Finland and Iran
In Finland, we know many great and important things about Iran. We admire Persian carpets and have learned about human civilization and progress through the illustrious history and archaeological treasures found in ancient Iran.
During my seven years of living and working in Tehran in the 1970s, I found out that the ancient culture still lives on in the cities and villages surrounding Iran. As a ceramist, my active interest focused on both the modern and traditional crafts of the field. While teaching ceramics at the College of Decorative Arts (daneshgadeh-ye-honarha-ye-tazyini) in Tehran, my students and I made several trips to the pottery villages of Gilan and Mazandaran and met and discussed with them the workshops of the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization.
In 1998, I was able to return to Iran to conduct in-depth research on the remarkable ceramic art of Kalpourkan women potters in Baluchistan.
As a result of the research, a small but significant detail of Iran’s ancient living tradition is in Finland in the form of today’s village pottery. The permanent storage of the Museum of Cultures, which is part of the National Museum, has a complete collection of the traditional ceramics of that small, remote village of Kalpourkan. This includes not only women’s pottery, but also the ethnic clothing, rugs and tools of the region. This Kalpourkan collection has been exhibited in several art and history museums around Finland, also in Estonia. Lectures have been held internationally on the top craftsmanship of this village (www.irdiplomacy.ir).
Art and craft students are excited and enamored with the skill and competence of Kalpourkan’s potters. They are unique in their field!
We invite the foreign community and all other Finns to visit Loviisa. We have constantly changing exhibitions and weekly cultural events at Kulttuurikeskus Alminto. Until February 9th, we have glass sculptures by the renowned artist Brita Flander, African-themed paintings by our Loviisaiteilija Marja-Liisa Aalto-Anna, who recently returned from her exhibition at the Florence Biennale, and wood sculptures and paintings by a young artist. year, Jasmin Anoschkin. Visit our website www.lovisantaidekeskus.fi
Iran has a past and present in the realms of immense art, sculpture, painting, calligraphy, graphics, etc. Not to mention music, literature and movies. We here in Loviisa and elsewhere in Finland would like to see a part of it right here! – Our dream for the Culture Center in Almi is to fill two floors of the building with pictures, sculpture, handicrafts, music and poetry from Iran.
Elina Sorainen,
artistic director
Cultural Center Alm.