Prayer Stone 5
Brooklyn Museum photograph
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New York–based Iranian artist Pouran Jinchi’s work explores the relationships between language and image, ritual and place, and custom and transformation. Her training in classical Islamic calligraphy and engineering informs how she constructs visual landscapes of faith and belonging through innovative compositions such as Prayer Stone 5. To create the work’s rings of charcoal rubbings, Jinchi used two prayer stones from her birthplace, Mashhad: a round stone inscribed with the word الله (Allah, or God), and a rectangular stone with prayers for peace upon Ali ibn Musa al-Rida, the eighth imam in Shi’a Islam, whose shrine is the source of both stones. Al-Fatiha and other verses from daily prayers were then meticulously calligraphed between and around the rubbings. The making and reading of this piece can thus be understood as dhikr: repeatedly reciting prayers and the names of Allah as a practice of worship and remembrance. Jinchi’s work engages Islamic calligraphy as an interactive contemporary art form and a dynamic articulator of lived experiences.
Caption
Pouran Jinchi American, born Iran 1959. Prayer Stone 5, 2009. Charcoal, pencil and ink on Okawara paper, 39 1/2 × 39 1/2 in. (100.3 × 100.3 cm) frame: 44 1/4 × 44 1/4 × 2 in. (112.4 × 112.4 × 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1913-1914, Museum Collection Fund, by exchange, 2009.40. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2009.40_PS1.jpg)
Tags
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Prayer Stone 5
Date
2009
Period
Contemporary
Geography
Place made: New York, New York, United States
Medium
Charcoal, pencil and ink on Okawara paper
Classification
Dimensions
39 1/2 × 39 1/2 in. (100.3 × 100.3 cm) frame: 44 1/4 × 44 1/4 × 2 in. (112.4 × 112.4 × 5.1 cm)
Credit Line
Museum Expedition 1913-1914, Museum Collection Fund, by exchange
Accession Number
2009.40
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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