IRANIAN PICNIC CULTURE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON PUBLIC SPACE DESIGN AND SOCIAL CULTURE

Abstract

Eating in the open air is a ritual engrained in Iranian culture, a tradition that dates back 3,000 years to the Zoroastrian practice of sizdah bedar, from the lavish picnics prepared for kings to ordinary folk’s love of eating in nature. The picnic itself is related to the Persian Garden, which is often the backdrop of these feasts, a place of symbolic importance in the Iranian imagination, embodying their love and enjoyment of the natural world.

This simple and joyous practice still lives on strongly and affects our urban lives in present society. Around the picnic “sofreh,” class lines blur, political restrictions are loosened and gender divides disappear. The art of the Iranian picnic has its own accessories and creates spatial organizations that are unique to Iranian culture. The picnic is a key aspect of Iranian life so far understudied.

Keywords

Picnic / Persian Garden / Iranian Culture / Sizdah Bedar / Sofreh

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2016 Higher Education Press