Hafiz and The School of Love in Classical Persian Poetry
Conference - Exhibition
30 March - 1 April 2007
University of Exeter, Exeter
This conference hopes to reveal, through the works of Hafiz, the historical, aesthetic, rhetorical, philosophical and theological bases of his love lyrics in the culture and civilization devoted to the School of Love in mediaeval Persia.
Ten Poems by Hafiz
Exhibition of works by Jila Peacock
An exhibition of works by Jila Peacock entitled 'Ten Poems by Hafiz' has been organised in conjunction with the conference. There will be an official exhibition opening on Friday 30 March, 2007 from 6.00pm-8.00pm. Wine, fruit juice and baklava will be served.
The exhibition consists of silk-screen prints of calligraphic shape poems from Hafez in Persian, alongside their English translations.
Despite many attempts, the symbolic language of mystic love in the poetry of the mediaeval Persian masters, continues to defy satisfactory translation. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Divan of Hafiz, so beloved of the Iranians, where meaning seems to shift with each new reading of his poems.
This exhibition aims to show an artistic response to the world of Hafiz's symbolism, making 'visual' translations of some of his poems, using the ancient Persian technique of figural calligraphy to make new shape-poems.
Jila Peacock is an Iranian-born painter and printmaker, living and working in Scotland. She recently won a British Book Design and Production Award for Literature There will also be a book signing and the chance for participants to purchase a copy of her latest book.