The Static Dome, the Fluid Bird. A Critical Reflection on L’ÉCOLE’s: Poetry of Birds Exhibition

Yet in Persian Islamic poetry, mysticism, and visual culture, this same connection is articulated differently. Here, mediation does not occur through architectural stability, but through a living, fluid being: the bird. Meaning is carried not by stasis, but by motion; not by structure, but by flight. 

The exhibition Poetry of Birds, held at L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts Dubai until 25 th April 2026, unfolds precisely at this conceptual threshold. The bird is not presented merely as an ornamental motif, but as a mediator between the material world and the realm of meaning. What architecture expresses through form, the exhibition translates into movement. It proposes a shift from structure to fluidity, from matter to transcendence, allowing the visitor to read the exhibition across multiple layers of interpretation. 

In Islamic mysticism, the bird is an allegory of the soul, rising from the material world in search of truth. In Attar of Nishapur’s Conference of the Birds, birds represent seekers on the path to enlightenment, journeying through seven valleys to reach the Simurgh. This vertical ascent of the soul mirrors the metaphysical relationship between earth and heaven: a relationship that architecture renders through the dome, while mysticism expresses through flight. In Persian miniature painting, birds appear in paradisiacal gardens, alongside the Tree of Life, or within the margins of tiles and manuscripts, symbolizing ascension, spiritual delicacy, and the presence of meaning beyond the visible world. 


Cartier: Peacock brooch, 1947. Gold, platinum, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires.


In the exhibition, this concept is reimagined in a contemporary language. My experience unfolded exactly as Sophie Claudel, the school’s director, wished for in the catalogue: first the beauty of forms, then the quiet harmony of space, and finally an overwhelming sense of wonder. On the opening day, I left the gallery several times only to return again, unable to detach myself. A sentence formed in my mind: the static dome, the fluid bird. What architecture expresses through structure, the exhibition expresses through movement, through the metaphysics of flight. 

Throughout the exhibition, the precision of the curatorial vision devised by Marie Laure Cassius Duranton was evident and deeply impressive. Everywhere, one could sense a curatorial mind trained in both art history and the material culture of jewelry. Carpets hung on the walls became platforms for imagined departures. The jeweled birds appeared to rise directly from their woven surfaces, as if the two-dimensional motifs of the rug had awakened, taken breath, and moved into space. This passage from motif to motion, from ornament to presence, dissolved the boundary between painting and sculpture. One felt not merely in the presence of the works but within the very moment of flight. Every aspect, from stone selection and cutting to the slightest inclination of gold or silver, was executed with astonishing refinement, a level of precision closer to poetry than to craft. 


From left to right: Mauboussin: Peacock brooch, c.1960's. Gold, platinum, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires.
Van cleef & Arpels: Bird clip, 1969. Yellow gold, emeralds, rubies, diamonds.
Cartier: Bird brooch, c.1950's Gold, platinum, rubies, emeralds, diamonds.


The exhibition staged a dialogue among disciplines: image, text, and object. Jewelry pieces, miniatures, tiles, photographs, and the textual excerpts on the walls formed new constellations of meaning. The open, floorless birdcages suspended from above symbolized release rather than confinement, as if imaginary birds had left the cages behind and settled in the vitrines instead. This sense of liberation echoed the same spiritual release central to mysticism. 

One of the most intellectually compelling aspects of the exhibition was its research-based approach to display. 
Placing a Safavid ceramic bowl painted with birds beside a twentieth or twenty-first-century bird-shaped jewel was not a simple aesthetic decision but a form of visual research. It demonstrated how a single motif travels across media and centuries, from pottery to miniature painting, from manuscript to jewelry, from East to West. This dialogue appeared repeatedly: a Qajar tile beside a French Art Nouveau peacock belt, a Persian miniature beside enamel pendants by Piel Frères or Boucheron. Each juxtaposition allowed viewers to trace processes of transformation, translation, and reinterpretation over time. 


Left: Probably English. Pheasant brooch, c.1890's. Platinum, gold, diamonds, ruby, demantoid garnets. 
Right: Huqqa base. Blue and white glazed ceramic. Iran, 11th century AH/17th century AD.


A striking moment in the exhibition was the placement of a 1970s bird jewel crafted in silver, gold, and citrine beside a contemporary work. This pairing did not produce a linear historical narrative but revealed something more profound: a dialogue of temporalities. Past, present, and future stood side by side not for comparison but to reveal metamorphosis. One could observe the progression from ornate detail to minimal line, from the weight of material to the lightness of form, from naturalistic representation to poetic abstraction. 


The enameling section presented the meeting point of Iran and Europe with remarkable clarity. Enamelwork, perfected in Safavid and Qajar Iran, became a source of inspiration for European jewelers in the late nineteenth century. Colors, bird motifs, rhythmic lines, and compositional structures migrated from Persian ceramics and miniatures into French enamels, reshaped by the demands of industry and the aesthetic language of the Western luxury market. This was the moment when reproduction transformed into creative adaptation. 

Left: Cartier Paris: Duck brooch,1968. Gold, tiger's eye, turquoise, black, green and red lacquer.
Right: Mattar: Duck brooch,2024. Natural Bahrani pearls, oud wood, diamond, gold.


The enameling section presented the meeting point of Iran and Europe with remarkable clarity. Enamelwork, perfected in Safavid and Qajar Iran, became a source of inspiration for European jewelers in the late nineteenth century. Colors, bird motifs, rhythmic lines, and compositional structures migrated from Persian ceramics and miniatures into French enamels, reshaped by the demands of industry and the aesthetic language of the Western luxury market. 

This was the moment when reproduction transformed into creative adaptation. 

Falize: Suite including a brooch, a belt-buckle and a bracelet, circa 1900. Wartski.


The peacock held a special position in the exhibition, whether in early twentieth-century French belts or mid-century cigarette cases. The expanding geometry of its feathers revealed a fractal logic: movement from center to periphery, self-similarity and rhythmic repetition. In Iranian tradition, the peacock symbolizes paradise, beauty, multiplicity, and in mystical literature, the fragmented self. The exhibition placed these symbolic and geometric worlds in dialogue, bringing together Iranian geometry and modern aesthetics.


Van Cleef & Arpels: Peacock nécessaire, 1951. Van Cleef & Arpels Collection.


The final section, dedicated to environmental concerns, featuring Faisal Alrais’s photographs, formed an ethical conclusion. The endangered Houbara Bustard created a bridge between beauty and responsibility, echoing both the melting wings of Icarus and the mystical idea that ascent is impossible without confronting the self.  


Faisal Alrais: Houbara Bustard Feather, 2025. Courtesy of Faisal Alrais.


Poetry of Birds was not merely an exhibition of jewelry but a multilayered journey, moving from beauty to reflection, from history to the present, from matter to meaning, and from stillness to flight. It offered an experience in which form, technique, poetry, philosophy, and history converged and moved together, tracing the bird’s path from ornamental motif to metaphysical ascent. 

Banafsheh Hemmati.



Poetry of Birds exhibition display.


Poetry of Birds exhibition display.


Poetry of Birds exhibition display.


Poetry of Birds exhibition display.


Poetry of Birds exhibition display.

About the author

Banafsheh Hemmati is a designer-artist based between Dubai and Tehran, working at the intersection of jewelry, sculpture, and site-specific installation. With a background in Industrial Design, she holds a PhD in Philosophy of Art, with a research focus on geometry and its philosophical transformation from Islamic to contemporary contexts. Her artistic practice explores the reinterpretation of Islamic geometric forms as a critical and conceptual visual language that bridges Eastern and Western aesthetics. Hemmati’s work is part of prestigious collections, including the DIFC Private Collection and the Carpet Museum of Iran. She is also a contributing writer at AJF Art Jewelry Forum.