Mokarrameh Ghanbari was born in 1928 in Darikandeh village , Mazandaran
province in the north of Iran
A self-confessed passion since childhood for creative patterns and
designs , resulted in her experimenting with mud and clay . Her interest
then extended to bridal make-up for women from near by village .
It was not until she was 67 that Mokarrameh managed to start painting ,
up until then she had been busy : over the years , she has raised 9 kids
and worked variously as a seamstress , hair dresser , mid wife , healer
and oven-maker .
She owned beloved cow . She had to seek grass on a long and tiring walk
to feed the animal . One day her children sold the beast without telling
her , because they were concerned about their mother's health . Overcome
by sorrow she began to paint. Unable to read and write , she began
painting without any formal training .
She made her first painting ( A portrait of the cow ) with mud and cow
dung on a rock . Then she painted on the walls of her house , on pumpkins
and on whatever surfaces she could find .
On day one of her sons , on his monthly visit from Tehran , brought her
paper and paint . From that time Mokarrameh has painted timelessly .
Now her home overflows with her colorful work, with paintings telling
stories from the Qu'ran , the Bible and her life . Each of Mokarrameh's
paintings tell a story . Interwoven are bitter sweet tails ; bickering
between wives about their husband- in common and Mokarrameh's
confrontation why she was sold in to marriage at such a young age.
At first the neighbors were not so sure about her work- it was not
clear if someone , particularly a woman , ought to be painting all these
religious scenes .
From an interview conducted by Mrs. Holly ( an American artist who
direct a film about Mokarrameh ) :
"For 4 years I would only paint at night and if I had an unexpected
visitor , I would hide everything very quickly .... The mentality was that
a farmer should have nothing to do with paper. "
" I always have something to do . In the house I either clean up or
paint . I never sit idle and I do not take a nap in the afternoon like the
other women . "
Mokarrameh's first painting exhibition was held in seyhoon Art gallery
in 1995 , Tehran .
She won the Jury's special award at the Roshd Film Festival along with
a special prize of the Art-Literature Village Festival ; also she was
chosen as the women of the year 2001 by 19th international conference of
Iranian Women's Studies Foundation .
" Mokarrameh-dreams and memories " is the name of documentary
regarding her life and works , directed by well known Iranian director ,
Ebrahim Mokhtari ; it has been screened at several international festivals
.
Mokarrameh Ghanbari died at the age of 77 on
October 24 in Babol . She was buried in her house.
