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Nadalian: River Art An interview by John K. GRANDE Nadalian is an Iranian sculptor whose life's work involves engendering respect for living creatures and the natural environment. To achieve this, besides living with nature himself, he established sculpture grounds in a peaceful environment in natural surroundings. Water is a living element that contributes to his sculptures, and many of the symbols he engraves and sculpts are derived from ancient mythology and the rituals of pre-Islamic civilizations. more
By carving simple fish shapes and other forms onto small stones and river rocks, artist Ahmad Nadalian seeks to repopulate the spirit of neglected streams and rivers in his native Iran and around the world and share these treasures with future generations. more
Utne Magazine May-June 2006 USA
Ahmad Nadalian
About Ahmad Nadalian "I was so impressed with your concept, working at low tide in the early mornings to carve signs that during the day would be concealed. It calls into question so much about time, history, language, meaning, and sculpture." More
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Ritual Art
Nadalian often leaves traces of his wet hand on the dry rocks of a riverbank, or wet footprints on dry rocks. The imprints inevitably disappear after a few minutes. To him these finite and dying traces of hand or feet symbolize the material aspect of man, his mortality. These dying works by Nadalian, lasting no more than a few minutes, may appear a wholly different issue from the themes of fertility, creation and eternity which are depicted on stone forever. However, the link between them is that the basis upon which both have been created is water, and they are presented in the river.
To him, walking along a riverbank and washing the stones, which he has already carved, is not only a performance, but also a prayer, a form of worship, an invocation. Perhaps even purification, the baptism of a culture from which only a fossilized image remains.
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This Map shows the locations of Nadalian's Works around the glob. The green points show the place where he carved on the rocks and red points show the countries in which his carvings were buried. people and different travelers carried out and buried his carvings in the earth. This project named "Hidden Treasures" |