Pouran Jinchi
Tajvid Red 2

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Artist Pouran Jinchi(American, born Iran, 1959)American, born Iran, 1959

CultureAmerican

Titles

Tajvid Red 2

Date2009

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsSheet: 168 × 53 1/2 in. (426.7 × 134.6 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase in memory of Peter C. Marzio, funded by Martha Long, Terry and Bruce Baganz, James and Franci Neely Crane, Rania and Jamal Daniel, Zeina and Nijad Fares, Cathy and Vahid Kooros, Lily and Hamid Kooros, Sima and Masoud Ladjevardian, Eileen and Kase Lawal, Sultana and Moez Mangalji, Catherine and Cenk Ozdogan, Sabiha and Omar Rehmatulla, Jaleh and Bruce Sallee, Aziz Shaibani, Monsour Taghdisi, Diana and Chase Untermeyer, and the Friends of Art of the Islamic Worlds

Object number2011.240

Non exposé

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Department

Art of the Islamic Worlds

Object Type

DRAWINGS, PASTELS & WATERCOLORS

DescriptionTajvid 2, by Iranian artist Pouran Jinchi, is an interpretation of the most important aspect of the Qur'an, its recitation. Several Qur'anic chapters, or suras, have been copied on a paper scroll that hangs vertically. While the vowels, verse divisions, and chapter headings are meticulously marked, the consonants-which identify the actual text in Arabic-are intentionally left out. The proper recitation of the Qur'an, known as tajvid, is bound to and regulated by these punctuation marks, which explains why this is the only Arabic text that always indicates them. Their presence on this scroll leaves no doubt about the identity of the copied text, which nonetheless remains incomplete, disembodied, and, thus, illegible. In addition to emphasizing the rhythmic and perfomative quality of the calligraphic act, the omissions shift the viewer's attention from the meaning of the Qur'an to its sound. By doing so, the artist retrieves the original, aural dimension of Islam's holy book, which was transmitted orally for several decades before being fixed into written form.
ProvenanceThe artist; [Arts Projects International, New York, 2009–2011]; purchased by the MFAH, 2011.

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