Fathi

Why our traditional arts are considered only as an artistic work in our society and less attention is paid to their applied role?

The objects which we use and deal with in daily life are not affected by our traditional art and it seems there is a significant difference between them and the things and objects we utilized in our traditional life. An object may have only artistic aspects and no usage and application, or vice versa (have usage and application and no artistic aspects). Sometimes, these two aspects go along together, with no identity relation. In fact, they stand in the vicinity of and transversally to each other. Alternatively, they can stand longitudinally to each other, i.e. they appear one after other. When we observe them transversally, they appear to us decorations independent of objects, and we say they are decorations mounted on the object. Yet, we feel sometimes that the decoration uses the object to show off. But when we put them longitudinally and make a longitudinal relation, so their quality is enhanced and they appear artistically, such as bud and flower. When buds open and became flowers, they stand longitudinally to each other. Another example, carpet has an applied aspect, it needs no motives and color composition to exhibit its application, it is enough just to be wooly, smooth and insulator against heat and moisture. Neither of these characteristics is depend on carpet’s motives and color composition, motives and color composition have no role in carpet’s applications and it may be the reason that the tradition shows off in relating the artistic and applied aspects of carpet.
Observing two subjects transversally dates to the thought that has been spread in contemporary era. If carpet, window, bowel and so on were in other form in our traditional life, it is because that the definition of human, life, world and other definitions were different. Residing in a house means relief and relaxation, being in homeland. If we want to create such relaxation and security for somebody, we must make his/her life to mean. Here we see that the motives of carpet meet some needs. We think that this motive is decorative and additional to our house. If we lived in our traditional life, then these decorations were not additional, but real response to real need, mental and moral need. In our traditional life, human was an important creature, so every object was enhanced to meet the high level of human in relation to other creature, the human who is the appointed caliph on the earth by God. Whenever traditional human had financial ability, he was not satisfied to applied aspects of objects, but enhanced them qualitatively and artistically. Thus the relation between the artistic aspect and applied one is longitudinal. It means whenever human had no financial ability, he was satisfied to applied aspect. When he had facilities, he enhanced this level of the artistic aspect until it became suitable for him. Nowadays we do so, if we have not facilities and financial ability, we put on some clothing to protect ourselves from heat and cold, and don’t care about the color and form, we care just about protection from heat, cold, wind and rain. But if we have facilities and financial abilities, we put on clothing which is suitable for us while keeps us from heat and cold. This is a level in which the applied aspects appear. It is sometime when you feel that this clothing doesn’t represent your personality. You are an honorable person and if you put on colorful clothes, you are told that these clothes don’t suit you, and it is better for you to put on clothes which represent your personality. There is something in your clothing which has no functional concepts, but if it doesn’t exist, this clothing makes problems. For example, all kinds of jackets have collar, if they have no collar. There is no difference from functional aspects and they protect us from heat and cold as ever. There are many things which meet other aspects of our needs, the aspect which go beyond our worldly life and relate to our real, spiritual, and personality aspects. In our traditional art, this subject was generalized to all affairs sometime, and this reality involved all affaires. But nowadays we don’t think so, and have not this attitude about human, world, and life, and are satisfied to worldly life and low-grade of existence. And this domain of our culture has turned to traditional art which is separate of daily life. We deserved sometime to drink water off a bowel which is respected today as an artistic work, but why don’t we deserve now?

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