Moaragh - What Is It?

Some say that the Persian word Moaragh actually means “pieces and fragments”; what we do know is that it is the name given to the art of inlaying wooden pieces, one of the oldest Persian crafts.

Each piece and portion is finely cut from various types and colours of natural wood and inlaid together neatly and perfectly, to form a storytelling wonder.

It is important to note that the woods are indeed all natural, and nothing is stained. Each has its own unique story, having grown in different corners of Persia; after all some of the donating trees of the wooden pieces are old enough to have been growing since the time the land was still recognised as Persia.

Each type of wood has a unique hardness and grain, and so each requires special attention, from the selection process and what part of the picture it suits to the cutting and sawing techniques.

Here is a simple overview of the critical milestones and activity in the creation of a piece of Moaragh.

-An image is selected as fine and worthy to bring to life.

-The design is printed in black and white and overlaid on surrogate ply wood, which is then hand cut into individual pieces.

-The surrogate wood acts as the overlaying template offered over the actual wooden sheets.

-To form the final piece a handsaw is used again to cut around the surrogate, and obtain the desired piece from the actual sheet of wood.

-The finer details are then cut into the wooden piece and the surrogate ply is discarded.

-This process is repeated countless times, and the more complex a design, the more cycles are repeated, as there is more unique pieces.

-The Pieces are then inlaid together, often nailed to and within a wooden background, which in these cases also acts as the frame.

-In more modern times the final jigsaw is then forever sealed with a layer of polystyrene.

With the overview of the process outlined, it’s easy to understand how a single piece can take over a hundred hours!

You can see the stunning works of my Father, Ali-Reza, in the creations section of the website, on social media and at various exhibitions.

P.S. Next one is at Parallax Art Fair 18-22nd October in London.

P.P.S. I’ll be writing to share about our story and why Moaragh, please consider signing up to the newsletter or follow us on social channels to stay in the loop and be the first to hear. :)

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