{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1789524"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1789524/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1789524","accessionNumber":"38041024001737","objectType":"Artist's book","titles":[{"title":"Father gave water","type":""}],"summaryDescription":"Adili drew inspiration from her childhood education in Iran, where all young children learn the phrase Baabaa Aab Daad, or ‘Father Gave Water’, as a foundational example of elemental letter and sound composition in Persian. B, A, and D are all letters in the first part of the alphabet, and babies from different cultures pronounce these letters as their initial sounds. When her own daughter was a toddler learning multiple languages, Adili was inspired to develop a system of blocks and puzzles within a book, to aid her learning.\r\n\r\nThe ‘pixellated’ typography of the book is designed by the artist. The wooden cubes can be playfully moved and repositioned across the letters and words embedded in the book. Adili intends the cubes as a modular system for understanding the proportions of letterforms, encouraging a viewer/reader to engage with the fundamentals of the Persian language. The book also includes an English phonetic key for the Persian alphabet and color-coded diagrams that break the sentence down word-by-word. \r\n\r\nAs part of her research for the project, Adili learned of the Iranian educator Seyyed Abbas Sayyahi, whose legacy is tied to the phrase ‘Father Gave Water’. The book tells the story of Sayyahi, who – according to Adili – drafted the country’s first-grade curriculum and wrote its textbook, and co-founded a system of schools to serve the nomadic population. \r\nAdili was a finalist of Jameel Prize 6 in 2021, and this work resonates with the installation she showed in Jameel Prize: Poetry to Politics, which dealt with the Persian language and the epistolary archive of her father.","physicalDescription":"Felt pads with die cut slots. Blocks placed in slots spell a Persian phrase.\r\nColor portrait of Seyed Abbas Sayyahi, co-founder of the nomadic schools of Iran and first grade teacher with whom the Persian title phrase is associated in Iran, mounted on inner panel.\r\n\"The text is set in Calibri Regular, letterpress printed on Colorplan paper. I have used wood cubes to construct the Persian letters, a modular typography I designed, and felt for the base into which the wooden letters are inserted. The covers are bound in Duo Bookcloth\"--Colophon.\r\n\"Book design and binding: Golnar Adili. Hot Stamping: Biruta Auna. Letterpress: Roni Gross\"--Colophon.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Adili, Golnar","id":"AUTH361945"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"fabric","id":"THES345037"},{"text":"card","id":"x37633"},{"text":"felt","id":"AAT14107"},{"text":"ink","id":"AAT15012"},{"text":"wood","id":"AAT11914"}],"techniques":[{"text":"printing","id":"AAT53319"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Artists' Books","id":"THES261563"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"NAL","id":"THES48605"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"none","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"NAL","id":"THES251738"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Artist's book","id":"AAT123016"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Florida","id":"x29785"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2020","earliest":"2020-01-01","latest":"2020-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Jameel Acquisition","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"148","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"closed"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"173","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"closed"},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"43","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"closed"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Purchased thanks to the Jameel fund in 2024. ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Artist's book, Baabaa aab daad (Father gave water), by Golnar Adili, Fort Lauderdale, Florida: IS Projects, LLC [now Miami Paper & Printing Museum], 2020.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Limited edition","id":"THES48862"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["38041024001737"],"accessionNumberNum":"38041024001737","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"NAL Pressmark","id":"THES56809"},"number":"801.BB.0009"},{"type":{"text":"RF number","id":"THES57673"},"number":"2024/48"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-06-11","recordCreationDate":"2024-10-18","availableToBook":false}}