People should be encouraged to read more books.

TEHRAN, May 19--Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hossein Saffar-Harandi has called for a national movement to promote the culture of reading books.
He said that public libraries should be reorganized by increasing the number of story books.
Speaking at a conference of directors of public libraries, he deplored the fact that some public libraries have books which are not in line with religious values and have ridiculous contents about public culture and religious issues. “They do not help the readers upgrade their knowledge and instead they promote superstition.“
The Persian daily Hamshahri quoted Saffar-Harandi as saying that public libraries still have some books which depict a false image of religions. “Respective officials should not allow books with negative views about religion to remain in public libraries.“
He underscored the importance of publicity campaign to encourage the people to read more books and said that many people visit the book fair each year and buy books but they do not read them and only put them on the shelves of their private libraries.
“It is a catastrophe to store books in a private library rather then reading them,“ Saffar-Harandi said.
He said that cultural institutes should undertake a movement to promote book reading.
In the year to March 2007, he added that each library will be provided with 800 volumes new books. “We should see how many of them will be read. The figures are not satisfactory,“ he pointed out.
“It is deplorable that books remain at the shelves without being read. By initiating a movement on book reading, we would be able to get out of the current stalemate.“
The minister drew attention of officials in charge of purchasing books for public libraries to select the best works thus encouraging the publishers to give preference to good books.
“When you purchase good books for libraries in large quantity, this serves as an incentive to publishers to release such books,“ he said.

TEHRAN, May 19--A valuable collection of relics pertaining to the production of dishes and glass objects dating back to the thirteenth century AD has been discovered in the Persian Gulf island of Kish.
Fars News Agency quoted the Public Relations and International Affairs Department of Kish Free Zone Organization as saying that designed potteries were also unearthed at historical mounds in Harireh city.
The site includes some areas wherein several glass-making furnaces were also discovered.
Around the furnaces, numerous pieces of glass and other objects were also found confirming the existence of glass-making workshops on the island.

The liberation of Khorramshahr can be the theme of an attractive film.

TEHRAN, May 19--National cinema has the potential of depicting religious and national pride thus serving as a reminder of the untapped capacities of the country.
Expressing this view, Farhad Tohidi, a film scriptwriter, described national cinema as a mirror reflecting national pride, ISNA said.
Such a reflection can boost national honor, he said, adding, “The events in our lives, which are so sacred and important to us, and of which we are so rightly proud can be highlighted by the cinema industry.“
The artist further said that the liberation of Khorramshahr, Khuzestan province (from the Baathist Army during the Iraqi-imposed war of 1980-1988), can be the theme of an attractive film.
This event is considered one of the turning points in the lives of Iranians, which really pleased all the people. Stating that it is a rare occasion to witness the people take to the streets, he said that the liberation of Khorramshahr was one of the occasions in which the public displayed sincere sentiments while celebrating the event.
Cinematic productions can serve as a document recording such turning points in history, he concluded.

TEHRAN, May 19--High Council for Cultural Revolution in a meeting chaired by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad approved a plan to set up a national foundation for computer games.
Fars News Agency said that the Arts Council and the Secretariat of High Council for Cultural Revolution conducted extensive studies on the computer games and reached the conclusion that the games should uphold national and religious beliefs, enhance the level of education and offer guidance to the genius to advance in the fields of science and technology.
Studies indicated that 95 percent of the computer games are imported and they lead to cultural, social and psychological alienation of children and young adults.
Sections of the charter for the proposed national foundation for computer games were approved by the High Council for Cultural Revolution.
The High Council also approved a plan to set up a university of Islamic teachings to be administered by representative of the Supreme Leader.
The university will provide dozens of seats of higher education across the country with materials on Islamic courses so that the same syllabi offered at various Iranian universities will be coordinated with updated curriculum.

TEHRAN, May 19--The longest pantomime of the world called ’Cultural Heritage, Eternal Souvenir’ is being performed for 14 days in Tehran during the current Iranian month of Ordibehesht which ends on May 21.
Pantomime is a type of dramatic art in which the artist conveys concepts through movements of the body, hands, face and head.
According to the Persian daily Aftab, the performance which is part of the program to mark International Cultural Heritage Day will be conducted on various locations on route from Tehran (capital of Iran) to Isfahan (cultural capital of the Islamic World).
Artists Bahram Reihani, will direct the pantomime.
He said that the pantomime will display the game of tug-of-war.
The pantomime, which began one week ago, is being performed from sunrise to sunset. The program began at the central building of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) to draw attention of the world community to preserving cultural heritage.
Reihani said that 11 artists including pantomime stars, scriptwriter, designer, make-up specialist, dress designer and a reporter will accompany the troupe.
The program also portrays links between the capital of Iran and the cultural capital of the Islamic World (Isfahan).
The program will also be held in Isfahan in June.

Henrik Ibsen

OSLO, Norway,
May 19--From AIDS prevention in Africa to the emancipation of women in the Muslim world, the work of Norway’s most celebrated playwright, Henrik Ibsen, continues to find resonance today, one hundred years after his death.
In Skien, the town of Ibsen’s birth, at the foot of the Pyramids, in Central Park and even in China, hundreds of cultural events are planned to mark the hundredth anniversary of the death, on May 23, of one of the world’s most celebrated -- and most censored--dramatists.
“My great-grandfather treated extremely contentious subjects such as human rights, freedom of the press and the emancipation of women,“ says Nora Ibsen, who shares her first name with the heroine of ’A Doll’s House’, one of the major works of her famous forebear.
“These themes remain intensely controversial in many parts of the world,“ she told AFP.
Released in 1879, ’A Doll’s House’ shocked theatergoers, who considered the idea of a woman leaving the family home, as the main character Nora does, completely alien. The play made Ibsen an icon of the feminist movement.
“For me, freedom is the highest form of life,“ Ibsen said.
Ibsen rivals William Shakespeare as one of the most performed playwrights in the world. The Ibsen Foundation estimates each week 130 theaters throughout the world put on one of his works.
“The Greek tragedies considered gods and heroes while Shakespeare’s works discussed royalty and wealthy traders. Ibsen
wrote about school teachers, servants, manual laborers, people from everyday life,“ says the director of the Ibsen Museum, Erik Edvardsen.
According to Bentein Baardson, Ibsen 2006’s director, despite its subversive nature, the Norwegian playwright’s work has been well-received in some unlikely places. China, India and Bangladesh are considered to be among the main ’Ibsen countries’.
“He tackled contemporary issues such as the abuse of power, women’s rights, freedom of expression, business ethics and international problems which were unrelated to specific countries.

TEHRAN, May 19--Popular Iranian musician Jalal Zolfonoon criticized the distribution of some types of music in the country, saying that music which creates mental disturbances is never encouraged by anybody.
According to ISNA, he said at the inaugural ceremony of Special Film Festival that nurturing the mind with the help of music has so far been neglected but it should be taken into account.
Noting that music expresses the beauties and graces within mankind, he contended that not any kind of music can help develop the human mind.
According to Zolfonoon, in addition to transcendental music, there is another type of music which is used for conveying pleasures.
This branch of music also has its status and should not be negated, he noted.
The musician further stated that there is another kind of music which not only does not bring about any transcendence but also causes disturbance.
He called on the officials to support the promotion of transcendental music.