F haghighi
What was once an almost forgotten and obscure craft, is now the centrepiece of every elegantly decorated abode. The Persian carpet has a history as interesting and old as Iran itself. One of today’s foremost contemporary Persian carpet scholars and designers, Feizollah Khan Safdarzadeh Haghighi, has dedicated his life to producing the latest in a series of designs that started with the Safavid art movement in the late 16th century. In combining his passion for both carpet weaving and Persian miniatures, Feizollah Khan was best described as a modern interpreter of traditional Persian art. Till the very last moments of his life, he continued to expand and redefine the Haghighi Art Movement, producing some of Iran’s most renowned contemporary Carpets.
Feizollah Khan was born in Isfahan in 1942, the son of Mahdi Khan, the founding patron of the Haghighi Art Movement. Persian carpets were at the peak of their popularity during Iran’s Safavid dynasty (1501‐1736 CE) but saw a drastic decline in both style and demand during the second half of the Qajar dynasty (1785‐1925 CE). According to Helfgott, Persian carpet weaving during Mahdi Khan’s time, around the late 19th century CE, was generally categorized as “an isolated largely rural craft practiced primarily by pastoral nomads and carried on only in a few urban locations” (Helfgott, p. 117). Growing up in the large and lavish bazaars of Isfahan, Mahdi Khan was in a prime place to view the abundance and diversity of the last remnants of masterfully crafted carpets. At a young age, he saw it as his duty to popularize this mostly undocumented craft.
Mahdi Khan made it his life’s passion to collect and design traditional Persian carpets, in time creating a distinct signature design known as the Haghighi School of design. In doing so, he breathed a new life into the mostly private and small world of Persian carpet weaving. All of his children, in turn, were also drawn into the rich world of carpet weaving.
Having grown up in such a colourful and rich world of art, Feizollah Khan carried on his father’s passion and vision in the world of carpet weaving. Feizollah khan attended the Isfahan School of Fine arts. He chose to focus on water colours, specifically Persian miniatures. Miniatures are characterized by fine brush patterns, detailed features and bold colours. There, he studied directly under the late acclaimed Master Javad Rostam Shirazi who was renowned for his exhaustively fine works in Persian miniature.
During the 1960’s, along with a group of Italian experts, Feizollah Khan was made responsible for guiding and preparing the many restorations to numerous components of the now 400 years old Naghsh‐e‐Jahan Square together with some other monuments in Isfahan. He was able to complete his assignment with the combined efforts of Isa Bahadori and Gholam Ali Khan Safdarzadeh Haghighi. With their cooperation, Feizollah Khan was able to restore the site to its former glory, allowing people to see the true splendour of Naghsh‐e‐Jahan for the first time in decades.
During the 1970’s, Feizollah Khan was honoured when the late Shah of Iran personally asked him to create the individual gifts that would be bestowed upon the attending heads of states in the celebration of the 2,500th year of the Persian Empire. Each head of state was to receive a personalised portrait designed and crafted by Feizollah Khan himself. The Shah later ordered a carpet for the Parliament of Iran measuring 121 Square meters, designed by Master Rostam Shirazi, Feizillah Khan along with his older brother Master Gholamali khan supervised the production and weave at the School of Fines Arts in Isfahan.
Feizollah Khan took his inspirations from his extensive experience of studying and interacting with the many remnants of Safavid art. One of his biggest inspirations was the great turquoise dome of Naghs‐e‐Jahan which contains exquisitely elaborate and complex masonry and tiling.
Vibrant colours and fine lines in his carpet designs are traits most attributable to his time of perfecting miniatures. Beside the father there are five of his children, Mohammad Mehdi, Amir Hossein, Alireza, Shahrzad and Farnaz, who are now following in their father’s footsteps.
His passion for Isfahan’s unique architecture, history and attributes, combined with his father’s passion for traditional carpet weaving from across Iran, have resulted in the Haghighi School of Art becoming the most original and innovative producer of fine contemporary Persian carpets.