Curator of Tehran Contemporary Arts Museum has announced the conditions for lending artifacts which are maintained in museums.
Speaking to IRNA, Habibollah Sadeqi said that the museum is a state-run entity whose contents are national assets and should be safeguarded.
Lending artifacts to foreign museums is possible only by adhering to the official procedure to that effect.
The first condition for lending relics from a museum to its counterparts overseas is the submission of an official application by the receiving country’s Culture Ministry to the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
The other issue is pricing and insurance coverage of items taken on loan, which should be evaluated by experts from Iran and the country for which the articles are destined.
The artworks should be insured by a reliable international insurance company by the receiving museum.
As Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts makes its relics available to other museums as a goodwill gesture, other museums are also expected to reciprocate to pave the way for cultural exchange, he said.
British Association for Information and Library Education and Research (BAILER)’s request to borrow Jackson Pollock’s works was rejected because it failed to meet the criteria, he concluded.

Parvin Etesami

High Council for Cultural Revolution has approved the designation of two days in the official calendar to commemorate Parvin Etesami, a noted poetess, and Seyyed Jamaleddin Asadabadi, a revolutionary figure.
According to CHN, henceforth March 15 and March 8 will be observed from next year to commemorate Etesami and Asadabadi respectively.
Parvin Etesami (1907-1940) was born in Tabriz. Her first collection of poems was published in 1935 and she received the 3rd Degree Medal of Art and Culture in 1936. Her poems focus on themes of social wisdom and the human aspect of life with simple yet telling allegorical elements.
Seyyed Jamaleddin Asadabadi was one of the forerunners of the campaign to combat imperialism in Iran and the Middle East. He traveled to several countries to awaken the Muslims to the evil plots of colonial powers.
He was born in Asadabad, Hamedan province, in 1838.
He promoted the concept of unity of Muslims against British rule in particular and in general against global western interests.
In his teens, he studied theology and Islamic philosophy in Karbala and Najaf, the main seats of religious education in Iraq.

Following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Columbia University last month, head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, in a letter to the Iranian Mission in New York, has extended an invitation to the university’s professors and students to come and see Iranian tourism attractions, CHN reported.
Ahmadinejad’s address in the university was warmly welcomed and aroused the interest of academics to travel to Iran, he said.
The official expressed his organization’s readiness to host the instructors and students of the university and necessary plans to that effect have been made.
Underlining the need to promote visits to Iran by foreign intellectuals and students, particularly those from the West, he said that their presence in the country will provide them a true image about Iran, thus countering negative propaganda.
Rahim-Mashaei also hoped that their visit to the country would serve as an opportunity for promoting dialogue among nations.

Archeological excavations in the vicinity of the mausoleum of Shams Tabrizi, a noted Iranian mystic poet, have resulted in the discovery of artifacts ranging from the Seljukid era (1037-1187 AD) to the recent time.
Announcing this, director of the excavations team for the site, Reza Heidari told Iran Daily that the findings in the past month reveal that the area around the tomb is a rich cultural site from the early Islamic era.
He further said that various potteries, enameled earthenware as well as six to seven graves have been unearthed to date.
Studies are currently underway to determine their antiquity and the results will be announced within two months, he noted.
Archeological excavations in the vicinity of Shams tomb began with a review of the historical quotations about the site, he said. Commenting on the uncovering of vestiges pointing to the burial of Shams at the site, he contended that the graves as well as the corpses most likely date back to the time when Shams was alive.
Osteology tests should be conducted on them to ascertain their exact antiquity while chromosomal analysis can help establish the identity of the corpse, he added.
Stating that Shams died in the seventh century AH, he pointed out that if exploratory studies prove the existence of a cemetery from the same century, one can claim that Shams was definitely buried there. Heidari further noted that of course, Shams tomb is revered.
Historical narrations reveal that the venue is in fact Shams’ burial site.
The minaret over Shams tomb dates back to the Safavid era (1510-1722 AD) when a palace was located nearby. Recent excavations led to the discovery of tiles and potteries indicating the existence of a palace in the vicinity.

A total of 169 short and feature films from 38 countries will be screened in different sections of International Haqiqat Cinema Documentary Film Festival, which will be held in Tehran from November 14-18.
Announcing this, director of the festival, Mohammad Afarideh told IRNA that documentary films can help reflect the culture and identity of the society.
The idea to hold the First International Haqiqat Cinema Documentary Film Festival stems from the extensive influence and capacity of documentary cinema in recent years.
Afarideh, also head of the Center for Development of Experimental and Documentary Cinema, further said that the festival can help improve the techniques and themes of films.
He further said that an international market for documentaries on the sidelines of the event will serve as a venue for introducing the films and bring in revenues.
Describing the presence of famous films such as ’Sicko’ by Michael Moore as an indication of international filmmakers’ positive attitude towards the event and Iranian cinema, Afarideh said that following the festival, the films will be screened in cinemas.
Screening a film with a critical view of Moore along the film ’Sicko’ is a main feature of the international section of the festival.
“We will do our best to screen the selected films during the event throughout the country,“ he said.
Meanwhile, director of the festival’s Public Relations Department, Shahnam Safajou said that of the entries, 93 are foreign and 76 are Iranian productions.
National competition, prophetic heritage, Molana: Persian-speaking poet, international, north and south, East and identity, two neighbors: Iraq and Afghanistan, Africa: beauty and pain, prospects of Syrian documentary cinema are among the sections of the First International Haqiqat Cinema Documentary Film Festival.

A spiritual heritage museum will be set up in an area of five thousand square meters in the northwestern city of Ardebil.
The museum, which is to be established on the eastern flank of the city’s landmark Sheikh Safieddin Ardebili Mausoleum, will be the first museum in the country to feature spiritual heritage, reported CHN.
According to the head of provincial Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department, Masoud Alavian, the first phase of the project is complete.
Implementation of the project is difficult given that spiritual heritage is one of the subjects which can hardly be put on display, he said.
“We do not have sufficient experience in the field and have held various talks with experts and the Arts Academy,“ he noted.
The project is expected to take two years to complete.

Fereydoun Moshiri

Complete works of contemporary Iranian poet Fereydoun Moshiri, will be translated into English by Mehdi Afshar.
According to ISNA, Afshar has so far translated a collection of Moshiri’s poems titled ’Reflection of Morning Breeze’, which will be published by Cheshmeh Publications.
He is currently translating two other anthologies by the poet, including ’A Melody Tuned With the Rain’ and ’From the Window of Affection’.
The translator, who also plans to render complete works of modern Iranian poet and painter Sohrab Sepehri, said he will start with ’The Eight Books’.
Sepehri’s ’The Eight Books’ has been a perennial bestseller since it was first published in 1976.

Plans are underway to reproduce an old TV serial about Masnavi tales for screening in an international seminar on Molana Jalaleddin Rumi, a well-known Iranian mystic and poet.
Announcing this, cinema producer Iraj Taqipour, who is in charge of the project, told ISNA that the six-episode serial, narrated by contemporary Iranian writer and director Ali Hatami, was broadcast on national TV in 1974.
“We intend to reproduce the serial to mark Molana’s eighth birth centenary, however the plan is not yet certain,“ he said.
The serial depicts Masnavi tales, including ’King and the Maid’, ’Parrot and Merchant’, ’Caliph and the Arab’ and ’Sufi’.
The cast includes veteran actor Jamshid Mashyekhi as well as Atash Khayyer, Saeed Amir-Soleimani, Abbas Maghfourian and Behrouz Behnejad. The seminar on Molana will be held in Tabriz, capital of East Azarbaijan and Khoy (West Azarbaijan) from October 27 until November 2.