FAMOUS ARTISTAhad Saadi
New Generatıon of Artısts should create artwork by ınspırıng theır own cultures
The Iranian artist Ahad Saadi says that the Orient should give direction to art. Saadi says, “Artists must explore their own culture and adhere to them.”You will probably hear the art Azarnegari for the first time. The Iranian artist Ahad Saadi called this technique he developed with this name because he wanted to do original works. Azarnegari art, which started in 1999, was accepted as a new style in Iran in 2008 and has been registered as an official work in the National Institution of Precious Works of Iran. Ahad Saadi, who has presented many works with Azarnegari art and exhibited his latest exhibition “Love and Life”, is inspiring modern art from his own culture and past. The artist, who does not use any pencil or paint in any of his works, creates all the colors in his paintings and sculptures by sticking small cut fabrics over each other. Saidi conveys his thoughts and feelings about world peace, human love, nature loyalty, spiritual development and beauty of the loreal life to his works through philosophical stories.
GAME CONVERTED INTO ART
How did this art come about?
I loved playing with fire when I was a kid. That’s why my mom always had a lot of stress. I took the laboratory supplies with my allowances. I liked to burn something, boil it. When I played with fire I burned the fabric of my mother without asking for it and I was so scared that I quickly blow it out with a strike to the fabric. With the blow I made, the fabrics stuck together. There was an interesting image. It inspired me. I cut colorful fabrics with scissors and then started burning them. It helped to reveal an A5 size artwork. My family liked it too. This work I made randomly without any technique is now in my mother’s collections.
What does Azarnegari mean?
In fact, there is no Azarnegari in the Iranian language. I made the name of art. Meaning is to draw with fire. As a result, you are introducing a new style, giving it a name is as important as practicing art. The story of the emergence of this name was also interesting. In Iran people open Hafiz Falı. In this fortune we take the Divan of Hafez and read the poem coming in randomly, and comment. I have also randomly opened Dihhuda’s Lügatnamesi, one of the greatest dictionaries of Iran. The first time I came across the page I came across a word of Azar. Azar means warmth. It was just a word for me. Then I put the word Negari which means to draw behind this veil and it is called Azarnegari.
Is it not dangerous to play with fire?
If you have the control, it is not dangerous. I worked as a sports instructor in Iran. This profession was very useful when I was performing my art. Muscle and breath control is very important in Azarnergani art. Because if the fire is too much on the fabric, it will break the fabric, but if it does not, it will not be possible to combine the fabrics. So it needs to be quick and careful.
I DO NOT CONTINUE TO WHICH IT HAS CREATED BEFORE
Why did not you give artifacts through an existing discipline?
It is not in my art view to resume something that exists. I should have done something else. I also never liked to leave behind someone. You may be a teacher’s student, but when it comes to the place, you have to be very different from that teacher. I wanted to be a teacher at a different field, to be free, and I came out with this thought.
WHAT MAKES ART, ART, IS EFFORT
What makes art, art; is effort,beauty and meaning. Every piece must have a philosophy and tell people something. The human body is a vehicle, the brain is the driver, and the heart is the fuel. If a vehicle does not go without fuel, the heart of man will be missing without emotions. Artists must explore their own culture and adhere to them to create works. Especially for the new generation of artists I say these; their faces shall not turn to the west. Modern art is inspired by their own culture. The West’s museums are actually the East on the basis of art. Art is actually inside us.
I have lived in Istanbul for seven years and I love it. The people here liked Azarnegari art. Istanbul and Tabriz are very close to each other. I am the Middle East. Turkey also belongs to this region. And we have to go for our own culture. When I look back at the past of Turkish culture, the first name that comes to mind is Osman Hamdi Bey. I think he’s a great artist. It is possible to see the traces of the Ottoman culture in their works.
EACH ART PIECE HAS ANY DENTITY
What do you put the names on your works?
Every piece of work has an identity. We issue a certificate along with the purchased pieces. Over the card of each artwork; the name, how many months it lasts and how many times it has been formed, is written. I put the names according to the meaning of the table. For example, I gave the name of Ataturk’s work “From the Darkness to the Birth of Light”. Because he’s one of the names who contributed to the establishment of modern Turkey. I wanted to make him a symbol. Apart from this, my works of Morvarid, Anahita, Navazesh, Pardis, Setare, Enekas, Artiman, Helye Sherif, Payam, Parvaz and Love And Life also have separate themes.
The first work I made on the A5 has an important meaning. Apart from that, I have works that have a separate place. For example, in 2009, I painted the girl I loved, extemporaneous. Then I met my wife. Everybody says the girl in the picture looks like her. This work is also among my wife’s collections. My artwok in this exhibition, named Anahita is also among my favourite artworks.