From Persia with love

A rich bookbinding tradition receives the global respect it deserves through conservation efforts, writes

THE Education Hall at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM) is packed, much to my surprise. It’s a Saturday morning and there are more than 100 attendees for Dr Mandana Barkeshli’s talk on Persian Bookbinding.

Barkeshli was the first head curator of IAMM and is currently the chairman of the Islamic Manuscript Association (TIMA) at Cambridge University. While waiting for her talk to commence, I scan the room, my gaze settling on a number of academicians and students in the crowd.

Suddenly, a murmur of anticipation rises as Barkeshli heads to the rostrum. She is looking lovely in her chic red coat of quilted patterns with a scarf knotted at her chin, totally dispelling my idea of the serious bookish professor of bookbinding.

Originally from Iran, Barkeshli was key to the establishment of IAMM, having arrived at the invitation of Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary to assist in the setting up of the museum in 1998. Smiling serenely, she shares that she originally planned to stay only for a while before returning to her university in Tehran. However, Malaysia quickly became a second home to the professor and her family. Loving the multiculturalism of the country, she began work, on conservation, in earnest.

“Bookbinding has been one of the most respected crafts of Persia for centuries, as prestigious as the goldsmiths of our famous bazaars,” shares Barkeshli, adding: “The connection between the royal courts and the the bookbinders, has existed for generations.”

ANCIENT CRAFT

This revered craft of ancient Persia has a history dating back to pre-Islamic times. It’s essentially the traditional craft of binding new books and decorating the cover with embossed or painted designs. A lesser but equally important aspect of bookbinding is the repair of worn-out manuscripts due to damage by termite or worms, fire or water, or simply because of time and constant usage.

Manuscripts were hard to obtain, very costly and time-consuming to produce, so restoration became a very important spinoff from the book-binding craft. Due to their status, it is safe to assume that bookbinders received high salaries and earnings from their craft.

There are families whose descendants were bookbinders and they themselves have become masters today, following in the footsteps of their forefathers after six generations. For example, there was master Mola Hossein Sahafbashi and his son who were chief bookbinders of the Astan-e Qods Razawi shrine in Mashhad during the Qajar period. The former’s grandson, Muhammad Hossein Atiqi, was himself a master. His three sons are today renowned conservator of rare manuscripts in Tehran.