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“We will never leave”

The Sea at Dusk  *  -   Ono Chikkyo , 1977

Japanese, 1889–1979

color ink on paper

Front and back cover of a Hungryalist literary magazine in Bengali from the sixties. 

In Ḥoseyn kist ke delhā hama divāna-ye ust? ( ‘Who is this Hossein the world is crazy about?’, 1960)

Linocut print on linen, Charles Hossein Zenderoudi

Made in the style of ‘pardeh’ (Persian for 'curtain’) or 'coffeehouse’ paintings depicting scenes from the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala (in modern central Iraq) in 680 AD. While most extant paintings date to the late 19th-early 20th century and were executed with oil paints on canvas, this modern work departs from tradition through the use of the linocut technique and Zenderoudi’s unconventional interpretation of commonly depicted scenes.An inscription in Persian along the border of the work repeats, 'Who is this Hossein the world is crazy about?’ until it reaches the bottom of the frame, where the inscription ends with, 'Who is this flame (candle), for which all souls are moths?’