TEHRAN, Oct. 3--Iranian ambassador to China has described the role of painting in presenting the lofty values of Iranian society as vital and said that Iranian artists depicted the dynamism of national art at the ninth Beijing International Art Exhibition.
After visiting the event, Javad Mansouri told IRNA that Beijing exposition features the cultures and values of different societies from the artists’ perspectives.
“Iranian artists introduced the country’s sublime culture,“ he noted.
Stating that art exhibitions play an important role in publicizing the cultures of the countries, Mansouri further said that the Iranians boast of high potentials in the field of art, notably painting.
“Presenting different styles at the Beijing event manifests this reality,“ he said.
The ambassador said that high quality of Iranian entries at the exhibit will help remove the misconception that Iran enjoys a lower status in the field of art. “Iranian artists have much to tell and they express themselves using the art and painting,“ he noted.
Ninth Beijing International Exhibit, which opened on Monday and will continue for five days, in an area of 10,000 square meters.
The event features artworks submitted by hundreds of artistic centers from 10 countries including Russia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, France and the US.
Some 186 artworks by Iranian artists are on display in six pavilions in the event.
On the first day of the event Iranian artists’ works were warmly welcomed by the visitors.

TEHRAN, Oct. 3--Secretary of the 13th Press Festival has announced that some 5,322 works have been submitted to the secretariat of the event, showing an increase of three and half times compared to the figure for last year.
Speaking to IRNA, Reza Moqaddasi added that more than 1,500 members of the press corps are participating in the festival, which is being attended for the first time by news agencies. The number of participants has increased two-fold in comparison to the figure for the year earlier.
Headquarters in charge of holding the festival further declared that this year, some 232 works have been forwarded to the secretariat of the festival, most of which are from the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).
Preliminary review of entries as well as selection will take place according to a schedule, Moqaddasi said.
Following the review and selection of the top works in expert committees, the panel of jury will make final decision on the works.
Secretary of the event stressed that efforts are underway to declare the top works by late November.

TEHRAN, Oct. 3--Director of Visual Arts Department of Astan-e Qods Razavi Museum has announced that a valuable painting titled ’Om Abiha’ by Akram Khodabandehlou was donated to the museum which is located in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi province.
Jamshid Amirian noted that the painting depicts the innocence of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by associating him with a rose, said a press release faxed to Iran Daily by the museum.
He pointed out that the center of the flower is depicted in such a manner as if Hazrat-e Fatemeh (AS) is trying to convey a message after the demise of her beloved father, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
“This message is an obligation that was commissioned on Hazrat-e Fatemeh (AS). The painting is 90 cm to 60 cm and it has been created using oil color on canvas,“ Amirian added.
Astan-e Qods Razavi Museum, which is located in the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the eighth Imam of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) infallible household, has a collection of 12 unique artistic and historical treasures and is open to the public everyday.

Puppets from 16 provinces are on display at IIDCYA's Center for Cultural and Artistic Recreations, Tehran.

TEHRAN, Oct. 3--About 60 puppets from 15 provinces are currently being displayed in an exhibition titled ’Iranian Children’s Puppet’.
Director of public relations of the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA), Mehdi Baqeri, said that the institute held an exhibition of pictures of puppets from Muslim countries which was welcomed by the public and it was decided a museum of puppets from different countries will be set up at IIDCYA, Fars reported.
He noted that a number of puppets have been collected, but since the collection is incomplete, it was decided to exhibit the local, traditional and handmade puppets in the ongoing display.
“One of the features of these puppets is that they have been passed down from one generation to the next,“ Baqeri added.
He pointed out that the majority of handmade puppets are not only toys for amusing children, but they also manifest the culture, customs and lifestyle of different tribes.
Iranian Children Puppets exhibition is being held at the IIDCYA’s Center for Cultural and Artistic Recreation everyday from October 1-8.

TEHRAN, Oct. 3--Feature film ’Moonlike’ by noted Iranian director Rouhollah Hejazi will be screened in the Italian ’Today’s Religion’ Film Festival.
Fars quoted Public Relations Department of the Center for Development of Documentary and Experimental Cinema as saying that the ninth round of the international film festival ’Today’s Religion’ will held in Turin, Italy from October 11-14 with the motto of ’Paradise on Earth: Miracle’.
The international section of the event will feature the film ’Moonlike’ which was produced by Martyr Avini Cultural-Artistic Institute.
The same source further announced that the main award of the festival ’Spirit of Faith’ will be presented for the best film. In addition, awards will also be presented for the best documentary and short films as well as to the best actor.
An Iranian narrative short film ’With Him’ produced by Naghi Nemati is participating in the short films competition section of the event.

TEHRAN, Oct. 3--A noted critic and translator has said that translated version of Persian literary works are not attractive for the Westerners and for this reason they are not well received by readers.
Speaking to ISNA, Abdelali Dastgheib added that globalization of local literature calls for certain pre-requisites.
“There are some things that developed countries have focused more on and they have gained the best results from them. So when others write about them, they are not fascinating,“ he observed.
Describing the customs and traditions of countries as a favorable subject for other nations, he said that the novel ’Amir Arsalan’ can be an interesting book for a foreigner while ’Dead Symphony’ cannot, because the reader will learn nothing from the latter.
“Our stories have mostly been adapted from those of foreigners and for this reason they are not welcomed,“ Dastgheib said.
Referring to the weak presentation of events in the stories and their styles as the other reasons for the failure of literary works to attract attention abroad, he added that the writers and poets have great illusions about their importance and they think that if their books are translated, they will become famous.
“This is while, we see that these works are forgotten after several years,“ he said.
Commenting on the translation of poems by Sadi, Hafez and Molana Jalaleddin Rumi, well-known Iranian mystics and poets, Dastgheib pointed out that the secret to the success of their translated versions in the world is that they contain some things about Iran.
Although many years have elapsed since the composition of the poems, they are still recited throughout the world because they have something new to offer, he concluded.

LONDON, Oct. 3--London theater is to cement its reputation for innovative, politically driven performance by devoting an entire week to one subject, the crisis in Darfur.
According to the Guardian, the Tricycle theater challenged mainly black British and American writers to come up with their take on the humanitarian crisis. The result is seven short plays of five to 20 minutes, which will be followed by a debate involving the audience.
“We want very much to illuminate the situation in Darfur because people really don’t understand what is happening,“ said the Tricycle’s artistic director, Nicolas Kent. “There are huge complexities about the situation - you have all of the different tribes, different interests.“
Kent accepts he could be accused of preaching to the converted. “If you make a millionth of 1 percent difference and it counts to getting some sort of tipping point, then that has got to be good.“
The plays emerged from workshops last May and are all by established writers. Kent said: “That morning I heard Mia Farrow on the Today program and she was talking about Darfur in her role as a UNICEF ambassador to the region. The interviewer was saying what a hopeless situation it was and she said you’ve just got to go on talking, she put the case very persuasively.
“I played that interview to the writers and said here’s the challenge: I’ve got a week in October, let’s address the issue. It’s very much a team effort and everyone is entering into this in the spirit of trying to achieve something.“
The Tricycle has pioneered verbatim theater, such as the editing of long inquiries by Guardian journalist Richard Norton-Taylor, including Bloody Sunday and the Hutton report. Guantanamo, a play based on real-life testimony, transferred to New York. “I think that theatre always has to put the bar high or there is no point in doing any work. It has to be provocative,“ Kent said.
How Long Is Never: Darfur - a Response takes place at the Kilburn-based theater from October 24-28.

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 3--Oliver Stone’s September 11 drama “World Trade Center“ led the international box office by a healthy margin for the weekend, selling an estimated $12.3 million worth of tickets in 20 markets.
According to Hollywood Reporter, the Nicolas Cage vehicle was propelled by muscular openings in nine territories and buttressed by a worldwide promotion tour by the film’s director and cast.
The biggest of the new markets was the U.K., where “World Trade Center“ bowed at No. 2 with an estimated $3 million. It opened at No. 1 in Spain with $2.3 million, and No. 3 in Germany with $1.5 million.
Thanks to strong openings in seven European territories, the Adam Sandler comedy “Click“ surged to No. 2, grossing an estimated $10.8 million from 55 markets and raising its overseas total to $59.3 million. It opened at No. 1 in the U.K. and No. 2 in Germany, Spain, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland.
In the No. 3 slot was “The Devil Wears Prada,“ the fashion-magazine takeoff starring Meryl Streep, which slinked to an estimated $8.9 million from 10 markets. Australia and France provided a total of $3.6 million. Its overseas haul stands at $20.1 million.