notes to myself

Invisibility

An ’alam made of gilt silver. Deccan, 18th century.   Art Gallery of South Australia

A calligraphic pierced-steel Hand of Fatima, Persia, Qajar, circa 1800

Early 18th century standard in the shape of a palm, Iran. Silver with black inlay.

B N Goswamy on the art of the ’alam:

…in  the Islamic world, certainly among the Shi’ites, it continues to be          used as a powerful symbol: as a conventionalised version of the battle          standards carried by Hussein, grandson of the Prophet, and one of the          great martyrs of the faith. Memories of the fateful battle of Karbala, in honour of which the Muharram festival is held, are invoked through the ’alam which is carried aloft in processions. On the fine ’alam reproduced here — now in the Art Gallery of South Australia at Adelaide — there is a profusion of sacred calligraphy in Arabic, prominent among the panels being the great      invocation: ‘Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim’, that is, “In the name of God, the Merciful, and the Compassionate”. The ’alam reminds the faithful, and protects them.

Souvenirs © Philomena Famulok

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