be said to be the perfect example of seeing an image and reading a text simultaneously.

Some years ago, Jila said she made a series of prints and paintings from the calligraphic image of a horse written in Arabic. This horse, from 19^th century Iran, is a Shia prayer from the sayings of Ali, the son in law of the prophet, who is said to have been a calligrapher himself. The horse is a symbol of submission and faithfulness. She has also written what she calls the poem of the parrot, over the top of a simple silhouette, generally choosing poems in which Hafez uses animal imagery to symbolize aspects of divine love.

When Jila had all the ingredients ready for an illuminated hand made book of calligraphic shape poems she chose the silk-screen process to make it. In this technique the images are photographically impressed onto a fabric stretched on a frame so she was able to screen-print the text of the book as well.

The afternoon was a wonderful insight into the culture and art of a country that is still relatively unknown.  (Summary: Caroline Fisher)