| This P.D.E. includes a history of the Qajar Dynasty of Persia (Iran), especially the role of women, and the author's role and responsibilities as a woman of the fifth generation of this Dynasty. Also included is an exploration of the author as an artist and a bridge to other contemporary Persian women artists. The contextual aspect of this work includes a description of the learning process of portrait painting, and the production of nine paintings in the style of the Qajar Dynasty. The author also draws a connection between art, spirituality, and religion in modern Persia. Suggestions are made on how one can accept and integrate Persian and Western realities. In addition, an ethnographic study of Persian women of the fourth generation of the Qajar Dynasty and contemporary Persian women in the Islamic Republic is provided, including an analogy to the seven barren women as depicted in the Bible. Following the case study methods of Jacques Hamel, the author drew portraits of the seven traditional Persian women she interviewed, utilizing the skills learned as a student of Mehdi Tayeri, a Persian master portrait painter. The purpose of this was to develop a clear picture of these women's lives, and understand them in the context of a world in which Eastern and Western cultures are meeting and merging in spite of conflicts and differences. These seven drawings were not included in the P.D.E. due to recent legal and religious restrictions by the Islamic Republic of Iran prohibiting the public representation of a living woman's likeness. |
