Culture

Radiofarda – US. and Iranian leaders issued statements or delivered speeches on the occasion of the Iranian New Year or Norooz (Nowrouz), March 21, all vying for the attention and sympathy of the people in Iran, who are facing one their hardest year’s ahead. These messages inevitably had a heavy political tone, with leaders blaming one another for increasing hardship …

Al-Monitor – Alarmed by losing viewers to home videos or online broadcasts, Iranian state TV has found a not-so-original way to keep Iranians interested: copycatting popular Western shows. The controversial move has brought both praise and criticism. In recent years, state TV has lost many of its viewers for different reasons. The public broadcaster, controlled fully by hard-liners, is often accused of not being objective in …

Al-Monittor – Millions of Iranian viewers had to spend a Monday night without “90,” a wildly popular soccer show hosted by Adel Ferdowsipour, who is widely believed to have kept Iranians tuned to a national broadcaster that has been grappling with a serious audience crisis. Ferdowsipour’s debate-oriented program was starkly different from conventional Iranian TV shows, breaking away from common clichés and formalities. The show …

PayvandNews – ‘Chaharshanbeh Suri‘, observed on the eve of the last Wednesday before the Iranian New Year (Norooz), is a ‘festival of fire’ from ancient times, which is now barely recognizable from its original from in the hustle and bustle of metropolis Tehran. The concept is indeed intriguing: The eve of the last Wednesday (so technically, Tuesday evening) before the turn …

PayvandNews – Persian New Year Norooz is around the corner. This is a festive occasion for Iranians and many other countries in the region. There are many local cheerful customs associated with Norooz. One such custom is called “Norooz Khani” which is performed in some of the villages and towns.  Photos by Marjohn Sheikhi, Mehr News Agency On the last Wednesday of the year, people …

Radiofarda – Thousands of Iranian actors, filmmakers, and other artists are on a secret blacklist banning them from performing or presenting their work publicly, a former director of Iran’s state-run radio and TV has revealed. Former Director-General of the Iranian State Radio & TV (IRIB), Mohammad Sarafraz, undated. Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the state-run entity that monopolizes all …

RFL/RE – Videos shared on social media recently have demonstrated the “shocking levels of abuse” women in Iran face from morality police and pro-government “thugs” seeking to enforce the country’s strict dress code, Amnesty International says. “Iran’s forced hijab laws are not only deeply degrading and discriminatory, they are also being used to justify violent assaults on women and girls …

Al-Monitor – “Which of these faces is the real me as an Iranian woman?” That is the question the Berlin-based artist Mona Hakimi-Schueler posed more than a decade ago with a series of self-portraits depicting her in 20 different outfits ranging from a sundress to a chador. The paintings were inspired by debates in Germany over whether female teachers should be allowed to wear headscarves in classrooms. “I used to …

PayvandNews – An Iranian team from University of Science and Technology has gained a citation award at The 2019 International Architecture at Zero competition in the US.  Students of ‘the School of Architecture and Environmental Design’ of the Iranian university claimed third place by winning the Citation Award along with three other teams from the US and one from Poland (see …

PayvandNews – Samanoo festival, a joyous occasion where people cook Samanoo – a traditional Iranian sweet paste made entirely from mashed germinated wheat – was celebrated in Daraq, North Khorasan Province, on Thursday March 28, 2019. Some 60 participants took part in the cooking festival. Samanoo, prepared in advance of arrival of Persian New Year Norooz, is one of the components of …