Clay artwork at Tajrish Square in Tehran

TEHRAN, Aug. 29--A clay artwork symbolizing Tajrish, an old district in northern Tehran, was unveiled in Tajrish Square in a ceremony attended by Municipality officials, CHN reported.
Creator of the work, Manijeh Armin, said that since clay works are more resistant to wind and rain than metal artworks, it can be used to adorn urban spaces.
“It can also be washed easily in a polluted city like Tehran,“ she said, noting that pottery works have been in vogue in Iranian culture since ancient times.
The work, a nine-meter tableau, which was installed in the southern flank of Tajrish Square features religion, architecture and nature of Tajrish.
Noting that such artworks lifts the citizens’ spirits, Armin further said that through such undertakings, the public will become more familiar with artistic works and their attention to cultural works will increase.
The idea was proposed by Armin in 2003 and approved by the mayor of Tehran Municipality’s First District.

AHVAZ, Khuzestan, Aug. 29--Head of Shoush Cultural Heritage Lovers Association has said that a piece of clay used for piping water in ancient times was discovered during illegal excavations at Jam-e Mosque’s Shabestan (part of the mosque designed for sleeping and nocturnal praying) in Shahr-e Sanatgaran historical site.
Speaking to ISNA, Loqman Ahmadzadeh-Shouhani added that unfortunately the artifact was damaged by illicit excavators. He further said that a section of Shabestan’s mud-brick wall was also ruined during unauthorized excavation.
Ahmadzadeh pointed out that the ancient site of Shoush has an area of 400 hectares and unfortunately it has not been fenced and illegal excavators are able to trespass from every direction.
Shahr-e Sanatgaran includes a mound made up of ancient layers belonging to different eras. Relics from the Islamic period including the mosque, brick-baking kilns as well as Khanqah were discovered during excavation undertaken by French archeologists. He also said that the clay pipe which measures one meter in length and half a meter in diameter might date back to Sassanid or Arsacides era.
The pipe is in no way linked to the mosque structure, he said. Ahmadzadeh regretted that those engaged in illegal excavations have not yet been identified.

Unique gold embroidery featuring the Ashura pilgrimage prayer of Imam Hussein (AS).

TEHRAN, Aug. 29--A group of Iranian artists have created a unique gold embroidery featuring the Ashura pilgrimage prayer of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shiite Imam and his brother Hazrat-e Abul Fazl Al-Abbas (AS), reported ISNA.
The brocaded piece is 9 meter long and seven meter wide and is in nine colors of silk threads. It is considered to be one of the biggest embroidered works of its kind.
The design is created by a renowned Iranian artist, Seyyed Reza Pakniat while the calligraphy is by Qasem Jamili.
Six artists have contributed to the fine artistic work.
The gold embroidery fabric and another fabric highlighting the pilgrimage prayers of Hazrat-e Abulfazl Al-Abbas (AS) which measures 4.5 meters in length and 3.5 meters in width in inlaid wood frame is currently on display at Tehran’s Karbalaees’ Hosseynia located in Galoubandak Intersection.
Pakniat has been involved in stitching poems and prayers in gold embroidery for about 10 years. Prayers of Imamzadeh Saleh Hassani, Emamzadeh Davoud and Emamzadeh Hashem are among Pakniat’s other works.
He has also designed a drape with the names of the martyrs of Karbala measuring 5.4 meters by 5.4 meters that has been installed in Tehran’s Valiasr Mosque adjacent to Saeei Park.
Karbala is the holy city in Iraq which was the scene of an unequal battle in the 7th century AD between Imam Hussein (AS) and the tyrannous ruler of the time.

TEHRAN, Aug. 29--A total of 750 sculptors, including 300 foreign artists have been invited to take part in Tehran’s First International Sculpture Symposium which is due to be held from February 20 to March 12, 2007.
According to Fars, the symposium’s secretariat announced that the process of drawing up the regulations for the symposium is complete and 300 foreign and 270 domestic sculptors have already been invited to the symposium.
Artists who have already received their application forms have until November 21 to submit them to symposium’s secretariat by November 21.
Schematic designs of the sculptures will be reviewed by an artistic council and about 15 selected sketches by foreign artists and five by domestic artists will be selected for construction by sculptors in a workshop to be held on February 20-March 12.
The symposium’s secretariat is located in Tehran at No. 10, 12th of Bahman Alley, 12th of Bahman Street, Mirdamad Boulevard.
The sculptures will be installed at various locations in Tehran.

TEHRAN, Aug. 29--Tehran Municipality’s Cultural-Artistic Organization plans to distribute a new book every week dealing with civic issues and urban lifestyle in a satirical manner among the people using the city’s underground railway system, Metro.
People commuting on the Metro will be able to buy or receive free copies of the books, which will be published in large numbers, Fars reported.
Tehran Municipality is also intending to implement a similar plan for bus passengers. For example, small boxes will be installed in buses for distributing pocket books to fill the leisure time of passengers while they are using buses.
The cultural department of Tehran Municipality’s Artistic and Cultural Organization will decide on the content of the books.

TEHRAN, Aug. 29--A member of Majlis Cultural Commission has said that if the government wants to bring about a dramatic change in the cultural field, it should do away with the current slow pace and adopt a swift approach.
Parviz Sorouri added that given the fact the government did nothing special to consolidate the cultural foundations of the country, no remarkable change took place in the field, reported Fars.
Although the government was able to contain some cultural disorders, they were nothing significant and were incompatible with its mottos, he said. “We are still expecting positive and effective steps in the cultural field,“ Sorouri said.
Criticizing the fund allocation system of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the lawmaker said that the ministry’s budget mostly goes to structural sections and relevant officials have failed to do away with the system and turn to software.
“As we know all the investment is made in hardware section to pave the way for software activities,“ he said, adding that since the cultural budget is meager, it is not distributed systematically while the expenditure in the hardware sector is wasted.
This is while, each year the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei refers to the cultural inroads by the enemies.

Desert scenery near Yazd

TEHRAN, Aug. 29--A lawmaker representing Taft and Meibod, in Yazd province, Jalal Yahyazadeh, said that although the government’s tourism policies have been properly implemented in the past three years, particularly during last year, the sector still needs further attention.
Noting that one of the best ways to attract overseas investment is through tourism industry revenues and attracting foreign tourists, he told ISNA that since Iran has satisfactory cultural conditions, more should be done to encourage domestic tourists to visit Iran’s archeological sites.
Yahyazadeh, who is a member of Majlis Cultural Commission, pointed out that it is for one or two years that sufficient budget has not been allocated for tourism sector. “We should seek tourists who want to see cultural attractions, especially religious sites,“ he added.
The official noted that Yazd province is one of the most important tourism sites in Iran. Even its parched desert is fascinating for tourists, he concluded.

XINING, China, Aug. 29--Chinese experts will begin repairing a 700-year-old and written copy of the Qur’an, the sacred book of Islam, this week in northwest China’s Qinghai Province.
According to Xinhua.com, the 867-page two-volume set, the oldest of its kind known in China, is written in Arabic and stored in two caskets in the Jiezi Mosque in Xunhua County.
It was brought to China when the Salar ethnic group moved east from Maracanda, the ancient name of Samarqand in Uzbekistan, about 700 years ago. Experts believe it was completed before the 13th century.
“The books have been seriously eroded and are in danger of rotting,“ said Ma Weimin, deputy director of the Qinghai Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau.
“We will clean up marks and mildew stains, and mend its broken pages,“ said Ma. Two of the experts come from the Nanjing Museum in East China’s Jiangsu Province and the others are from Qinghai.
The repairs would take about one month. The State Cultural Heritage Administration has allocated 440,000 yuan ($55,000) for the project.
The book would be put into a transparent case for visitors in an exhibition center beside the mosque. Experts would also replicate the book according to its original design for daily display, said Ma.