Although subways are considered one of the most convenient and cheapest modes of public transportation in the country, for a long time they have taken aim at historical monuments nationwide.
According to ISNA, following the controversy about the construction of underground railway line in Isfahan, this time in Tehran, a project to install a ventilation system for metro, which will most likely pass under Ferdowsi Street and the establishment of a station in this location, will reach the Sixth Municipal District and the vicinity of the historical Anoushirvan High School.
An expert on historical monuments said that based on the plan released by Tehran Urban and Suburban Railway Company (TUSRC), the ventilation system can only be installed in the yard of the high school.
For installing the system over an area 18 meters long and three meters wide, the school wall should be demolished, he said.
This is while experts believe that the project will damage the foundation and the main fa�ade of the structure.
On the other hand, the case will reportedly be taken up by Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization for further review.
Commenting on the issue, head of Tehran province Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department, Mehdi Nazem-Razavi said that the project will cause no harm to Anoushirvan High School since necessary assessments have already been conducted by experts of the organization.
Anoushirvan High School was built in 1936 and was registered on the national heritage list in 2002.

Modern art usually adopts a sociological and spiritual approach in dealing with issues, observed an instructor at Tehran University’s College of Fine Arts.
According to a press release by the Modern Art Exhibition public relations office, Seyyed Mohammad Fadavi said that modern art or, in other terms, conceptual art, began in the middle of the 20th century and artists have always tried to convey concepts to the society through this genre of art.
This branch of art is not alien to Iran and for centuries this artistic style has been a dominant feature of Iranian architecture.
Describing Iran’s Modern Art Exhibition in cooperation with Martyrs Foundation and University Jihad as a valuable initiative which can pave the way for progress in arts, he further said that the youth show keen interest in presenting their intended concepts in the modern language of the world and in new forms.
In addition to this, technologies available to artists help them take advantage of new strategies, he said. “We should keep up with the world and should try to artistically blend in our beliefs and values with modern forms so that we will be able to get access to a more universal language,“ he said.
Commenting on the thematic nature of the exhibit, Fadavi, who is also the artistic director of the event, said that in this case the visitors can judge the perspective and creativity of artists about a given topic.
Some 400 artists have submitted their work to the event, registering a 25-percent increase in the number of applicants for the exhibits.
Describing creativity as a distinction between the artist and non-artist, Fadavi said that creativity is the essence of art and for this reason the important element has been dealt with as a main criterion in the judgment and selection of entries to the event, which will open on May 24.

More space has been allocated for Iranian pavilion at the ongoing 60th Cannes International Film Festival in southern France, compared to last year.
Public Relations Office of Farabi Cinema Foundation was quoted by Fars as saying that this year more institutes are conducting activities in the Iranian cinema pavilion at Cannes under the title ’Umbrella for Iranian Cinema’.
The institutes include Iran’s Center for Development of Documentary and Experimental Cinema, Youth Cinema Association, the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, Art Center, Bamdad International Media and the Center for promoting Martyr Avini Cultural-Artistic Institute.
Screening of Iranian films began on Friday in Cannes Film Market.
Iran’s cultural attachŽ visited the Iranian pavilion on Wednesday and expressed satisfaction over the active participation of Iranian cinema in Cannes Film Market.
The official said that such extensive activities would pave the way for the prosperity of the Iranian cinema at the international arena.
The 60th Cannes Film Festival and Market opened on Wednesday with the screening of ’My Blueberry Nights’, directed by Wong Kar Wai.

Standard language is flexible despite its stability and has the potential for developing and assimilating new lexicons, observed a Persian language and literature instructor.
In an interview with ISNA, Hassan Zolfaqari described the speech of the educated community in each country as the standard language and said that its features are: it serves as the language of education, is void of vernacular elements, is the cultural and political language and is spoken in the capital.
“Standard language boasts of various aspects,“ he said, citing media language as being different from academic language.
Radio and television each takes advantage of standard language in different ways, he said, noting for example Channel Four of the national TV, which mainly deals with educated people, uses a sumptuous tone of language.
In contrast, Channel Three, which is popular among the youth, makes use of amiable accent to forge closer communication with the target age group, Zolfaqari said.
He contended that TV and radio programs should not use slang since the people are familiar with these terms but they do not include them in their conversation. However, as soon as TV and radio use such terms, they become popular among the public, he noted.
He regretted that Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) exercises no control over dialogues in serials. Sometimes in live broadcasts, some terms which are not becoming of a cultural community are used, he deplored.
Standard language is not necessarily a spiritless and coarse and has various aspects, he concluded.

Younes Shokrkhah

Director of the Center for Global Studies (CGS) Yahya Kamalipour, in a message to the secretariat of the second Electronic Public Relations Conference, has congratulated veteran journalist Younes Shokrkhah on his selection as the leading master in Electronic Public Relations, reported ILNA.
Kamalipour who is also the Founder of Global Communication Association at Purdue University Calumet in Indiana, US, described Shohrkhah as the headman of Virtual Space and Global Village (Internet) and master of online journalism.
“Shokrkhah is one of the exemplary experts of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Iran,“ Kamalipour said.

Tehran City Council's Cultural Commission is ready to improve the conditions of museums.

Head of Tehran City Council’s Cultural Commission said that identifying Tehran’s cultural potentials is the council’s foremost responsibility.
Ahmad Masjed-Jamei noted that the council is ready to improve the conditions of Tehran museums through interaction with urban management and executive institutions, CHN reported.
Masjed-Jamei, a former minister and currently a member of International Council of Museums (ICOM) Iran Branch, asserted that fortunately cooperation with Management and Planning Organization paved the way for finding out about the potentials in different ways, including launching museums.
Tehran, he said, has many cultural potentials and heritages which have so far remained unknown. “The first thing is to identify the potentials and then make use of them,“ he added.
Referring to setting up small museums in different cities, he noted that Iran has more potential for launching museums.

A prominent figure in the field of satire said that readership of satirical texts expect writers to be bold in dealing with social issues, Fars reported.
Abolfazl Zarouei-Nasrabad further told Fars on the sidelines of the first Tehran province Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults Satire Festival that while short message service (SMS) has not replaced satire, it has raised the expectations of the audience.
“When I and my colleagues present satiric materials, we are told that they have received the same five minutes ago in a detailed manner,“ he said.
This dampens the interest of readers in the works of satirists, he said, adding that such expectations should be checked.
Asked about the status of satirists in the society, he further said that they have taken SMS seriously and some of the popular humor skits are created by these satirists.
Evaluating the entries in the festival as positive, Zarouei noted that their works indicate that they have broad views.
Stating that interest in satire has increased among today’s mankind due to its exhaustion and disquiet, he also said that the satirists should present the satire, which bitter in nature, in a sweet manner.

Iranian artist and calligraphist, Javad Bakhtiari, will hold an exhibition of his latest works in one of US art galleries in California on June 9, said ISNA.
The artist who went to the US 18 months ago to organize his exhibition to display a total of 40 of his latest works in City Art Gallery which is among the biggest in Los Angeles, California.
Bakhtiari’s pieces include 18 of his combined works that use both painting and calligraphy, as well as 22 human postures which are distinctive to this artist.
Bakhtiari quit teaching at art universities and Iranian Calligraphy Association about 11 years ago to work as a freelance artist. In his works, he has tried to demonstrate the return of humans to their earthly self from a materialistic perspective.
Bakhtiari’s works depict symbols of Iran in their natural settings such as flowers and wheat branches inspired from Persepolis. The lady depicted by Bakhtiari personifies an innocent angel.