Shahpour Pouyan on his Jameel Prize 4 Nomination

In 2016 Shahpour pouyan was shortlisted for the Jameel Prize 4 by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.  The Jameel Prize is an international award for contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic tradition. In this video he talks about the nature of his work is inspired by traditional Islamic art, but the unclear function of the object allows interpretation of the object from different perspectives. His series of ceramics Unthinkable Thought (2014) shows different forms of domes – architectural structures long used as expressions of power. Pouyan uses traditional Islamic pottery techniques to make his models of a variety of domes from Europe and the Middle East. Some are detailed scaled-down reproductions of specific buildings such as the Pantheon in Rome; others are simpler almost typological and draw on Iran’s rich architectural history, for example the turquoise dome of Isfahan’s famous Shah Mosque.