Artists
Almaa Gallery is honored to work with global artists. Here we are going to introduce one of the artists who is working with the Almaa Gallery.
Dopuod
Dopuod Handicraft: Traditional woodblock printing in contemporary Designs.
Cotton and colours are awaiting us and our hands are a medium to reconcile the art of woodblock printing with you.
Block printed cotton fabrics (Calico, Qalamkari) are simple stunning handicrafts symbolizing a continuation of a tradition. Dopuod team tries to revive traditional blocks and rekindle this delicate handicraft.
Dopuod studio is established based on the standard criterion and follows the exact process used to be practiced by our ancient masters. The almost forgotten blocks - stamps- were gathered from various workshops scattered in the province of Isfahan with new identities. Dopuod has also been creative in the composition of patterns and colours, making it a unique brand in Persian block printing across the country.
Our Story
Pardis Mohiman is the founder of the Dopuod company.
Here is her story:
Walking through the lane of traditional Bazar of Isfahan about 15 years ago, I was wondering how humble the precious art of block printing sits on the shelves of stores, hung on the walls and spread on tables. “why people pass by these handicrafts and ignore them even intentionally?” I asked myself and I didn’t find any reason. I started going to the bazaar every day and looked into the isolated fabrics piled up in stores. I took them out and observed them one by one enthusiastically. “There are well-patterned beautiful pieces of art, ” I told myself overwhelmingly. And many frequent questions kept my mind busy for a long time: “why aren’t the new generation a big fan of this art?” and how can we revisit this precious but almost forgotten handicraft?”
I decided to play my part to bring back the enthusiasm that traditional block printing deserves. After visiting multiple workshops and carrying out the extensive library research on this field, I started to develop new ideas. I obtained my vocational certificate on textile painting and Batik from the Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism organization of Iran in 2003. Being loyal to the production process of this handicraft, I have tried to contemporize the traditional colours and patterns of block printing art, to reconcile this art with the taste of the new generation.
Dopuod, our own company, now consists of a group of professional and interested people who have a sense of belonging and enthusiasm to this art. We try to remove the dust of centuries from this precious art and reread the colours and patterns. Dopuod is now an independent studio producing unique home basics and clothes by its own-designed fabrics.
Our Team
Pardis Moheiman
Founder and Accessory designer
Nasim Moheiman
Member of board and head of clothes designing department
Mohamad Hashemi
Member of board and head of marketing
Our Product
Dopuod products are classified into two lines; home basics and clothing
Home basics include a wide range of products including cushion, curtain, bedsheet, tablecloth and fabric boxes.
The clothing line includes shirts, shawls, pants, handbags, skirts for women and T-shirts for men.
We classify our products based on our source of inspirations as bellow:
Achaemenid Collection
This collection was inspired by the Achaemenid frieze patterns and glazed brick decorations. The dominant colours in this collection are derived from the relief bricks depicting royal guard’s (immortals) garments (from Susa and Persepolis) which are glazed in multiple colours such as yellow, blue, blue-green, black, brown, and white. Therefore, the mentioned colours became our dominant dyes in the Achaemenid collection and accordingly new blocks were engraved from the Achaemenid motifs. Achaemenid Motifs used in this collection mainly consist of winged-circle, rosettes, palmettes, lotus, twelve-petaled rosettes, stars and pomegranate. The garments of “Susian guards” on the glazed bricks from the Apadana of Susa (now in the Louvre Museum) are adorned with such motifs executed colourfully in blue, yellow, brown-gray, and black.
Safavid Collection
Kalamkari (Calico, Block printing) textiles became popular in the Safavid era and Isfahan became the significant center of block printing. Our source of inspiration for the Safavid collection is the Safavid miniature paintings featuring textiles representing Qalamkari cotton. This collection is characterized by an innovative combination of colours and distinctive Safavid patterns. The motifs are inspired by the dominant patterns in that era including naturalistic floral motifs (single-floral motif and flower tendrils), geometric patterns, vegetal motifs and calligraphy. The famous gol-o-bolbol motif (Per. flower and bird) was also a very popular motif on fabrics in the Safavid era. Floral designs are often presented within a lattice framework, accompanied by birds and foliate designs. Arabesque patterns consist of geometric designs specifically the Shamse motif (sun) accompanying vegetal designs consisting of palmettes and cypress motifs.
Qajar Collection
Block-printed cotton (calico or kalamkari) was produced in large quantities in the Qajar era. Qajar art is featured by an exuberant style and flamboyant use of colour. This colourful and exuberant taste of Qajarid artists was displayed on various media such as interior decoration, paintings, painted tilework and textiles. This collection is inspired by the characteristics of the Qajar art showing off the richness in colours, mainly indigo blue, deep red, and yellow. The motifs applied in this collection are derived from dominant Qajar patterns including flowers (especially roses and irises), arabesque foliage and geometric designs. The Qajar tilework was also a source of inspiration for combining the wider range of colours including pink, purple, yellow, shades of blue, green, and orange. The delicate patterns and subtle arrangement of colours motivate us to create a more vivid and lively collection.
Qalmakri
woodblock print on cloth
table runner
Table cloth home style
cushion home decor