Meeting the last masters of alam, a dying art: This week Ashura ceremonies took place throughout #Iran, but the traditional craft behind the metallic ornament is being lost Safar Fooladgar hits a piece of iron the size of my palm with his hammer. Like a drum rhythm, his hands evoke a dance: bang, swish, bang, swish, bang. Each time his hammer lands, another detail begins to form: it will soon become the face of a dragon. I am in a small south Tehran workshop of one of the last living masters of the art of alam, a heavy metal installation filled with intricate figurines and engravings, used in Shia Muslim ceremonies marking the martyrdom of Imam Hussein and those who fought by his side at the battle of Karbala in AD680 against an army loyal to Yazid, caliph of the emerging Muslim world. According to the Shia narrative, Yazid had robbed Imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet Muhammad, of his rightful leadership of all Muslims. The story of Karbala marks a significant break between Sunnis and Shia, and remains at the centre of Shia beliefs and customs. The alam has evolved over the centuries from the battle standards carried at Karbala by the Imam and his followers. For Master Fooladgar, creating an alam is a labour of love as well as art. “I know there are many who will say my words are hooey, but it is passion that moulds the iron into lions, deer and birds,” he says. “They just don’t believe in this stuff. But I have lived it, I have seen it, I believe it. My work is very labour intensive, but I don’t even feel it.”
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 17:00:01 +0000
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