by Conversation with Majid Balouch, entitled “A Look at Iranian Graphics”, prepared by Arash Tanhaei, Tandis bi-weekly, No. 148, 5 May 2009
Majid Balouch
This text is taken from the section related to Majid Balouch’s remarks about Master Jalil Ziapour in the main conversation.
Majid Balouch, graphic designer, born in 1937 in Tehran, is a sociology graduate from the University of Tehran and from the second generation of Iranian graphic designers. He is self-taught in graphics and, from 1959 to the present, has been engaged in professional activity in the field of graphic design without any pretense. According to the late Momayyez: at a time when many designers were experiencing other occupations, he was still busy with graphic work. His name is seen alongside the names of the most famous advertising agencies in Iran, such as Universal, Ziba Advertising Agency, Avazeh Organization, Caspian, and so on. Balouch is also the winner of a silver medal from the advertising poster festival in New York (1964). Unfortunately, the lack of attention to advertising graphics has also affected his brilliant works. He is less inclined to showcase himself and his works. The head of the Museum Committee of the Guild Association of Graphic Designers, today, in the seventh decade of his life, more vibrant than any youth, wishes that Iranian graphics would one day have a dedicated museum of its own.
Q: How did you become interested in the field of art? Where did this activity begin?
In the first year of high school (second cycle), our art teacher was Mr. Sheybani, one of the well-known painters of the time. In the third year of high school, Mr. Jalil Ziapour was our teacher, and he was inspiring for us. He always said that art books should be thrown away; you must think (imagine) and then draw. The first day he came to class, he said: “Take off your shoes and put them on the desk.” All the children put one of their old and torn shoes on the desk. Then he continued, “Now draw.” One day he also went to the blackboard, drew a circle, and said: “Suppose this is a snowball, and you must draw the figure of a person carrying this heavy snowball uphill!” One day Mr. Ziapour also invited us to his home. When we arrived at his house, upon our entry he rang the camel bell he had hung in front of the door, evoking in us the feeling of pahlevans entering a Zurkhaneh! This was how he honored us and made an impression on us.
