Vinyl Destination

Ali Bakhtiari has turned a passion for Persian pop into a new book, dedicated to the soundtracks of Iran's recent past   One of the greatest allures of today’s Iran is the collective perception of it – a country that lacks colour, a land of stark contrasts best viewed in black and white – which is smashed to pieces upon entry into this ancient and soulful land.   Perhaps the greatest contributing factor to these decades-long assumptions about Iran is just how different it was only 35 years ago. It was a country modernising at a never before seen rate and the reaction to this unnatural progress still reverberates today.   Iran: RPM Vol. 1 is a nostalgic but unsentimental look back at this era. It is a collection of Iranian vinyl soundtrack covers in book form, by Magic of Persia and sponsored by the Salsali Private Museum and Anvantgarde Global, launched by the multi-talented Ali Bakhtiari in Dubai late last year.   Bakhtiari is a difficult man to categorise. When asked what he considers himself to be, his response seems simple enough: ‘I see myself as a curator.’ Too accomplished and savvy to be classified as simply a jack of all trades, Bakhtiari is a renaissance man in a city in desperate need of more of them. Equal parts businessman, researcher, collector and impresario, he is helping to reshape the contemporary Iranian art scene by looking back at Iran’s not so distant past.   ‘Our country went through a revolution that was very radical, which tried to destroy our contemporary past. A part of this destruction was cultural,’ says Bakhtiari, explaining the inspiration for Iran: RPM. ‘A part of our artistic and cultural history has been unwritten and is in danger of being extinguished.’ Vinyl records, he adds, are a particularly endangered species, as besides the 1979 revolution, the 1974 introduction of the audiocassette ushered in a rapid decline in the production of vinyl.   His home office in a quiet section of Tehran’s Farmanieh neighbourhood provides a glimpse into the subtlety that makes Bakhtiari – besides being a knowledgeable professional in his field – an enjoyable conversationalist to be around. Asked about the value of the many works of art that cover much of his understated apartment, he responds, ‘Well, the art is worth more than the apartment itself.’ Looking around, it is easy to see why.   At only 28 it may be surprising just how much Bakhtiari has been able to accomplish so early in life, but one must consider that he began on an accelerated course, which was fuelled by his own sense of curiosity and a deep desire to learn. Recognised for his aptitude from the time he was a toddler, already reading by age 4, Bakhtiari’s parents enrolled him in a school for gifted children. ‘My family really gave me the opportunity to learn,’ says Bakhtiari, who was obsessed with books from a young age.   ‘I had great access to world and Persian literature,’ he shares, recounting reading some of the classics in his early teen years. Understanding at the time that the scenes they described were beyond his tender scope, he calls them a ‘premonition of life.’   Another early passion was film. At 14 he joined the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art’s cinematek, becoming its youngest member. According to Bakhtiari, experiencing this detailed and specialised study of film was the ‘ignition for me beginning my career in art.’   And then he got practical. In high school he studied mathematics and later earned a university degree in bio-medical engineering. Finishing his education, he says, was an obligation of respect to his parents, but he knew that science was not his destiny.   In 2008 he opened the short-lived Gallery 66 in Tehran, which he considers a seminal experience in his growth. ‘Before the gallery I was part of the audience of Tehran’s art scene, not a member of it,’ Bakhtiari shares. He believes the experience of interacting with a broad cross section of Iranian society prepared him to more fully integrate into the city’s artistic community. Gallery 66 was a success for Bakhtiari, putting on shows for young local artists that sold well. He understood, though, that he would not be able to flourish tethered to one location.   Bakhtiari next planned an ambitious project to document vinyl recordings of pre-revolutionary Iranian pop music. He began collecting in 1999, scouring flea markets, bookstores and second-hand shops for years, to the point where he is now locally regarded as an authority on vinyl records and is sought out by potential buyers and sellers. After some time he realised that movie soundtracks had begun to dominate his collection, and the niche soon became an intention.   For most, a collection is little more than a hobby. For Bakhtiari though, like other aspects of his life, he sees collecting as an opportunity. ‘The added value of any collection is education,’ he says. Among his favourites from the collection are a complete series by the original Iranian diva, Googoosh, along with soundtracks to the films Be Gharar and Gheysar, the covers of which was designed by Iranian filmmaking legend Abbas Kiarostami when he was still unknown.   Through his study of cinema, Bakhtiari has come to understand that soundtracks were once an essential part of the economy of any Iranian film production. While not everyone went to see the films in the cinema, the songs were all given massive airplay to promote them.   Combining his two early loves, books and cinema, Bakhtiari has compiled a beautifully arranged and researched volume. By cataloguing the soundtracks of films from the 1960s and 1970s, Iran: RPM Vol. I helps tell the tale of Iranian society's fast transition, which was dramatically halted by the 1979 revolution. It’s a detailed look at a side of Iran that existed not too long ago, yet is unfamiliar to millions of young Iranians – Bakhtiari included – born after 1979.   Looking at the still frames from the films, their posters and the soundtrack covers, one can see an easy acceptance of flesh from the filmmaking community that was not shared by the country’s vast population. Regarding the eroticism in the films’ materials, Bakhtiari says empathetically, ‘it was just too much for a religious society.’   Perhaps most gratifying to Bakhtiari is the reception his book has received from the academic community. Several university libraries, including the University of California’s Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses, as well as the American Library of Congress and the British Museum, have all included Iran: RPM as part of their Iranology collections.   Already nearly done with the the second volume of Iran: RPM Vol. I, and with plans for a third, Ali Bakhtiari’s early and ongoing success can be summed up by his simple motto, that ‘whatever you believe in and pour your love and effort into will work.’   Photography: Maryam Rahmanian