Talismanic Gown
Nazanin Hedayat Munroe, Ph.D.
Performance Still: "CA: Supplication for Serenity"
Handmade Dress; Digitally Printed Chiffon and Sateen
30" w x 44" h x 5" d (Dress size 6/8)
Not For Sale; Accepts Commissions
New York, New York
Photo credit: Dr. Kamyar Hedayat
Photo Location: La Jolla, CA
The "Talismanic Gown" is based on my research of garments as protective devices, and figural images on clothing as a powerful tool for communicating identity. The sheer overgarment is digitally printed with a design inspired by a 17th century Safavid Persian silk, referenced as the “Supplicant” pattern by scholars. The supplicant is in a traditional pose of du’a (supplication) as she converses with the Divine. By donning and displaying the garment with the supplicant pattern, the wearer indicates her piety to the viewer. The undergown contains verses by Jalaluddin Rūmī, a 12th century Sufi poet, translated from Persian and digitally printed on cotton. The poem creates a protective forcefield around the wearer, whose prayer becomes mingled with Sufi mystic expression.