Hozan Zangana was 15 when he fled Kurdistan/Iraq with his parents and moved to the Netherlannds. Upon discovering his love of design, Zangana attended the Design Academy in Eindhoven, graduating from its Man and Well Being Department in 2013. He states on his site:
Hozan’s mixed inheritance and his continuous search for new forms are the force behind his revealing and inspiring designs. Hozan describes his creative process as “creating forms by letting my heart guide my hands while silencing my mind”.
Click to see a larger image.
He recently created a tableware set for the Persian new year Nowruz. One tradition during the holiday is the Haft Sin tabletop, an arrangement of seven special items that begin with the letter sīn in the Persian alphabet. The designer told Dezeen that his wife was having trouble finding a set in the Netherlands, and so he made his own. Zangana touches on the alliteration of the tradition in the shape of the objects, which are evocative of the Nastaleeq calligraphy script.
The designer states:
“As a designer I am always looking for elements that represent the blend between my history in Iraq and my life in the Netherlands,” said Zangana.
“I come from a culture with a long history that is full of traditions and customs. Research has led me to go back in time, let’s say six or seven thousand years ago.”
“But I have also looked at what we have today,” he added. “What came out of the research was calligraphy and the nastaliq script, which I have used for the lines and shapes.”
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Haft Sin collection by Hozan Zangana. Images courtesy of the designer. Click to see a larger image. Photographs: Lisa Klappe. Ceramist: Suzan Becking.
An earlier collection of porcelain crockery by Hozan Zangana, the Kozeh & Finjan set. Photograph by Lisa Klappe.
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