“بابا آب داد (Baabaa Aab Daad)- Father Gave Water is an homage to language and tactility inspired by my toddler’s wood blocks and my love for the Persian language. This phrase, Baabaa Aab Daad made of wood block modules is translated to ‘Father Gave Water’ which is the first sentence first graders learn in Iran. The reason for this is that it has very basic sound and lettering using the A, B, and D (the first letters in the Persian alphabet which is similar to English being an Indo-European language).
Additionally, I have embedded in this book a small history of a wonderful man who further developed the first grade book and co-founded the nomadic schools in Iran. I decided to entangle him in the book since my research on the phrase ‘Baabaa Aab Daad’ brought him to the foreground. He appeared in a lovely movie titled Gabbeh by Makhmalbaaf in the 90’s showing the simple life of a rug fiber colorist in Shiraz and the dream concept behind making Gabbeh (a kind of simple colorful nomadic thick Persian rug). He was also an herbal colorist of fiber in his real life.”