FULL IN PARTS, EMPTY IN OTHERS, SEE-THROUGH IN PLACES AND BREATHING AIR, THESE RE-IMAGINED TRIBAL WEAVES IMPRESS AS MUCH AS THEY SURPRISE. IN WEAVERS’ CIRCLES, ASAD BAKHTIARI’S BREAK WITH HUNDREDS OF YEARS OF WEAVING NORM WAS MET WITH SCEPTICISM, BUT THIS IS PART AND PARCEL OF HIS PRACTICE AND A REALITY HE EMBRACES. “CHANGE CREATES RESISTANCE, AND RESISTANCE IN TURN CATALYSES CHANGE”, HE SAYS.
RESISTANCE IS A CONCEPT FAMILIAR TO ASAD BAKHTIARI; IN FACT, MOST OF HIS ART IS AN EXERCISE IN RESISTANCE – THE BREAKING OR THE MAKING OF IT. A BREAK WITH TRADITION ALLOWED HIM TO ESTABLISH A NEW BLUEPRINT FOR TRIBAL WEAVES. IN HIS SECOND INNOVATION, ASAD BAKHTIARI TURNS TO THE VERY FABRIC OF TRIBAL WEAVES, AND INTRODUCES POLYURETHANE. THE RESULT IS A COLLECTION OF FLATWEAVES EITHER ENTIRELY WOVEN OUT OF THE NEW FABRIC, OR MIXED WITH VARYING COMBINATIONS OF EXPOSED WARP, POLYURETHANE WEAVE, FLATWEAVE OR GABBEH WEAVE AND LACE WEAVE. COMPLETELY 21ST CENTURY, THESE RE-INVENTED PIECES OF WOOL AND PLASTIC TAKE ON NEW FUNCTIONS AS WALL PARTITIONS, WALL COVERINGS, FURNITURE SPREADS, CHALLENGING IN THEIR SWEEP THE ORTHODOX NOTION THAT “CARPETS ARE FOR THE FLOOR”.
EVERY REINVENTION IS AN EXERCISE IN PROTECTION. FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, IRANIAN TRIBES HAVE PRODUCED ALL SIZES OF KILIMS AND GABBEHS, MOSTLY AS FUNCTIONAL FLOOR COVERINGS, SADDLE BLANKETS, STORAGE BAGS AND PRAYER RUGS. WITH TIME, THE WEAVING COMMUNITY WORKING WITH ASAD BAKHTIARI HAVE COME TO UNDERSTAND THAT IF TRIBAL WEAVES ARE TO SURVIVE IN A MARKET DOMINATED BY MACHINE-MADE CARPETS, THEY MUST OFFER A NOVEL AND VIABLE CONCEPT OF FORM AND FUNCTION. THIS, ASAD BAKHTIARI BRILLIANTLY ACHIEVES THROUGH MARRYING THE CRAFT, PRODUCT DESIGN AND AESTHETIC OF TODAY AND YESTERDAY.