The Old in the New

In keeping with upcycling trends, this is a recent trend in Iran. Remnants of old, mismatched carpets of different colours and styles are patched together to start a new life as the seat upholstery of a new, traditional-style sofa.

Two of these sofas were in our flat in Tehran, and made their way with us in our recent move from there. They seem like a link to the life we had in Iran, and to the dear ones that sat on them drinking tea and chatting. I feel their absence more keenly today, in the first days of Ramadan.

The patched upholstery reminds me of the first real Persian carpet I ever sat on, in the old house of Hossein’s parents in Shahrerey. It had a burgundy background, and I sat stroking it with my finger: it felt like velvet. After years of joys and sorrows, mealtimes and afternoon naps, it became threadbare. Then Aqa-jun, Hossein’s father, wanted to donate it to the local mosque, but I asked him to donate it to us because at the time we were poorer that the mosque. It was later used in our bedroom for many years, and even after both parents passed away and we were a bit better off, I was so attached to it that I couldn’t bear to give it away, until we eventually had to leave it behind.

The patchwork upholstery of the sofa is a permanent reminder that fragments of memory can be given a new life and live on, long after the original actors are gone, much like bits and pieces of memories that live on in a new piece of life writing.

© Sofia A Koutlaki 2020