Culture

Iranwire – On Wednesday, August 25, the Iranian parliament gave its vote of confidence to Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili, President Ebrahim Raisi’s pick for the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Raisi’s choice was greeted with anger and dismay by many artists in Iran and the diaspora, some of whom called him “illiterate” and even compared his cultural outlook to that …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Pioneering Iranian alternative rock band, Kiosk have released a new musical film and album titled “Sweet Destiny.” Based on a historic 1853 photograph of a public execution by cannon fire in Iran, it is the first professional Farsi language album or film of its kind to be dedicated to the subject of the death penalty. …

Al-Monitor – Iran “is no Stalin-era Soviet Union,” read a statement issued by Iran’s National Union of Theater Directors, addressing Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili, the proposed minister of culture in the new administration of hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi. The statement was part of growing outrage against an 80-page document released by the proposed minister outlining his vision for the future of Iranian art and culture. Esmaili, 46, particularly lashed out …

CHRI – Iranian American musician and songwriter Marjan Farsad released a new song today about political prisoners in Iran, a country where people are jailed for peacefully exercising basic human rights such as free speech. Produced by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), Farsad’s newly released Persian-language song, “Mahtab” (Moonlight), is dedicated to two of her friends who were imprisoned in Iran …

RFL/RE – UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has inscribed the Trans-Iranian Railway onto its World Heritage List. The committee announced on July 25 that the railway, which connects the Caspian Sea in the northeast with the Persian Gulf in the southwest, has been added to the list, along with three other sites. “Started in 1927 and completed in 1938, the 1,394-kilometer-long …

Iranwire – The story Manuscripts Do Not Burn, by Mohammad Rasulov, begins with a murder by Khosro, a low-ranking employee of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, whose mission it is to kill intellectuals and writers. The story Manuscripts Do Not Burn, by Mohammad Rasulov, begins with a murder by Khosro, a low-ranking employee of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, whose mission it is to …

Iranwire – Censorship became a fact of life for art and culture in Iran with the 1979 Islamic Revolution and many artists and writers were sacrificed to the repression of the freedom of expression. Many were forced to leave Iran – those who were forced to stay were also forced to censor themselves to support the new Islamic Republic’s ideology. Censorship …

Iranwire – Eighteen Iranian filmmakers who criticized the recent 25-year cooperation agreement between Iran and China have been told to withdraw their signatures or face blacklisting. On April 4, the 18 industry figures had published an open letter condemning the deal, stating that it was against the national interest and the contents were being “kept hidden from the Iranian people”. …

nationalgeographic – The UN has marked 21 March as International Nowruz Day — a celebration of spring and the connection between humans and nature. Here, we look at the similarities between, and peculiarities across, the nations that commemorate this ancient rite. BY FARIDA ZEYNALOVAPUBLISHED 18 MAR 2021, 08:06 GMT Although ‘Novruz’ was stifled in Azerbaijan under the Soviet regime, families continued to celebrate …

Iranwire – Sweets and nuts are always among the most popular items on the table at Nowruz, Iranian New Year. But this year, skyrocketing prices have meant few Iranians have been able to buy enough. Three days before the dawn of the Persian calendar year 1400, our citizen journalist visited the markets of central Tehran to find out more. *** …