Culture

PayvandNews – The 19th-century Tabib Shushtari mansion has recently been repurposed into a boutique hotel after being fully restored. The mansion is located in the ancient city of Shushtar, southwest Iran. Tabib Shushtari Traditional Hotel www.tabibhouse.com “Being the first traditional residence in Shushtar, it has 10 rooms with a capacity to accommodate 39 people …. a considerable feature of the place is …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Islamic Azad University (IAU), which was established by moderate Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, is now in the hands of hard-liners who have decided to lay off pro-reform professors. After Rafsanjani’s death in January 2017, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei named his conservative foreign policy adviser Ali Akbar Velayati as the head of IAU’s board of founders. Velayati …

PayvandNews – A collection of woodworks created on the theme of acid attacks is currently on display during an exhibition in Tehran. The exhibition entitled “Identity” opened at Ashiane-ye Mehr Gallery (گالری آشیانه مهر) on Friday during a special ceremony, which was attended by the artists and several victims of acid attacks. “The exhibition is actually talking about an identity they lose and …

Al-Monitor – Iranian director Ebrahim Hatamikia‘s “Damascus Time” is the first major Iranian film about the country’s presence in Syria. Ever since its first screening at Iran’s Fajr International Film Festival in February, the film has caused controversy, both for its take on the subject and its artistic value.

Guardian – In her 38-year career, which is as long as the history of the Islamic republic, Iran’s first and only female conductor had led as many public performances as the number of fingers that hold her baton. Last month, however, Nezhat Amiri conducted a 71-member orchestra performing at Tehran’s most prestigious concert hall – a remarkable milestone in a …

RFL/RE – With more than 10,000 religious shrines dotting Iran to mark where descendants of Shi’ite Islam’s most revered imams are said to have been buried, many of them go unnoticed.   By Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL The ancient ruins of Persepolis is one of Iran’s 22 UNESCO World Heritage sites. (file photo by Islamic Republic News Agency) With more than …

PayvandNews -After-hours Special Preview of “The Prince and the Shah: Royal Portraits from Qajar Iran” Feb. 23

PayvandNews – Separate teams of Italian and Spanish experts will join hands with Iranian counterparts to cope with spreading lichens in Persepolis, a World Heritage site in southern Iran.

filmjournal -The fascinating animated drama Tehran Taboo doesn’t dismiss outright the reality that many residents of the Iranian city might enjoy happily devout or mundane lives, going about their business by the strict codes and regulations of the Islamic Republic. However, this film, written and directed by Ali Soozandeh, is wholly disinterested in those who are leading devoutly moral lives. …

theverge – The news came down on Thanksgiving Day. ASL19 founder Ali Karimzadeh Bangi, one of the leading lights of the expat Iranian digital rights community, appeared in court on charges of sexual assault and forcible imprisonment. The following day, he would be forced to cut ties with ASL19 entirely. For many in civil society groups, the court appearance came …