With a quick look at the works visitor can understand the general view of the participating cartoonists, who tried to direct public attention towards the point that in spite of the world being inundated with different sorts of communication means like internet, satellite and TV still book remains the most steadfast friend of mankind.

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First Prize: Mehdi Mohammadi Rouzbahani from Iran

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Second Prize: Naser Moghadam from Iran

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Third Prize: Florian Doru Crihana from Romania

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Special Prize: Jugoslav Vlahovic from Serbia

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Special Prize: Oleksy Kustovsky from Ukraine

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Special Prize: Paolo Dalponte from Italy

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Special Prize: Saman Ahmadi from Iran

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Special Prize: Sevket Yalaz from Turkey

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Special Prize: Shahram Rezaei from Iran

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Special Prize: Valentin Druzhinin from Russia

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Ali Paknahad from Iran

Source: PressTV and  irancartoon

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2. Cartoons: Iranian women in Metro by Elham Ataei Azar

“The sky is mine” was key theme of the exhibition and the aim was creating a healthy competitive environment for growth and promotion of young talents.

This year’s jury panel included Rima Eslam-Maslak, HamidSouri, Morteza Nematollahi, Malek Dadyar and Kourosh Golnari.

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Photos: Ali Mohammadi from IIPA and  Nazanin Kazemi from JameJam

Related Posts:

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2. Exhibition: Tehran-New York

The Tehran Metro is a rapid transit system serving Tehran, the capital of Iran. On all Tehran metro trains, the first and last carriages are reserved for women who do not wish to ride with men in the same car. However, women can still ride other cars freely. The Tehran Metro carried an average of 1.26 million passengers a day and 447 million passengers per year in 2009-2010.

Below are 25 of 31 illustrations.

boronze (Tanned)

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Daneshjoo (University Student)

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Daneshjoo-e sharifi (Sharif Univesity Studend)

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Dehati (Villager)

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Diploma (Graduate)

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Fasion (Fashion)

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Foroshande (Salesperson)

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Honari (Artist)

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Karmand (Office employee)

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Khanoom (the lady?)

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Kharidar (Shopper)

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Khoffash (Bat)

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Kom (from city of Gom?)

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Kopoli (Chubby)

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Mo Ghermez (Red Head)

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Madar (Mother)

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Moallem (Teacher)

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Pirzan (Old Lady)

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Por Mashghale (Busy)

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Posht Konkori (Not Passing University Entrance Exam Yet)

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Qalb (Heart)

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Roshanfekr (Intellectual)

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Taro Tamiz (Clean Cut)

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Untitled

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Varzeshkar (Sportsperson)

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Source: Irancartoon

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Works by 8 of the most promising Iranian contemporary artists will be on free public exhibition at the prestigious Royal College of Art in London during London’s Frieze Week from October 10–15, 2011. The exhibition concludes with a charity auction of the exhibited works conducted by Christie’s – directly followed by an announcement revealing the MOP CAP 2011 Winner.

This unique Prize was established in 2008 by Magic of Persia (MOP) as part of their efforts to nurture and develop Iranian cultural practitioners of the arts outside of Iran. Proceeds from the auction of Finalists’ works are dedicated to sustaining the Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize (MOP CAP).

Dariush Nehdaran - The Life of-Shadows

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Hesam Rahmanian - Ahmadinejad (Green)

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Arash Fayez - Ramblings of a Flaneur

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Babak Golkar - Blue Gold

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Mehdi Farhadian - Plague

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Shirin Sabahi - Swede Home

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Niyaz Azadikhah - Line 1

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Shahrzad Changalvaee - Motherland

Selected from over 100 nominees, the Finalists were chosen from a shortlist of 25 who were exhibited at Traffic, Dubai during March 2011.

The winner will be selected by a revered judging panel whose members include leading figures from the Iranian and International art scenes:

Zaha Hadid – Founding Partner, Zaha Hadid Architects
Ramin and Rokni Haerizadeh – Artists
Shirazeh Houshiary- Artist

Ali Khadra (Chair) – Publisher & Editor in Chief, Canvas Magazine
Idris Khan – Artist
Abaseh Mirvali – President, Mirvali Projects

Mohammad Mottahedan – Art Patron
Hans Ulrich Obtrist – Co-Director of Exhibitions and Programmes, and Director of International Projects, Serpentine Gallery, London

The MOP CAP winner will be awarded a solo exhibition at a leading gallery in London in 2012. For MOP CAP 2011, the winner’s prize has been generously sponsored by Mr Farbod Dowlatshahi.

For information on Magic of Persia, visit: www.magicofpersia.com

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2. Photos: Eighteenth International Youth Visual Arts Festival, Gorgan-Iran

Countries participated in the event included Pakistan, Turkey, Brazil, Italy, Lebanon, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Tajikistan, India, Tunisia, Croatia, Syria, Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana. Iran’s 2011 International Youth Visual Arts Festival was held from September 10 to 14, 2011.

Photos by Aghil Mahghani from Shabestan

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The Mehregan Organizing Committee is pleased to announce that the 15th Annual Persian Festival of Autumn (Mehregan 2011) is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, October 1 – 2, 2011 at the Lakeside Lagoon Park in Irvine, California.

Since 1994, volunteers from several organizations in Southern California have gathered annually to create an extraordinary outdoor family event that includes an array of activities such as arts & crafts, music, poetry, live performances, dance, children’s activities, and ethnic food. The number of participants has grown steadily over the years to more than 20,000 attendees.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Mehregan (Mehr-e-gan) is a Persian Festival of Autumn to honor the mythical Goddess Mehr (Mitra) for her triumph over ignorance and darkness in the name of love, knowledge, and commitment. Mehregan is also a tribute to nature, the change in seasons, and a time of Fall Harvest. It has been celebrated for the past 6,000 years in the land of Persia.

Further information regarding the festival including sponsorship, business and art display booths, entertainment and volunteer opportunities is available on the web at www.nipoc.org or calling NIPOC at (949) 851-3993.

Mehregan is a non-profit, nonpolitical, and non-religious event organized by the Mehregan Organizing Committee of NIPOC (Network of Iranian-American Professionals of Orange County) and volunteers from other organizations within the community.

Mehregan 2011 Organizing Committee
Network of Iranian-American Professionals of Orange County (NIPOC)
(949) 851-3993

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AB PROJECTS Zurich showcases Iranian artist Samira Alikhanzadeh. Old photographs and the play with colors and mirror fragments are characteristic of the series “With the Passage of Time”. The single mirror elements open the art work to its surrounding and create a dialogue between the observer and the work.

Observer Position

Samira Alikhanzadeh – What began as an obsession with windows and light sources in interiors, became the main element in my initial works and has stayed with me to the present.

By taking the position of an observer, I created an overlay of window-like openings to the interiors within my composition, and introduced human figures and forms as part of the cold and grey atmosphere within my impression of a society filled with deeply satirical contrasts reflected by my use of blues, purples, and greens.

The human figures and forms, mainly of children, girls and wedding images of brides and grooms in the form of found photographs render the passage of time as a melancholic truth yet they also express the humour found in most old photographs reflected by hair and dress styles of the day: just as our photographs may be found amusing by their viewers in the not too distant future.

By the application of shards of mirror, I created a marked though incomplete presence of the viewers within the framework of my composition. They in turn become a part of the composition and possible descendants of the subjects, looking into a past, or perhaps like I, satisfying their voyeuristic urge to enter the lives and memories of generations gone by.

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Curriculum

1998 MFA Painting from Tehran Azad University, Art and Architecture School

Solo Exhibitions
2005 Golestan Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2004 Golestan Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2001 Golestan Gallery, Tehran, Iran
1999 Golestan Gallery, Tehran, Iran

AB GALLERY ZURICH + AB PROJECTS

Klausstrasse 23 · 8008 Zurich
Phone: +41 41 982 08 80
Mobil: +41 79 69 805 69
E-mail: office@ab-gallery.com
www.ab-gallery.com

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The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, which is the recipient of two previous PARSA CF grants, has been awarded a $200,000 grant for their important work on capturing, recording, and distributing the information from the famous tablets of the Persepolis Fortification Archive (PFA). The archive is comprised of some 30,000 clay tablets and fragments found in 1933 by the Oriental Institute archeologists, examining and clearing the ruins of Persepolis palaces of kings Darius and Xerxes and their successors, near Shiraz.

The tablets contain close to 20,000 original texts in cuneiform and Elamite language, Aramaic script and language, and seal impressions, and are currently on loan from Iran at the Oriental Institute.

PFA is the largest and most consequential single source of information on the Achaemenid Persian Empire at its zenith. It provides a very important portal into the languages, art, society, administration, history, geography and religion in the heart of the Persian Empire in the time of Darius I, around 500 BC. It has fundamentally transformed every aspect of modern research on Achaemenid history and culture.

The PFA Project at the Oriental Institute is responsible for carefully cleaning these important ancient tablets, taking high resolution digital imagery of the texts on the tablets, exploring various technologies for the best imaging of the tablets such as 3D, laser, and CT scanning),  and recording the texts and impressions. An editorial team within the group reviews and prepares editions of the texts, and all of the tablets, texts and impressions are carefully cataloged for publication and archiving. At this point more than 8000 tablets are completed, resulting in almost 40 Terabytes of data, and the team expects to grow the collection to approximately 11,000 over the next two years.

The tablets have been subject to a long legal battle where plaintiffs suing the Iranian government are asking for the ancient tablets as compensation. With the fate of the archive hanging in balance, the PFA Project has been under pressure to clean, scan, and record as many tablets as possible and as fast as possible. The grant from PARSA CF helped the PFA Project during an urgent time, since the project was in critical need for servers and other resources. An appellate court ruling a while later at the end of March came out with favorable result for the PFA, although the battle still continues.

The PFA project has received support from many other organizations besides PARSA CF, including the Andrew Melon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Iran Heritage Foundation is also working closely with the PFA project, and supports and promotes their work.

“After almost eighty years, the Persepolis Fortification Archive is producing a growing stream of new information, deeper understanding, and surprising discoveries. Making sure that this stream continues to flow repays the trust and hope that Iran’s loan of the Archive to the Oriental Institute entailed, magnifies the cultural heritage of which these tablets are the humble vessels, and lays that heritage before its cultural heirs and before the civilized world” said Matthew W. Stolper, Director, Persepolis Fortification Archive Project.

The Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian’s Asian art museums in Washington, DC, are renowned for their collections of Iranian art, including rare illuminated manuscripts, Sassanian silver, ancient ceramics, and archival material on Persepolis and Tehran. The chief curator of the Freer and Sackler galleries, Dr. Massumeh Farhad, is also a world renowned curator of Persian and Islamic art. The $100,000 Persian Cultural Outreach Initiative grant from PARSA CF will enable the Freer and Sackler galleries to create understanding and grow appreciation of Iranian art and cultural history.

The Persian Cultural Outreach Initiative includes two major programs: the annual Iranian Film Festival and a new website, Iran in Photographs.  The Iranian Film Festival is among the most popular public events at the Freer and Sackler galleries, with an audience of more than 12,000 every year.  The films often complement an exhibition, and when possible are accompanied by talks and Q&A sessions with film directors who provide social, cultural, and historical context for the films.

This year the funds from PARSA CF have allowed the Freer and Sackler galleries to bring Granaz Moussavi, the director of the film “My Tehran for Sale” to a full house for two screenings. The Iranian Film Festival provides opportunities to explore contemporary Iran in ways that defy stereotypes, and creates engagement opportunities to familiarize the audience with Iran’s respected cinematic profile.

Iran in Photographs builds on the collection of nearly 1,000 photographs in the Freer and Sackler Archives by the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century photographer, Antoin Sevruguin.  With the grant from PARSA CF, the Freer and Sackler galleries will hire a researcher to develop materials for the website that will place these photographs in historical and cultural framework. Through interactive Web 2.0 elements, users will be able to comment on the photographs, identify individuals in the photographs, and even add their own stories. The goal is to help write an oral and digital history of Iran, while at the same time encouraging a younger generation to increase its understanding and appreciation of Iranian heritage.

The Freer and Sackler galleries are also the first institutional partner of Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF), a major grantee and strategic partner of PARSA CF. As announced previously, PARSA CF has made a grant to IHF to institutionalize its relationship with the Freer and Sackler galleries as well as PARSA CF’s other arts and culture grantees in order to raise the profile of Persian arts in the United States.

With a collection of over 17,000 artworks spanning 6,000 years of history, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is the largest Asian art museum in the US and one of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian Art. The museum’s Persian World and West Asia collection includes ceramics from the Neolithic period all the way to the 19th century, Luristan and Islamic bronzes, miniature paintings and manuscripts. PARSA CF’s $50,000 grant will boost Asian Art Museum’s efforts to build more presentation capacity and expand its content and programs.

As a part of a program called “A Trade and Exchange along the Silk and Spice Roads,” the museum will create Persian arts and history content to align with sixth and seventh grade curriculum standards in history, social science, and visual arts. School teachers will receive training on the new material related to Persian arts in March of 2012.

A portion of the grant will enable the museum to revise and re-publish a family guide to the Persian World and West Asia Gallery. The guide will also be published on the museum’s website as a downloadable PDF booklet. Another part of the grant will enable the museum to incorporate four lectures, focused on Persian and West Asian art, into its docent training program enabling the docents to provide better and more accurate Persian arts information to visitors.  Last but not least, the grant will enable the museum to incorporate material on Persian arts, and specifically Shahnameh, into its K-12 art teacher training curriculum. The lectures for docent training and teacher training will be recorded and made available to the public through the museum’s iTunes UChannel.

“The Asian Art Museum is more than just an art museum. Here you can travel through 6,000 years of history, trek across seven major regions, and sample the cultures of numerous countries. Our education and outreach program connects art to life by creating a stimulating environment for learning and by delivering an enriching and enjoyable experience. The PARSA Community Foundation grant will enable us to showcase the contributions of Persian culture to the world by foregrounding our collections in this area, making it possible for our educators to partake in the latest scholarship on Iranian art, and inviting a multi-cultural community to enjoy Persian art programming” said Jay Xu, director of Asian Art Museum.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has been awarded a $20,000 grant for research, cataloging, and publication of a book focused on its ancient Iranian art collection. This grant builds on a 2008 PRASA CF grant for a curator of ancient Near Eastern and Persian art. LACMA’s ancient Iranian and Near Eastern collection, which was acquired in 1976 and has been expanded and improved over the years, consists of some 1200 objects spanning more than four thousand years. According to Linda Komaroff, the Museum’s Curator of Islamic Art, it is the largest collection of ancient Iranian and Near Eastern artworks in the West Coast of the United Sates. However, despite the importance and uniqueness of this collection, it has never been fully presented in an accessible, published form to scholars and the general public.

The collection catalogs important historical events of ancient Iran from the rise of complex urban societies (seals and writing; ceramic art forms; metallurgy) to the manifestation of great Iranian empires (royal architectural elements from Assyrian palaces and Persepolis; Parthian and Sassanian silverware). Notably, it contains a unique group of ancient Iranian nomadic art reflected in the Bronzes of Luristan and its pre- and proto-historic Iranian pottery includes examples of the distinguished pottery styles and forms from 5000 to 3000 years ago, which are among the earliest examples of ceramic productions on view in North America.

The grant from PARSA CF is being used to catalog this collection and publish the catalog in paper and digital forms, in order to make it accessible to scholars, professionals, and the general public.  The text of the book is under development and the illustrations have been chosen for most of the objects. The team at LACMA expects to publish the book by the end of the year.

“PARSA Community Foundation could not be more appreciative of Drs. Stolper, Farhad, Xu, and Komaroff and the efforts they lead to share wisdom, beauty and history with the global public as well as utilize the arts to create understanding and tolerance amongst all people” enthused Noosheen Hashemi, founder and chairman of PARSA CF.  “Their institutions are guardians of our collective past and catalysts to our peaceful future.”

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2. United Kingdom – Edinburgh Iranian Festival 2011

‘Zendegi’ in Persian means Life. This first major group show of contemporary Iranian artists in Beirut, sheds light on life and art in Iran as seen through the eyes of several of its most prominent and emerging artists.

Coming from different generations, and using diverse media, they present, investigate and interpret current themes and issues of relevance through their own aesthetic language, merging tradition with modernity.

The older generation pays homage to the country’s poetry, architecture and crafts: Monir Farmanfarmaian through her intricate and dazzling modernist compositions of mirrorwork and reverse glass painting, inspired by Islamic geometric patterns; and Mohammed Ehsai through his flowing calligraphy that reshapes old poetry into modern arrangements.

MITRA TABRIZIAN, "SURVEILLANCE"

Traces of letters, landscapes and faces, often merging or morphing into each other, are the subjects of Maliheh Afnan’s timeless works, in which she discreetly explores themes of displacement, exile and veiled lies; while the great filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, in his minimalist film, Shirin, creates through the close-ups of some 100 women’s faces, a fascinating tension between film narrative and film imagery.

Farhad Ahrarnia, "the dig - composition no.2"

The younger generation also draws inspiration from traditional crafts, combined with contemporary aesthetics and techniques. In her beautifully embroidered felt sculptures, Bita Ghezelayagh revives the felt tradition, combining talismans, old imagery and political text with conceptual art.

Shadi Ghadirian, "LIKE EVERYDAY #4"

Embroidery is also a key feature in the work of Farhad Ahrarnia, who manipulates digital images, with threads and needles – From American beauty queens and soldiers and iconic figures from politics or popular culture.

MALIHEH AFNAN, "CONTAINED THOUGHTS"

The relationship between image and politics is also investigated in the work of Taraneh Hemami, who translates photographs of ‘martyrs’ or ‘heroes’ into beaded curtains, thus paying homage to those who sacrificed their lives for freedom.

Farhad Moshiri, MIVEH VA TAREH (FRUITS AND VEGETABLES)

Concern about the status of women – who best embody the conflict between tradition and modernity and the battle of the sexes – is explored in the work of photographer Shadi Ghadirian and multimedia artist Parastou Forouhar.

TARANEH HEMAMI,"HEROES" SERIES

Post-feminism, post-colonialism and the shifting realities of life in post-revolutionary Iran are among the main themes of the work of Mitra Tabrizian, who blurs the boundaries between fiction and reality in her carefully staged photographs.

MONIR FARMANFARMAIAN, "INSTALLATION OF SEVEN ELEMENTS"

Farhad Moshiri’s Reservoirs of Memories – large canvas variations on the theme of vessels, typical of monochromatic functional Iranian pottery, hints at pop and modern consumerist culture through the vernacular sayings inscribed on them.

Parastou Forouhar ,"THE SWANRIDER"

Whether living inside or outside Iran, these artists reflect on the exceptional as well as the ordinary events of daily life.

The exhibition is organised by Beirut Exhibition Center and Solidere (Beirut New Waterfront – Near Bie), curated and produced by Rose Issa Projects. The shows is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue.

Beirut Exhibition on facebook

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In 1976 Elizabeth Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) visited Iran for the first and only time. Accompanying her was Firooz Zahedi, today a successful Hollywood photographer but then a recent art school graduate just learning his craft.

Iran provided an exotic and engaging locale for Taylor, a tireless global wanderer still at the height of her fame. For Zahedi, who had left Iran as a child, this was a reintroduction to his own country, which he experienced not only through the camera lens but through Taylor’s eyes.

It was a remarkable journey for both as documented by Zahedi’s vivid photographs, shown together here for the first time. The pair traveled to the main tourist sites: ancient Persepolis, where the Tent City erected in 1971 for the 2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire was still standing, Shiraz home of poetry and wine, and Isfahan renowned for its beautiful tile-clad buildings.

Grouped in narrative fashion, the images depict people and places with the actress as tourist but one so iconic that she is never anonymous even wrapped in a chador. In the Isfahan bazaar, Taylor was attracted to and purchased a traditional tribal outfit. Dressed in this colorful costume and in full make-up, the film star posed as an Oriental odalisque, an especially suitable persona for one who was herself a male fantasy.

 Though Zahedi was to photograph Taylor many times in the years following their Iran trip, none are as personal, candid, or creative as these unique images.

Sources: lacma.org and Firooz Zahedi

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Iranian born London based artist Afsoon has re-visited the openness and innocence of the late 60s and 70s, and the blossoming of creativity and progress during that era.

From the Arab World to Iran, from the Indian Sub-Continent to Turkey, the movement continues, and in her series of Icons from these four regions, Afsoon has celebrated some of the most outstanding personalities of these decades, hoping to always keep them and their deeds in the limelight.

Amitabh Bachchan

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Afsoon was born in Tehran in 1961. After spending her childhood in Iran, she moved to the USA in 1979 and then settled in London. Her multi faceted life is reflected in her work, where East merges with West and where the result is at once familiar and alien.

Behrouz Vossoughi

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Her works are multi layered and often combine text with images, using various media such as linocuts, photography, collage and etching. The results are rich yet playful and humorous tableaux which the audience is able to interact with and interpret.

Aishwarya Rai

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Her works have been extensively exhibited and are found in prominent collections including that of the British Museum.

Dalida

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Emel Sayin

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Fairuz

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Fardin

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Forouzan

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Googoosh

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Indira-Gandhi

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Iraj Pezeshkzad

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Mahasti

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Nancy Ajram

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Nasser Malek Motei

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Omar Sharif

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Orhan Pamuk

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Queen Noor

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Tarkan

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Umm Kulthum

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Exhibition Viewing Hours:
March 25 to April 4, 2011
13:00‐18:00 Tuesdays through Fridays
April 5 to May 2, 2011
By Appointment Only

Xerxes Art
52 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4RP
t. + (44) (20) 7839-3033

About Xerxes Art

Xerxes Art was the first gallery outside of the Middle East to solely exhibit the contemporary visual arts of Iran and of the World of Islam, and remains the only mainstream gallery outside of the Middle East to focus solely on the contemporary visual arts of the World of Islam including those of Afghanistan, the Arab World, Bangladesh, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey.

Xerxes represents a noted roster of artists, works mainly in the primary market and concentrates on solo or themed exhibitions by both established and emerging artists. In addition, Xerxes offers art advisory and curatorial services to private, corporate and institutional collections and collectors.

Xerxes’ mission is primarily cultural, as opposed to purely commercial, and as such the gallery uses the entirety of its proceeds and funds to promote the contemporary visual arts of the World of Islam inprominent international fora.

Source:  XERXES ART

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Laleh Ardestani, following a period of expressive show casing of humanly bodies full of emotion, has now taken up a more abstract view.

Although one can still see faded shadows of human body mixed in an entangled mass of centric compositions, but in the implementations of her ideal private spaces, this time she chooses a more vague language.

A hidden volume of flesh, veins and fat, behind an anatomical curtain, and on the sidelines of re-exposure, is just like cutting through the cocoon of individual isolationism which of course invites the viewer to touch and join humans without pleading with them.

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______________________________________________

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Henna Art Gallery

Henna Art Gallery on Facebook

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Passion for Perfection will include some 500 objects from the collection of Professor Nasser D. Khalili. From 11 December 2010 to 17 April 2011, De Nieuwe Kerk will glitter with richly illuminated Qur’ans and manuscripts, paintings, gold, jewels, textiles, ceramics, glassware, lacquerware, metalwork, and wood carvings.

These are works of great historical and artistic value, illustrating the refinement and grandeur of Islamic art and bearing witness to a quest for perfect craftsmanship. Passion for Perfection shows that Islamic art is a masterly expression, not of a single national culture or civilization, but of the many peoples joined by Islam for more than 1,400 years.

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At the same time, the exhibition demonstrates the passion and expertise of Professor Khalili, who has assembled an unrivalled private collection of exceptionally fine Islamic art objects. The exhibition designer is Siebe Tettero, particularly known for his work for the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the fashion house of Viktor & Rolf.

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The central theme of Passion for Perfection is the beauty and exquisite workmanship of Islamic art. The Islamic world is highly diverse, geographically and culturally, and more than thirteen centuries of Islamic artistry are represented in the Khalili Collections. It includes masterpieces from all over the Islamic world: from China and India to Iran and Iraq, from Egypt and Tunisia to Turkey and Spain.

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The term ‘Islamic’ does not imply that all these works of art were made specifically for religious purposes; it is their artistic language that is rooted in Islamic philosophy, often reflecting local culture and traditions.

Calligraphic composition in the form of a lion - Ahmed Hilmi - Ink and watercolour on paper - Ottoman Turkey 1913

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Besides calligraphic decoration and geometric patterns, arabesques and elegant scrollwork, there is also a strong emphasis on representations of humans and animals, the latter tolerated only in secular contexts. Many such representations are found in miniature paintings and in virtually all of the branches of the decorative arts.

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The exhibition will be divided into themes such as Captivating Calligraphy, with magnificent illuminated Qur’ans and rare manuscripts dating from the 10th to the 19th century, Shining Showpieces, with ingeniously fabricated jewellery adorned with precious stones, as well as colourful enamels that belonged to India’s Mughal rulers, and Delicately Drawn, with the finest miniatures from Iran and India.

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One highlight is the Jami‘ al-Tawarikh, the first survey of Muslim history, written from the perspective of the Mongol conquerors by Rashid al-Din in 1314’1315.

This is the first time that such a large selection from the Khalili Collections is to be displayed in the Netherlands. The exhibition was previously shown in Sydney, Abu Dhabi, and Paris.

War Mask - Anatolia or Western Iran -15th century

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Drawing of two dervishes - Iran - 15th Century

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Fath Ali Shah's portrait - Iran - 19th Century

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Shirt of steel - Northen Caucasus (for Persian or Ottoman market) - late 15th century

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Silver dirham - Konya

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Turban ornament - South India - 19th-century

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young Woman with Indian headdress - Ferdowsi's Shahnameh - Iran 1648

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Dragon door handles - Jazira - 13th century

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Sources:   De Nieuwe and Khalili Collections

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“Water’s Silence” the exhibition is curated around the theme of Cactus plant, symbol of patience, endurance, persistence and nostalgia for the days of yore. The exhibition presents the works of 14 Iranian Artists exploring the theme through different mediums of art.

Group exhibition curated by Ramin E. Bozorg

A conference around the theme with the artists and art critics will be held on Thursday 23rd at 4 p.m.

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مرداد 1387 بود که تصمیم گرفتم به جای کلاسهای معمول طراحی کلاسی با شیوه ای غیر معمول آغاز کنم، که با استقبال هنرجویانم روبرو شد.

کلاسی با عنوان ( ایده تا اجرا ) با شکل و شمایلی خاص و رفتاری تازه که نتیجه آن برای من بسیار شگفت آور بود !

تجربه یک کار گروهی موفق در کنار تنوع تکنیک های اجرایی با استفاده بدون قید و بند از هر شیوه زبانی ( از نقاشی و عکاسی گرفته تا چیدمان و ویدیو و …..)

جذابیت آثار اجرا شده توسط هنر جویانم و حس خوب کار جمعی حاصل از آن چنان چشم گیر بود که ضعف تکنیکی برخی کارها به چشم نمی آمد.

انرژی حاصل از این برخورد چنان زیاد بود که حتی به دوستان هنرمند من که برای دیدن و یاری دادن، به کلاس ما سر می زدند سرایت کرد و تعدادی از این دوستان شروع به کار با موضوع کلاس کردند.

کاکتوس !

رامین اعتمادی بزرگ

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Henna Art Gallery on Facebook

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2. Art Gallery: Contemporary Persian Calligraphy by Fereydoun Omidi

Maryam Javanbakht works in the millennia-old style of traditional black and white Iranian calligraphy. Her hybrid practice involving watercolor, gauche, chalk and ink on paper, known as “Naghashi Khat” (painting-calligraphy) imbues classic Iranian poems like those of Molavi, Hafez, Khayyam and Baba Taher with a transatlantic contemporary flair.

Separation, longing and reunification are the chief symbolic motifs in her work, holding fast to the Iranian poetic tradition of deep nostalgic sentiment.

Maryam Javanbakht

Crisp and stylized calligraphic marks meet voluptuous patches of lush atmospheric color. Sorrow, joy, love and intoxication emerge as scintillating aesthetics, cross-culturally relevant and layered with emotional resonance. Warming and rich with folkloric epiphany, Javanbakht’s works on paper are a refreshing moment of artistry linked to the rich legacy of calligraphic poetry in Iran.

Maryam Javanbakht was born in 1978 in Golpayegan, Iran. She is a practicing physician at a hospital, as well as consulting director and passionate supporter of a children’s charity association which works to help cure children with congenital malformations, This September she will receive her master’s degree in Public Health.

Fall Rain Fall, Cry in My... - Watercolor & Ink on Paper 39.5" x 28

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Your Admirers - Watercolor & Ink on Paper 28" x 39.5" x 0.5"

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You Left Me but the Sorrow... - Watercolor & Ink on Paper 20" x 28"

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I Never Realize What Secret... - Watercolor & Ink on Paper 20" x 28"

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The Scent of My Lover's Hair... - Ink on Paper 16" x 18"

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Now that I Am Unable to Reach Your Embrace, Allow Me to Love at Your Feet - Watercolor & Ink on Paper 20" x 28" x 0.5"

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You Are Leaving Me Dancing and Drunk - Ink & Pigment on Paper 28" x 20" x 0.5"

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Always on My Mind, 2009 Watercolor, Gouache... Limited Edition of 50 20" x 28" x 2"

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My Life Is Messy Just Like My... - Watercolor & Ink on Paper 28" x 20"

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No Happiness without You in Life, No Happiness Even after Life, How to End Your Sorrow? Time Doesn't Pass without You - Watercolor & Ink on Paper 28" x 39.5" x 0.5"

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Faith - Watercolor & Ink on Paper 20" x 16"

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View Maryam Javanbakht’s art for sale on Art-Mine.com

About Agora Gallery

Agora Gallery is a fine art gallery located in the heart of New York City’s Chelsea art galleries district that was established in 1984 and is famous for showcasing a spectacular array of talented artists from around the world and around the corner, while providing quality and original art to collectors.

530 West 25th St, New York City
agora-gallery.com

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1. New York – Kimia Rahgozar to Exhibit in Agora Gallery
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EIF aims to raise awareness of Iranian culture and helps to integrate it with other cultures in Scotland.  There are seven categories (arts, books, comedy, film, food, lectures, and music) with events taking place in venues across Edinburgh.

The festival is being organized by a dedicated team of volunteers.

Opening Ceremony

- Lecture by Professor the Baroness Haleh Afshar
The event will involve a keynote lecture by Professor the Baroness Haleh Afshar, from Politics and Women’s Studies in University of York. Professor the Baroness Haleh Afshar serves as a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords. Professor Afshar will be delivering a lecture on British/Iranian/Muslim identity, a topic very close to the essence of Edinburgh Iranian Festival. The ceremony will include free refreshment, live piano music, and a private viewing of the Bazaar at the end of the ceremony.

Professor the Baroness Haleh Afshar

Arts

- An exhibition by two contemporary Iranian artists, Maryam Hashemi and Haleh Jamali, exploring issues around cultural identity.

By Maryam Hashemi

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By Haleh Jamali

- Photography Exhibitions
Photos by a number of Iranian photographers, , with various parts of Iran or the Iranian culture as the subject matter. The list of artists confirmed to date include: Roxana Pope, Vida Sherkat, Sara Mohseni, Mehrdad Azmin, Bahar Azazdi, Maryam Ghorban-Karimi.

- School Exhibition
An exhibition at the Edinburgh Persian School, displaying the work of the pupils learning Persian there.

Mini Iranian Bazaar

- A mini Iranian bazaar, with various stalls selling Iranian products such as: accessories, handicrafts, musical instruments, postcards & greeting cards, CDs & Tapes, DVDs, food products, as well as a cafe/tea house.

The bazaar will contain a Cafe/Tea House (چایخانه), with a collection of Iranian snacks, as well as tea and coffee. The Tea House is hoping to include Iranian hot soup (Aash Reshteh – آش رشته) as well as other popular snacks and sweets. Cakes and sweets by the Green Gable Bakery will also be available at the Cafe.

Books

- Q&A and Book Reading: Ctesias at the Court of the Great King

- Books about Iran Available at Blackwell’s

- Wine & Poetry
Bring your own bottle of wine (or flask of tea) and your favourite poem of one of Iran’s or Scotland’s well known poets. There will be distinguished guests attending this poetry night, such Iranian poets Soheila Ghodstinat , Mehri Kashani and Lobat Vala. Wine and poetry are two things that have been found side by side in Persian poems, and they shall unite once again in Scotland.

- Storytelling from Shahnameh
Shahnameh (or The Book of Kings) is an enormous poetic opus written by the Iranian poet Ferdowsi around 1000 AD and is a national epic of the Persian-speaking world. It tells the mythical and historical past of Greater Iran  from the creation of the world up until the Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century. We will be telling some of the stories contained within this masterpiece in English. Children and adults are both welcome.

Shahnameh Characters

Comedy
A comedy showcase by 3 British/Iranian comedians, Patrick Monahan, Peyvand Khorsandi and Sam Farzaneh. The comedy show will be held twice on the same night, at the glamorous venue of Voodoo Rooms. Refreshments can be bought at the various bars at the Voodoo Rooms before and after each show.

- Patrick Monahan
Patrick was born in 1976 in Ahvaz, Iran and is an Irish-Iranian stand-up comedian.

Patrick Monahan

- Peyvand Khorsandi
Peyvand Khorsandi is an Iranian-born journalist and a stand-up comedian who lives in London.

Peyvand Khorsandi

- Sam Farzaneh
Sam is a professional photographer for the BBC World Service and an exciting newcomer stand-up comedy.

Sam Farzaneh

- Patrick Monahan
Childern’s Comedy Hour , a comedy shown by Patrick Monahan, suitable for both children and adults.

Patrick Monahan

Iranian Film Festival

Filmhouse cinema – This film festival is part of a Middle Eastern film festival which will be a pre-event to the 2011 Middle East Festival of Spirituality and Peace.

Lectures

- Series of Lectures on Ancient Persia
As part of the 2011 Edinburgh Iran Festival, and following on from last year’s success, we invite you to a series of themed lectures presented by academic specialists from across Scotland’s universities. The lectures will explore the history of ancient Persia and its legacy in the modern world. Organized by Dr Lloyd Llewellyn‐Jones, a specialist in Achaemenid history and culture, the Persia Lecture Series 2011 is sure to be a highlight of the Festival. Come early to get a seat!

Dr Lloyd Llewellyn Jones

Topics
Cyrus the Great: Dreams and Distortions
Persepolis and its Archive
Coins in the Achaemenid Persian Empire
Tourism, Marketing and Modern Iran

- Talk on Persian Tiles
Lecture by Friederike Voigt, the Senior Curator of Middle East & South Asia Department of World Cultures in the National Museums Scotland.

- Talk on Iranian Carpets
Persian Rug Village presents a lecture and exhibition on Persian carpets as part of the Edinburgh Iranian Festival 2011.

Music

- Magham Ensemble & Dunya Ensemble
A traditional music concert by the groups Dunya Ensemble and Magham Ensemble. Both groups play traditional Iranian instruments including tar, setar, oud, santour, and various percussions, as well as vocals.

Dunya Ensemble

Magham Ensemble showcases musical traditions from the different ethnicities in Iran. Dunya Ensemble plays Middle Eastern and Iranian music, although the band is formed of musicians from UK and beyond.

Magham Ensemble

- Club Persia, Ceilidh & Live Music by GOL
A fusion between Scottish and Iranian music, at the glamorous Voodoo Rooms, with live music by the bands GOL and a Scottish Ceilidh as well as Iranian Pop Music by live DJs. Scottish and Iranian dance instructions will also be provided on the night.

GOL

GOL
The Edinburgh based 6-piece UK/ Iranian jazz, world, electronica band GOL was selected as part of the Scottish Jazz Expo at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival 2010. For the Iran festival GOL will be playing new material from their upcoming Album to be released in March 2011.

Click here to view the embedded video.

- Santour Music Classes
Learn how to play the beautiful Persian musical instrument of Santour, through introductory lessons during the Iranian Festival but the leader of the band Dunya Ensemble, Dr. Bouda Vosough Ahmadi.

Food

Special Iranian menus will be served during the festival period at three restaurants in Edinburgh. Make sure you visit all three restaurants as each one will be offering a different kind of Iranian cuisine.

- Ti Amo
An Italian restaurant opposite the Festival Theatre. The restaurant will be serving Iranian cuisine in a designated area with Iranian decoration, prepared specially for the festival. Please contact the restaurant for more information on their Iranian menu.

- Sabor Sito
A South American Coffee and Juice Bar near Edinburgh University George Square campus. Iranian dishes will be served at this cafe/restaurant during the Iranian Festival. Please contact the restaurant for more information on their Iranian menu.

- Iranian Tea House & Documentary Series
Drop into the nomadic tent at the Persian Rug Village to enjoy a cup of tea at their new “Tea House” (چایخانه). A series of documentaries will be screened during this period, helping you to discover various part of Iran, while enjoying your cup of tea inside the nomadic tent. Persian teas, green tees, fruit teas, and various other types of teas will be served in the tea house.

- Iranian Tea House at the Bazaar
The bazaar will contain a Cafe/Tea House (چایخانه), with a collection of Iranian snacks, as well as tea and coffee. The Tea House is hoping to include Iranian hot soup (Aash Reshteh – آش رشته) as well as other popular snacks and sweets. Cakes and sweets by the Green Gable Bakery will also be available at the Cafe

Games & Sports

- Persian Pub Quiz
A Pub Quiz with questions on Iran at the Greenmantle. Prizes include concert tickets, Filmhouse Cinema vouchers, money to spend at the bar, and more. Come as a team (6 people max. per team) or as an individual and join a team on the night.

- Yoga Classes
Yoga classes in Farsi and English, by one of Iran’s most experienced Yoga teachers, with over 30 years of teaching experience. She has certificates from Sivananda Yoga Vedanta centres headquarter in Canada and Master in Yoga, Yoga Acharya, since 1999.

- 5 Aside Football Match

Sponsors

- How to sponsor our festival
If you would like to sponsor the festival, please contact us by e-mailing info@ediranfest.co.uk. If you are an individual, you can donate to our festival by writing a cheque to ‘Edinburgh Iranian Festival’ and/or getting in touch by e-mail.

- A few of sponsors

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The festival is organised by a dedicated team of volunteers who won’t be receiving any monies given to our special event. All monies will go towards funding events or future events organised EUPS.

e-mail:  info@ediranfest.co.uk
Edinburgh Iranian Festival 2011

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