“نوزده” “Nineteen”

“نوزده” “Nineteen”

مرجان حبیبیان Marjan Habibian

It came against all the rules. There is a hidden nineteen in the inner layers of everyone, like a forgotten

book with lots of dust on the back shelf of an old library

At the beginning of 2020, I planned to go to Iran for three weeks to visit my relatives, but I ended up staying

there for nine months and then 10 month in Oman because of the Covid 19 pandemic. During this window

of opportunity, I was able to examine my own identity, and the impact that the pandemic was having on the

whole world. All this was the inspiration for me to take on new projects. That’s how I began to use

traditional Persian fabric stamps for my drawings – a technique that I have now been developing over the

last few years. Then, during my last stay in Iran, I discovered the traditional Persian boteh pattern, and I

began to combine it with my graphic work. The Persian boteh motif is a floral, Arabesque carpet decoration,

whose origins and meaning are unknown. This collection includes a number of small and large paintings on

cardboard and canvas, as well as drawings.