Peristan is bought to you by Adil Iqbal. It is a tapestry of random amalgamations. There is no fixed theme or a regular publishing date. It is a space of unexpected beauty, curated with care, shared with love.
May this story of ancient cloth of Pakistan transport you to its remote mountains.
The Sacred Art Chitrali Shu, a living tradition from the Hindu Kush, is an amalgamation of delicate fabrication and indigenous knowledge. It captures the sounds of glaciers moving through hot springs, carrying with it a mysterious and earthy aroma from the highlands of the Hindukush mountains; its wavy and course texture echoes the rugged landscape of Chitral Valley. This colourless ancient cloth shifts through cultural frontiers from Pakistan to Afghanistan, weaving a tapestry of past histories, mythical folk tales and sacred community practices.
To understand the tragedy in the Uyghur homeland, consider what homeland means to Uyghurs. This poem by the great Ghojimuhemmed Muhemmed is a powerful expression of love and anguish for a threatened homeland.
A collaborative textile panel with Scottish Textile artist Alison Macleod using Chitrali Shu.
“On the Chitrali Shu panel, I have embroidered a Gaelic ‘Waulking Song’ using free hand machine embroidery. This basically means that I ‘write’ with the machine needle using a free motion. I also printed an image of a Lewis ‘sheiling’ and used threads of moorland colours to decorate the cloth”.
Ghazi and the Garden is a new and modern collection of English translations of poetry by Muhammad Iqbal. Considered by many to be the last of the great classical Persian poets, and the first of the modern Muslim philosophers, Iqbal’s work has been pivotal in anti-colonial movements and revolutions throughout the Muslim world in the 20th century.
