The Saqqa-khaneh School: Post-Colonialism or Orientalism Perspective?

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The Scientic Journal of NAZAR research center (Nrc) for Art, Architecture & Urbanism
Vol.14/No.53/Nov 2017
Received 2016/08/01
Accepted 2016/12/15
Abstract
● The Issue: Either Saqqa-khaneh school is a movement which was affected by the post-colonial view? Or
does it intensify orientalism hegemony? Or should be found third approach?
● Intention and research Method: The purpose of this article is to dispute the two approaches of post-
colonial and orientalism in the case of studying Saqqa-khaneh school. Descriptive-Analytic method was
applied. The current study proposes is not to conne Saqqa-khaneh on the post-colonial and orientalism views;
by considering Iran’s special situation. This article rst describes Saqqa-khaneh and related, art movements in
Iran, Europe, and the United-States at that time.
● Conclusion: Said’s orientalism, as the systematic emerging of post-colonial approach and also the
translation of Fanon’s book “The Wretched of the Earth” to Persian both actually were after the Saqqa-khaneh
movement formation. In fact, post-colonial theories of Fanon and Said played an important role in the study
of contemporary Iranian art; although these theories not only belongs to later Saqqa-khaneh but also these
just can be practiced in the other societies which had not similar situation comparable to Iran of the 1960s. It
seems the thought of considering Saqqa-khaneh as a post-colonial art movement, itself has been inuenced
by orientalism view.
Historical studies indicate that Saqqa-khaneh as a post-modern movement was formed at the same time
which western’s art movements were born. Yet it claimed to be an Iranian movement. In addition, Iranians,
particularly in that period didn’t consider themselves as a colonial society so they required to protest against
their situation.
Furthermore, Saqqa-khaneh never aimed to illustrate an exotic object as orientalism concept. Moreover,
its environment which affects its name oriented was tied rmly with the Iranian common culture. So
ascribing and limiting Saqqa-khaneh to post-colonial discourse probably cause of Orientalism hegemony.
As a conclusion, it seems that the analyzing of Saqqa-khaneh commonly was affected by later perspectives,
which can be described as throwing critic of the current situation in the past. This movement before to be
mature, marginalized. After the 1990s, When Iranian-Islamic viewpoint was common it revived. The authors’
suggestion for the contemporary artist is to consider Saqqa-khaneh’s spiritual background and avoiding to
repeat it just in appearance.
Keywords
Saqqa-khaneh school, Post-colonial critic, Orientalism, Sociology.
The Saqqa-khaneh School: Post-Colonialism or Orientalism Perspective?
Raika Khorshidian*
Heidar Zahedi**
*. Ph. D. Condidate in art research. Tarbiat modares University. Raika.khorshidian@modares.ac.ir
**. M. A. student in Philosophy of art. Allame Tabatabaee University. hdzahedi@gmail.com
Persian translation of this paper entitled:

is also published in this issue of journal.

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Introduction
Most experts postulate that Saqqa-khaneh movement
begins at the early 1960s (Emami, 1977). In the
same epoch with the formation of post-colonial view
(Keshmirshekan, 2011) in the 1960s in Europe and
America, in the Third World countries the interest
in delving into their own culture was emerging
and burgeoning. This school usually coincides
with the publication of Fanon’s “The Wretched of
the Earth”, Said’s “Orientalism” and Ale Ahmad’s
“Westernization” in Iran.
From the perspective of Edward Said, orientalism
approach is the knowledge which supports Eastern
colonialism. The main function of this approach is to
prevail the stereotypical beliefs regarding the East,
and to introduce this area as trivial and very simple to
western people. East was a paragon of an “other” for
a Western, an image that has been synthesized and
elaborated for Europe (Shahmiri, 2010:55). Post-
colonial critique means challenging this concept of
“other”. From this perspective other cultures contain
“native”, “primitive” and “Eastern” cultures. Post-
colonial critique, by posing the question of ethnicity,
highlights demographic studies of art in the artworks,
rejects attitudes of reductionism in artworks of
“other” cultures in comparison to the dominant
mainstream of Western art.
But we cannot conne Saqqa-khaneh school on post-
colonial and orientalism paradox, without taking
into consideration the historical and sociological
circumstances of Iran in period of creation of
this art. Indeed, it will be compromising, that we
reconcile other societies sociological conclusions
by this approach without scrutinizing Iran historical
period. Saqqa-khaneh school in the 1960s, created a
coalescence of some modern elements and combine
them with traditional embellishing elements
and, of course Iran’s religious elements. A brief
look at the situation of Iran in 1960s, tells us that
society and peoples’ attitudes and beliefs were
heavily in transformation and this liminal state
makes investigating it more perplexing. Although,
theories of Frantz Fanon and Edward Said have
been founded based on the studies of other societies
with incomparable circumstances to those in Iran,
nevertheless it seems that post-colonial have an
undeniable impact on the classication of the arts in
Iran society. In the other words, in this adaptation,
generalizations is neither appropriate nor functioning.
With this introduction, the overarching goal of
this article is questioning whether, is it possible
to consider Saqqa-khaneh school, a movement
which is founded based on post-colonial view?
Does it intensify Orientalism hegemony? Or third
prospective to the question must be conceived?
Background to the research and foundations
“Perception and comprehension of the orientalism
and post-colonialism theories and critics is not only
a mere perception of an updated and inuential
theory, but also the understanding of the critic,
which are integrated with the life and culture of an
Eastern civilization” (IAA, 2012). Post-colonial
critic was started with Frantz Fanon’s works and
continued in Edward Said’s investigations. And
today, Gayati Chakravorty Spivak and Homi Bhabha
are considered as the most signicant critiques in this
eld. Said’s “Orientalism”, which has been written
in 1978, is the basis for post-colonialism sentiments
and orientalism critic.
Orientalism presented by Edward Said is a type
of retroactive discordance and protest against the
depict of east by westerns. In his book he criticized
the picture of the East, especially representation
of Islamic Middle-East in the western literature
all along history. “Said’s work outlines how East
and its representations, which are conjured by the
Western cultures, are representing the East as the
locus for “otherness”. The cultural knowledge about,
and representations of, ‘the Orient’ as a place of
‘otherness’ (Klages, 2006: 155). For the clarity’s
sake, it is helpful to think about the stereotypies
associated with the word ‘Orient’ and ‘Oriental,’ all
of which labeled ‘the Orient’ as a place of mystery
and exoticism. Such ‘otherness’ exists in relation
to the familiarity of the Western Anglo-European

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world; the basis of “Orientalism” like the basis of
any form of racism or ethnocentrism, is the idea that
‘we’ are ‘selves’ who are ‘familiar,’ and that ‘others’
are necessarily ‘exotic’ (Ibid: 154).
Said was strongly inuenced by Antonio Gramsci.
Based on the concept of Cultural Hegemony of the
Gramsci, Hegemony in the social relations is not a
straight execution of a political power of one class
over another; quite the contrary, Hegemony is a
certain attitude about the world and our position
inside of it which indicating the relation between the
humans. This attitude has a political essence and is
shown in various forms such as social institutions,
social relations and the mentality of all sections of
society. The signicant issue is that subservient
classes, understand the dominator as an ordinary and
reality familiar with common knowledge and they are
satised to grasp to this concept (Payandeh, 2003: 298).
Thus, orientalism hegemony developed a feeling
among Middle-Eastern that we are exotic and we are
the others, we exist as the objects not subjects.
This critique asks about the western discourses in
term of ethnocentric perceptions and world view in
case of “other” culture and argues about their attitudes
toward the power relationship and colonial inuence
on these cultures. The main question of Post-colonial
criticism is about degradative structures of cultural
classication. We can either analysis this critique
from colonized cultures viewpoint as Western
represented objects, or as artistic product operator
with their own criteria (Harrington, 2004). It is clear
that in analyzing the Saqqa-khaneh school as an art
movement in Iran, the second point of view is useful
for us. This analysis should consider Iranian artists
and the production of artworks in that period, such
as those involved in the production of indigenous
arts and nally should ask whether these productions
and their manufactures accept western criteria about
the east, as the place of “otherness”, and do they
regenesis them.
In another way, such as Said said, among the vast
illustrations of European artists, East is a symbol of
despotism in contrast to enlightenment, the decline
against civilization, passion and emotion against
reason and logic (Said, 1978). It is noteworthy
to be adduced, East obviously does not refer to a
geographic East and we cannot order Iran as East just
only because of its geographic location. East, based
on what Said dened, is a concept that could include
countries in Latin America and even Cuba. From
this point of view, there is an inquiry which should
be asked about whether Iran in the late 1960s may
be regarded as a part of the East vs. the West or we
should consider Iran like a piece of the West which is
just located in the east of geographical map.
Post-colonial critics emphasize that colonized
cultures must be understood from the perspective of
their own artistic product operator. They study how
indigenous art that formed before the emerging of
colonialism is conquered by the colonialism and
how people in colonial countries have reacted to
this. From this perspective, they show how foreign
objects which have looted by the adventurers and
trespassed across the seas by businessmen, constitute
an integral part of the culture of Western antiquary
study (Harrington, 2004). Our review must be
capable of pointing out whether the artworks that
have been created by Saqqa-khaneh school and have
been shown in Western markets, can be categorized
as a mere another group of Western antiques or
they can be considered a distinct art school. In fact,
the Western perception of these artworks is not
comparable with their attitudes toward products from
other cultures, and consequently this difference in
attitudes is matter of interest in our study. We should
carefully distinguish the viewpoint of western into
vast artworks belongs to before Saqqa-khaneh and
their special consideration to this school.
Through this introduction, we aim for discussing
about post-colonial critic in case of Saqqa-khaneh
school, according to some past researches such as
Keshmirshekan’s (2005; 2011), whether this school
is a movement against the discourse which considers
east as an unchanging and fruitless and infecund,
Or as Pakbaz (2012: 591-597) and Afsharmohajer
(2005) said this is a school which is made by some

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intellectuals, artists and nanciers who had an
Orientalist viewpoint about the people and art of
their own country? It is so probable that study of
Saqqa-khaneh school in bipolar of post-colonial and
orientalism worldview, would itself affected severely
from dominant post-colonial view. Some critics as
John Foran (1998) studied Iranian art out of this
bipolar view. It is possible that Saqqa-khaneh school
in the mainstream of Persian art of that time was
something probable which was not a reaction again
East or West or center and margin. Through this view
even considering this school in post-colonial context
is presentation and materialization of orientalism’s
inuences; a school of thought which could not study
an art school, according to its own situation and for
distinguishing center and another has no way rather
than depending on a discourse which emphasizes
this distance.
Methodology
This research suggests phenomenological approach
for Saqqa-khaneh school and tries to deconstruct
seemingly present structures in this eld. At rst
post-colonial critic will be dened, then the history of
Saqqa-khaneh and its current movements reviewed
through descriptive-analytical approach. Finally,
we want to answer this question: Is it authentic
to use orientalism / post-colonial view to study
Saqqa-khaneh; or we should consider more concise
sociological and historical information for better
understanding of Saqqa-khaneh’s backgrounds and
nd appropriate theory for criticizing it.
Saqqa-Khaneh and its grounds
Saqqa-Khaneh is the most important painting school
in Iran because of its broadness and fame. Its painters,
although use their current manner of the time; but
apply the traditional subjects and motives. Each of
these painters has their own distinctive manner which
is completely different from others. Nevertheless,
all of them commonly refer to the subjects and
symbols of the traditional Iranian art and lifestyle
(Ettinghausen & Yarshater, 2000:375). The Saqqa-
khaneh’s artists have dened an art style which had
specically identied without repeating common
and well-known subjects or using the traditional old
painting; but it used the huge treasure of ornamental
and vernacular arts and Persian calligraphy (Pakbaz,
2011: 214);(Fig. 1).
The name of the ‘Saqqa-khaneh’, came from the
name of a place where is the symbol of a set of beliefs
and practices which has a solid kinship with recent
past of Iran. It reminisces the vision of a society
which has not exchanged by the tremendous power.
The ornaments of Saqqa-khaneh bring to mind the
nostalgia of a lifestyle which suddenly confronted
to the necessities of the new and astonishing world
(Ettinghausen & Yarshater, 2000: 276-277). This
name was rstly used by Karim Emami, for describing
the works of artists who used the elements of local,
religious art and also elements which is utilized in
religious vows which belongs to votive and Shia
Islam art. For declaring this name, he mentioned the
friendly and religious atmosphere of “Tekiehs” and
“Hosseiniehs”. He particularly means the artworks
which were exhibited in the third biennial of Tehran
in 1962. The atmosphere which inspiring familiarity
and friendliness of Saqqa-khaneh’s neighborhood in
the corner of the alley (Neo- Iran Contemporary art
museum, Dec 2014 and Jan 2015).
Karim Emami described the beginning of Saqqa-
Fig. 1. Jazeh Tabatabai, No Title, 1963, dimension 41 cm by 29 cm.
Source: www.elahe.net

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khaneh by referencing to Parviz Tanavoli: “one day
around the 1861, Hossein Zenderoudi and I went to
Abdul Al-Azim Shrine; some primed pictures which
were for sale attracted our attention. In that period,
both of us were searching for some special Iranian
raw materials for using in our artworks; and those
religious pictures seem so appropriate in our minds.
We bought some of them and brought home. We
liked their simple forms, repetitive motives and bright
shining colors. Zenderoudi made the rst works
of Saqqa-khaneh by inspiration of those pictures”
(Maleki, 2010: 65). Among the places where Saqqa-
khaneh school was organized, Art University, studio
Kabood and Art Hall of Iran are the most important
(Fig. 2).
Saqqa-khaneh artists considered the forms and
symbols of the prior paintings. The existence of
past elements is considerable in their artworks. At
rst, these painters searched for vernacular motives
(Goudarzi, 1999:104). After Jalil Ziapour who used,
local and traditional subjects and motives in years
before; Saqqa-khaneh is the rst group concentration
on organized reviving visual traditions of the past
which could extract religious aspects of from tradition;
what was never noticed in Ziapour’s artworks
(Eskandari, 2001). Referring to Neo-Traditional
exhibition in December and January of 2014, the
aim of the artists of this school was combining visual
Fig. 2. Mansour Ghandriz, Mother and child, 1975, oil on canvas,
dimension 76.5 cm by 52.7 cm. Source: www.tavoosonline.com.
forms of popular culture and religious traditions-
national art with modern methods to achieve a
national expression. The Saqqa-khaneh artists in
the way of dening an identity for contemporary
art of Iran, searched in local and historical artistic
and cultural treasure of Iran and through this way
they used the artistic manners of past and current
movements of their era (Fig. 3);(Table 1).
Look at the social and artistic developments in
Iran a few centuries before the creation of this art
movement helps us to understand the context of
the Saqqa-khaneh inauguration. Reid says: “The
evolution of Persian miniature painting shows some
conicting trends in the court as well. At the time of
Shah Abbas and after him, in the seventeenth century
CE, sometimes some odd things illustrated in the
miniature which was so opposite to previous ones
and there was not the obedience mood as past ones,
which intensied individuality, exhausted guardians,
lack of discipline and “unyielding dissatisfaction
about authority” are the properties of these new
miniatures (Reid, 1984: 147). According to Richard
Ettinghausen, the rt of the seventeenth century CE in
Iran, became more realistic and pay more attention
to the life of the ordinary people and show them
when they are working or doing their daily routine
hobby (1974: 135). Savory tells that Safavid poetry
got more closed to the slang (Savory, 1974: 213).
In the other hand, from three hundred years ago by
separating painting and drawing from books and
forming of Muraqqa (a page keep in the album and
depict Islamic miniature paintings and specimens
of Islamic calligraphy, normally from several
different sources, and perhaps other matter), some
pictures (Negareh) made which showed a human
gure or a young couples which represented by some
herbs and twisted clouds on a simple background
(Pakbaz, 2011: 96). It seems that the attention of
Iranian artists had drawn them to the individual and
the human subject since several years ago, and this
process completed over three hundred years.
From this perspective, Iranian artist long before
the Pahlavi regime and its modernization policies,

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Table 1. Briey shows the subjects and representing methods for showing vernacular Iranian culture in well-known Saqqa-khaneh artists’ artworks.
Source: authors.
Iranian subjects and elements
Iranian expression
Artist
Popular printed prayers; talismanic and magical seals,
props used in mourning processions, vernacular art,
Persian calligraphy tiny symbols and elements which
used in old manuscripts
Magical and nostalgic atmosphere,
abstract and geographic expressions
Charles Hossein
Zenderoudi
Lovers, Farhad, "heech" (nothing), lover, poet, locks,
nightingale, wall, hand, folk architecture of like Iran
grilles window Zarih (burial chamber) and Saqqa-
khaneh, and innovated script, Achaemenid epigraphy
Lyric and romantic literature, mystical
concepts
Parviz Tanavoli
Semi-abstract human figures, birds, sun, sword and
shield
Repeating geometric patterns, limited
space, spiritual qualities, blending
reality and fantasy, semi-abstract,
ethnic nostalgia
Mansur Ghandriz
Traditional lifestyle, traditional motifs, lines and
characters of Persian miniatures, good luck charms, old
locks and key manuscripts, seals, glass, metal bowls
with rims condemn, Shisha or hookah heads
Past stories, ways of expression in
Persian literature, border lines
Sadegh Tabrizi
Traditional ceramics, old miniature spaces, horse
Narrative, Persian blue
Nasser Oveisi
Legendary creatures, Qajar women, decorative forms
Syahmashq, and Iranian storytelling scenes
Sense of human, Qajar portraiture
style, folk Art
Jazeh Tabatabai
Stamp, inscriptions, religious signs, such as Alam,
claws, hieroglyphics and Nastaliq, shekasteh nastaliq
syahmashq,
Ornamental display, golden color Faramarz Pilaram
Achaemenid and Sassanian motives
Using the strength of ancient carvings
Massoud Arabshahi
Fig. 3. Hossein Zenderoudi, No Title, 1977, Acrylic on canvas, dimension 194.95 cm by 129.85 cm, private gallery. Source: www.zenderoudi.com

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was familiar with modern conceptual elements and
even somehow used them. It is obvious that the
thirties and forties in the midst of modernization
while there where conict between modernity and
the traditionalists, while the common school in
international arenas was pop art and it was passing
and closed to its expiration, was a suitable time and
atmosphere for Iranian innovative artists to found
a new school. Although we must say that, this new
doctrine emerged from the past experience and
perhaps much earlier roots of artists such as Hoshang
Pezeshknya and Jalil Ziapour that sought to Western
modernist movements and repeated them. But this
case never under question the authority of this school,
and we cannot invalidate the whole atmosphere of
that time by single sociological claim.
Pakbaz in the book of Iran painting has written:
Approximately seventy years after inauguration of
modern movement in west, it inuenced Iran. This
was when Iranian painters used traditional school and
old fashion Iranian and western schools. Spreading
the Second World War into Iran, leaving Reza
Khan, and begging some basic social freedom made
a situation for art innovation (Pakbaz, 2011: 202).
It is not so far that most of the artworks in 1930s were
copied of European original works. Artists enjoyed
new ndings, and surprised for new possibilities
of the ndings. They were like tourists who rush to
a new continent, did not like staying in one place.
Their evoked curious, promotes them to try diverse
methods, from Impressionism to Cubism, from
Surrealism imagination to abstract forms. Creativity
and innovation were concealed under the attempt
for absorbing new attitudes and learning and getting
advance new methods (Yarshater narrated from
Pakbaz, referring to Ibid).
This is the context that Saqqa-khaneh school
promoted a commencement of a new vision in Iranian
painting regarding to create a “National art school.
Karim Emami in the brochure of Saqqa-khaneh
artists which published in 1977 wrote, before Saqqa-
khaneh’s artists, existing a national school was just
a so far dream. Saqqa-khaneh’s artists showed that
Fig 4. Masoud Arbshahi, No Title, n. d., material mixture on canvas,
dimension 135 cm by 130 cm. Source: www.mahartgallery.com
it is possible and easy to create a national school
by familiar and available raw material (Godarzi,
2001:108). There should be question for innovative
artists: What are qualities and properties which can
specify and highlight their artworks from the others
which is belonging to the other places in the world?
What was the Iranian character in their artworks?
What was connecting their painting and sculpture
to the past culture of their country? The cultural
supporters of Iran also promoted these investigations
because they wanted to see starting of a national
art school in Iran. The school, would has a clear
connection to the great eras of Iran: Achaemenid,
Sassanid and safavid (Emami, referring to Pakbaz,
2011: 214);(Fig. 4).
In this context, referring to the situation of Iran
in the Global system which went to be semi-
marginalized according to John Foran, categorizing
Iran and its artworks in world markets as “other”
is not reasonable. Frank says: “No other country
came anywhere near the kind of inuence exercised
by the United States on Iran. Among the European
countries, Great Britain gradually fell behind West
Germany as a leading trade partner, to the position
of fourth overall” (Foran, 1993: 346).

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Fig. 5. Jasper Johns, Map, 1961, oil on canvas, dimension 314.7 cm by
198.2 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York City.
Source: www.moma.org.
Saqqa-khaneh isochronal movements
During the period when the Saqqa-khaneh school
was formed and became mature, there were similar
movements in the Western world such as Pop art,
Lettrism and Op art. Since many of the artists of this
school have been studying in Europe and the United
States and then they left Iran to Western world for
a while or forever, they were inuenced by those
movements. They intended to have an up to date
expression of their native art regarding to their own
homeland heritage.
Furthermore, since there were many artists of any
kind in their artistic circle, the artistic spirit that
existed in various forms of Iranian arts of that era
can be studied and found the links, impacts and the
interaction between them.
● Artistic isochronal movements in Iran
The relationship between the Saqqa-khaneh school
and artistic sprit of that period can be explore in
its literature, cinema and theater. According to
Ettinghausen and Yarshater (2000; 383) Sadegh
Hedayat’s works have a wide conceptual connection
with Iran’s atmosphere in the era of before world
war II, like Daash Akol, The Blind Owl (Boof-e
koor) and Lady Alaviyeh (Alaviye Khānum). This
genre continued by some of short story writers
likes Sadeq Chubak, Jalal Al-e-Ahmad, Behazin
(Mahmoud Etemadzadeh) and some younger
ones such as Houshang Golshiri in Prince Ehtejab
(Shazdeh ehtejab). In contemporary playwriting, this
tendency can be seen in the works of Ali Nassirian and
Bahram Beyzai’slike Pahlavan Akbar Dies (Pahlavan
Akbar Mimirad). This tendency did not exist in poetry,
because Persian new poetry is less anecdotal and more
committed to the image of the future than to the image
of the past. However, in some rural poems of Nimā
Yushij, some folklore poems of Ahmad Shamlou and
Forough Farrokhzad we can nd a little description
which shows interest in the near past. In the other words,
nostalgic and memoirism and also the attempt to make
a Persian language and expression as well as modern
is refundable in most of the artists’ works of this era.
In the other hand, Art supporters of that time played
an important role in forming the art tendencies of
the time. For example, the events like the process
of constructing and selecting the works for Tehran
contemporary art museum by Kamran Diba which
took a time around ten years, and had a great impact
on the art movements and tastes of that era; or Shiraz
Fig. 6. Antony Tapies, Calligraphy, 1956, mix material on canvas,
194.5*129.5 cm, Tehran contemporary art museum.
Source: www.tmoca.com

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comedy were substituted to complicating abstract art.
We found them as we desired and preferred (Tanavoli,
2005: 40-41);(Fig. 6,7).
In addition to Pop art, we can experience the inuence
of Op art movement in Zendehroudi’s last artworks.
Lettrism especially the artworks of Antony Tapies
had an unavoidable effect on Saqqa-khaneh too. We
should not forget the effect of Marc Chagall, who
was so famous in art society of Iran that time. As
we mentioned before the post-modern character of
Saqqa-khaneh like memoirism and sense of humor,
indicates that post-modernism just after a short
period of modernism like Kamal-ol-Molk Art School
and Modern Art Avant-Garde, commence so early in
Iran (Fig. 8).
Findings
Saqqa-khaneh school is the rst school, which
opened a way for Persian contemporary art to enter
the universal art communities. Shayegan says: Our art
is going to determine its position in the world; some
particular thing is starting to take place. In the past,
art means just western one. In 1950 when I moved
to Europe around 60 years ago, Eastern art had just
Orientalist and ancient civilization meaning. It was
something which just exhibited in the museums;
the only art which produced and sold as an art was
Western one. But today, you can see, some people
Arts Festival where such as avant-garde artists of
Europe could participate in it. by a glimpse of the
events of this period, we can conclude that the art
of Iran without passing any modernism was in the
situation which absurd suddenly to the post-modern
of that time. In the other words, Iran did not confront
with the modernism which deny its historical aspects
as Atatürk in Turkey, so it would not intend to recover
its identity with post-colonial perspective.
● Artistic isochronal movements in Europe and
United States
1960s in Europe and United States, Pop or popular
art and post-modern movements were so common.
Tanavoli tells: “Pop artists were a new group in any
aspects, who with their paintings and attitudes hyped
up every day. They used slangs and supplied them
as the same way as existed in reality; they mixed up
complex theories of the previous painters; had no
specic new doctrine or claim but made an effective
movement in the art world. Everything has before been
the aw, in their opinion was good. Copying was not
awed. They choose completely similar to original
well-known adds of comic strips and did not believed
to the previous cliché modifying [...] we felt a new
era in art has been started. That simplicity and sweet
Fig. 7. Parviz Tanavoli, Heech, 1964, Plexiglas, wood, copper, plaster
and oils, 82*80 cm, Manijheh collection.
Source: www.tmoca.com
Fig. 8. Marc Chagall, Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle), 1966, color
lithograph on arches paper 76.2 by 54.6 cm, Gilden’s art gallery,
London. Source:www.masterworksneart.com

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52 The Scientic Journal of NAZAR research center (Nrc) for Art, Architecture & Urbanism
like Tanavoli who sells his works in London... Today,
even young Iranian artists fond their real position. So
the centerline of the West centrism has expired now.
The margin entered. The conict between center and
margins has nished in art. These happening are so
new (referring to Khojasteh and Hashemi, 2010).
Saqqa-khaneh school is a strong, rm and creative
school in reality (Ettinghausen and Yarshater, 2000:
389). It seems which Saqqa-khaneh school is a post-
colonial attitude in art; the movement which wants
to protest with Edward Said: “The Orient is not an
inert fact of nature. It is not just there, just as the
occident itself is not just there either’’ (Said, 1978:
4). Hence Saqqa-khaneh school started with a critical
view through west? The Persian contemporary artist
from this period refund his self-condence and
courage and introduced Iranian contemporary art to
the world.
Important book of Edward Said by the name of
“Orientalism” can be considered as the ofcial starting
of the forming of post-colonialism movement. This
book was published in 1978 which concurrent with
1357 in Solar calendar. Nevertheless, important book
of Frantz Fanon published in 1961 in French, and
entered to Iran by Ali Shariati’s translation which
returns to the past of Iran’s revolution. Thus, it is
impossible which would have inuenced on Saqqa-
khaneh. Even we consider that Fanon’s book would
be available for Saqqa-khaneh’s artists that time,
it is not a book which could be considered as the
beginning of Saqqa-khaneh criticism. It is obvious
which this book which discussed about race- which
is not matter for Iranian artists, could not inuence
on this school.
In all of these studies, we should not forget that this
school claimed itself as a national art movement,
based on Iran’s art background. The point of view
that returned after several years in 1990s. At that
time by new presidency (Seyyed Mohammad
Khatami), the approach to national identity changed
into a new way. In Khatami’s discourse, national and
historical identity of Iran raised in a new form which
can be seen as accompanying history and religion.
In this discourse, not only Iranian nationalism is
compatible with religious identity, but also both of
them are integrated as much as it is impossible to
distinguish and separate them. Through this way we
can gain new capability for cultural presenting in the
Globalism process (Zahiri, 2001: 122). In this period
incorporation of Islamism and Iranian which revived
again has not highlighted as ideological meaning
most of the time; instead they concentrated on the
traditions of the cultural history of Islam. In 2003
Iranian Cultural Heritage organization as an ofcial
organization separated from Ministry of Culture
and Islamic Guidance, for reviving the traditional
Islamic art. In that era artworks show, fusing Islamic
ornaments with modern subjects. Saqqa-khaneh’s
artworks got notice again (Moridi, 2012: 157).
Discussion
Austin Harrington in the second chapter of his
book, Art and social theory, heeded the issues about
Aesthetic value & political value of ne Art. He
says: although the power struggles are linked up
to aesthetic subjects as well, nevertheless aesthetic
values are not reducible to social power subjects
(Harrington, 2004). It seems that attempting to nd
a direct interaction between sociological subjects
and artistic ones is congruent with the nature of
artistry. Probably, this can be a fruitless endeavor
from the sociology which has a restrict viewpoint of
art and further, dene artwork as a direct result of a
special social circumstances. Even if we look from
a vantage of sociology to the circumstances Iranian
society at this time period and further do not want
to accommodate other patterns to this situation, Iran
and Iranians never thought that they are colonized,
especially at that time. Considering the appearance
of Iran society, the society which is extremely
incorporated in the process of social and economic
progress, never see themselves as a peripheral and/
or negligible (Foran, 1993). Therefore, there was no
reason to protest this situation. Authors thinks that
Iran at that time was imagined as a separated place
from western, merely due to the fact that it is sited in

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the geographical east, however this line of reasoning
is not in accordance to psychological viewpoint of
Iranian society at that era of time. Even though this
point of view is apparent in general philosophical
sentiments; the Iranian philosophers are going along
with continental philosophy. General consideration
of these situations indicates that, relating post-
colonial approach to the Saqqa-khaneh school is not
appropriate.
In the other hand, some researchers believe that:
The endeavor of Saqqa-khaneh artist for relating
modern art with traditional motifs was inadequate
and supercial and had no deep inuence on
their viewers (Afsharmohajer; 2005: 199). These
researchers think Saqqa-khaneh artists, in their
investigation for an Iranian style, sometimes has a
supercial or playful attitude toward ancient sources.
So their desire for adapting traditional elements to
new form, sometimes has no appropriate outcomes
(id). This approach, which wants to describe Saqqa-
khaneh school as an Orientalist attitude, did not
consider its special properties. According to Said
“Orient” is an articial concept. He mentioned in
the foreword of his book “Orientalism”, that from a
European viewpoint, orient had been since antiquity
a land of dreams, supernatural creatures, amboyant
memories and landscapes, unforgettable experience
(Said, 1978:1). If we want to name Saqqa-khaneh
school as an art movement which conrmed itself
as an orient and “otherness”; the movement which
presented Iranian symbols and items supercially for
its occidental (European) spectators to sell them; we
should consider the representing method of visual
forms; whether they try to make local and folk
elements as the museum objects for gaining European
attentions by presenting them as the strange things.
Saqqa-khaneh school as well has been affected by
local items and its past art, is inuenced by Western
art styles too. We see simultaneously Robert
Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and
Jasper Johns. The Saqqa-Khaneh artworks comparing
to its current Western art were not something
strange. In reality some of researchers compare
Saqqa-khaneh with current western art movement
(Tanavoli, 2005: 41, Qarakhanni, 2014, Zehtabchi,
2015). The Saqqa-khaneh artworks in its era for
European and American spectators were completely
acceptable and had nothing bold which conrm
orientalism perspective. It seems that it is possible,
consider Saqqa-khaneh as a school like any other
of its contemporary art styles in the world (Fig. 9).
Orientalist stigma can be proposed to the Saqqa-
khaneh whenever it has no connection to its past
movements. Principally, it seems that believers of
this idea neither investigate its past nor its connection
to the past artists. If we just consider Ziapour’s
artworks which painted before Saqqa-Khaneh, we
can better understand Saqqa-khaneh’s history and
development process. In the other hand, analytical
studies indicate that Orientalist art, views its items as
aliens and exotic. While from the locks and pigeons
of Tanavoli to the horse riders of Oveisi and Panjtan
Fig. 9. Parviz Tanavoli, The Poet and the Beloved King (Lovers), 1966,
Wood, copper, oil color, Plexiglas and light, dimension 190 cm by120
cm by 70 cm, Manijheh collection, source: www.theguardian.com

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54 The Scientic Journal of NAZAR research center (Nrc) for Art, Architecture & Urbanism
(Five People) Hamsa, all of them represent the
emotions which is related to its subject; even though
presenting stage has changed but the created form
shows the internal and local past atmosphere. Even
giving name of Saqqa-khaneh by Karim Emami
means the reviving Saqqa-khaneh atmosphere for
Iranian spectators. It indicates its spiritual aspects
and familiar atmosphere for the Iranian people who
knows their local cultural elements. As a result, we
can say stigmatizing Saqqa-khaneh as orientalism
caused by some recent events which happened in
the Saqqa-khaneh movement but not relate to the
roots of this movement. But obviously applying
contemporary situation critics into the past era, is out
of visual and chronological logic.
Conclusion
In this article, we inquired whether the Saqqa-khaneh School and the post-colonial critic have conformity and
similarity with each other. We reciprocate they are not congruent with each other, and furthermore, there
is not an exact relation between Saqqa-khaneh School and the perspective of orientalism. After the survey
and assorted many of former critics which used for the Saqqa-khaneh, we concluded that although there are
some shortcomings in Saqqa-khaneh School, the purpose of these critics was just propounding the subject and
sometimes tying to adapt the subject without considering its backgrounds, concluded just some complain.
Since each critic intends to improve the future, should be considered the details of the subject under scrutiny: it
can be said at the beginning the Saqqa-khaneh school by efcient interaction with the European and American
art movements could be contemporaneous and along with its era and world, while did not separate from its
cultural features and never aimed to represent traditional atmosphere of Iran as an Oriental exotic object to
the world. Nevertheless, this school needed some more time to become a national school. If we consider the
ofcial start of this art movement, 1962, when the third biennial was held, we would see the last exhibition
of this art movement in 1977. It means the whole period that Saqqa-khaneh had to ourish and thrive was
fteen years. In fact, the school with the purpose of being a national art school, which supported by the
former government, was not considered till several years after the Islamic revolution. As a matter of fact, this
political revolution, not only made the Saqqa-khaneh School without support, but also caused the fundamental
changes in the relationship between Iran and the world, especially in the period of the Iran-Iraq War which
lasted 8 years. All of these events lead to the migration the Saqqa-khaneh’s artists. It seems that while lots of
this art movement’s abilities were in the formation, suddenly deteriorated because of economic and political
revolution.
Anyway, in the author’s view, this school established an honorable and valuable spiritual foundation for
the artistic identity of Iran in the international context which provided success for the future artists. This
successful way was created by practice, creativity, probe and awareness about the time. The situation
offers a considerable support for Iranian contemporary artists while more than fty years passed from
its birth. Therefore, it seems that the duty of contemporary creative artists is to diversify and vitalize
this fty years’ path instead of repeating supercially the success signs of Saqqa-khaneh in international
art societies. Thus, the proposition of authors for the contemporary and future artists is to recognize the
spiritual essence of the Saqqa-khaneh school, to continue the exploring on the domestic and folk art, to
consider burgeoning trends in the eld of art and to utilize the creativity and variety of methods and subjects.

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Acknowledgment
We would like to thank Dr. Hassanali Pourmand, Dr. Reza Afhami and Dr. Amir Nasri for comments that
greatly improved the manuscript.
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