F23 MEMS Lecture. Sufi Lovers, Safavid Silks, and Early Modern Identity

The height of fashion at the sixteenth century Safavid court was an ensemble of shimmering gold and silk, interwoven with the tales of legendary lovers from the Khamsa (Quintet) of epic Persian poetry. As Persian poetry was adopted in court circles from Iran to South Asia, Sufi behavior codes embodied by the characters were adapted and propagated by early modern rulers and incorporated into the visual arts, including textiles, as an expression of mystic practice.

Examining textiles alongside Khamsa poetry, manuscript paintings, and primary accounts, the silks reveal cross-cultural expressions of piety and allegiance in a world unified by language and behavior codes, while fragmented by religion and politics. This interdisciplinary study presents new evidence for reattribution of silks based on the migration of textile specialists from the Safavid to the Mughal court, where expert designers produced luxury goods for a sophisticated and educated elite.

Nazanin Hedayat Munroe is Associate Professor and Director of Textiles at City University of New York. An artist and art historian, she received her Ph.D. in art history from University of Bern, Switzerland, specializing in early modern silks, and her M.F.A. in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art.