A US writer has described the tomb of the well-known Iranian poet Molana Jalaledin Mohammad Rumi in Konya, Turkey, as one of the top 100 attractions in the world which each woman should visit.
According to ISNA, Konya Municipality’s efforts to present the cultural values of the city, Molana tomb in particular, have born fruit, as an American writer has recently introduced Konya as one of the top 100 attractions in the world.
A report in the Turkish newspaper Zaman Today said that in the book ’100 Sites Women Should Visit’, Estefan Elizondo Grist has mentioned Molana tomb as one of the top international attractions.
The 352-page book, which was published in February, says that one cannot understand Molana’s works without knowing him and one cannot know him without visiting his burial site.
Meanwhile, a special ceremony to mark the eighth birth centenary of the Iranian mystic and poet will be held in Canada on June 30.
The event, sponsored by Canada’s Religious Theosophy Center, seeks to convey to the Canadians the message of humanity and Molana love.
The event titled ’Spirit on Fire: Love and Poetry of Molana’ will be organized to seek a response to the question why Molana is one of the most popular poets in North America.

Memory of the World International Advisory Committee (IAC) has announced that two Persian masterpieces have been accepted for registration as Memory of the World, CHN reported.
The committee approved ’Shahnameh Baysunqur’ of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization and ’Rob-e Rashidi’ owned by Tabriz Central Library out of three Persian works submitted for registration and the finalization of this approval depends on the views of the higher committee.
Since the higher committee usually approves the choice of the advisory committee, it seems that Iranians should prepare for national festivities.
Head of Iran’s National Commission of UNESCO, Farhad Etemadi, said that names of the admitted works will be announced after the higher committee of the Memory of the World completes its sessions. The three-day IAC meeting opened on June 11.
Memory of the World is affiliated to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

An exhibition of copies of paintings by Rembrandt and three other artists belonging to the ’golden age’ of Dutch art is currently underway at Saba Cultural Center in Tehran and will continue until July 1.
According to ISNA, the inaugural ceremony was attended by a number of Iranian and foreign artists, Dutch charge d’affairŽs as well as the Canadian, Czech, Korean, Romanian, Mexican and Hungarian ambassadors and representatives of the UN and UNICEF.
Speaking at the event, Dutch charge d’affairŽs said that Rembrandt is recognized as a national artist in his country. The event, he pointed out, can provide an opportunity to herald a current in line with dialogue among the cultures and national arts.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Javadipour, a veteran Iranian artist, described the exhibition as a tiding in the latest trend to make the Iranians familiar with the history of world art.
The 17th century, which is considered as the ’Golden Era in Dutch Art’ is so outstanding in the history of Western art and the entire world that it can be assessed as unique.
According to tradition, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born on July 15, 1606 but more probably in 1607 in Leiden, the Netherlands.
He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history and the most important in Dutch history.

Union of Film Producers and Distributors will boycott a festival organized by Iran Cinema House if the entity’s board of directors continues its present policy and ignore the union.
Speaking to Fars, a member of the union’s Central Council, Hossein Farahbakhsh added that ever since the union’s board of directors assumed office, it has focused on a single cinematic entity rather than considering all the cinematic guilds. “If the board of directors has problem with one of the guilds, it should seek that guild’s views and then make decision. It should not take action directly as this is against the law,“ he noted.
Board of directors should have interaction with the union on issues pertaining to production but in the past year it has not even sought the views of experts from the union, he said.
Farahbakhsh further said that the only authority which can give professional views on the production of film is the union and its representatives, who have no role in Iran Cinema House’s Board of Directors.
The current members of the board have no expertise in the production of films, he noted.
Another problem is that the entity has been adamant in removing the representative of the union in the Council for Issuing Permit (Rasoul Sadr-Ameli) and has appointed Manouchehr Shahsavari without the involvement of union members, he concluded.

Children and young adults will be able to observe the sky of Tehran through telescopes installed at Zafaranieh Observatory this summer.
Zafaranieh Observatory, affiliated to the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA), which has a long history in conducting amateur astronomy courses provides training courses for Tehrani children in summer, IIDCYA’s Public Relation’s Office said in a news release faxed to Iran Daily.
The observatory offers courses in four levels including: acquaintance with astronomy (exclusively for primary students), advanced courses for former members, preliminary courses for secondary students and Advanced 1 and 2 courses.
Children can also observe Tehran’s sky both during daytime and nighttime by attending other indoor and outdoor programs at the center.
The observatory will enroll for its courses until June 27.

Iranian graphic designer Touraj Saberivand was selected as one of the outstanding graphic designers in the ’War’ category of the Italian ’Good 50x70’ poster competition.
The competition covered five categories, namely ’AIDS’, ’Environmental Degradation’, ’Human Rights Violation’, ’Underdevelopment’ and ’War’, reported ILNA.
Out of 1,659 posters submitted to the event, some 200 works were reviewed by the panel of jury, and ten winners were selected for each category.
Saberivand, 23, was born in Tabriz, East Azarbaijan province. A member of Iran’s Graphic Designers Association, he has so far participated in a number of national and international exhibitions and competitions.

Renowned British historian and literary critic, Edward Lucie-Smith, arrived in Tehran on Wednesday to attend an international seminar titled ’Iranian Painting: Contemporary and Modern Art’ scheduled for June 15-16, IRNA said.
Lucie-Smith is an internationally-acclaimed prolific author with more than 100 books to his credit. Some of his books include ’Art Movements Since 1945’, ’Visual Arts of the 20th Century’, ’Terminology of Artistic Expressions’ and ’Contemporary Art’ which are currently used as textbooks in universities worldwide.
In a speech titled ’Homogenous World: Iran’s Contemporary Art in Other Non-European Contemporary Arts’ held in Tehran, Lucie-Smith discussed the influence of known Iranian arts from the pre-Islamic and Islamic eras on contemporary Iranian painters.
At the event, more than 15 art experts and researchers will discuss the trend of developments in Iranian painting in four sessions. Christian Gruber, a notable Islamic art expert will also attend the seminar. He will speak about Iranian painting during the Mogul, Teimurid, Safavid and Qajar eras.

Plans are underway at the Arts Academy to establish a theater organization, announced the director of the academy’s Theater Department.
Speaking to IRNA, Majid Sarsangi, who was speaking at the monthly meeting of his department, described instilling thought and ideas into the sector as the main mission of the academy.
With the materialization of the academy’s theatrical programs, Iranian theater will undergo revolutionary long-term changes, he noted, adding that they will be implemented after they are approved by the general and consultative council of the academy.
He listed attention to education and research, management and economy of theater industry, review of the theater’s organizational management, review of private theater and its executive capacities in the country, devotional and traditional performance and national theater as among the pivots of the Theater Department’s line of actions.
Sarsangi, who doubles as secretary of the 26th Fajr Theater Festival, disclosed that Islamic world performing arts biennial will be held in Tehran next year. Publishing researches on theater and supporting such undertakings are among the other programs of the academy, he noted.

Bernardo Bertolucci

Bahman Qobadi

Iranian filmmaker Bahman Qobadi will serve as an honorary assistant director to the renowned Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci in his new film which is scheduled for shooting in southern Italy this winter.
Earlier two Chinese directors, namely Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige also served as honorary assistant directors to Bertolucci, reported Fars quoting Mijfilm’s Public Relations Office.
’A Time for Drunken Horses’ and ’Turtles Also Fly’ are among Qobadi’s main works which are highly admired by the Italian director.
Bertolucci has ’The Last Emperor’ and ’Little Buddha’ to his credit.