(Photo by Mohsen Bakhshandeh)

January 12 marked the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Reza (AS), the Eighth Shiite Imam.

Tanavoli’s Rug Collection for UAE Show

Veteran Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli’s recent rugs collection is to be displayed during an exhibition at Meem Gallery in Dubai.
Tanavoli has applied various styles in creating his rug artworks such as those ones in pictorial, lion, prayer design, and Gabbeh.
His rug designs not only feature the tribal and nomadic arts and culture of Iran but draw inspiration from the traditional Persian literature, most notably the mythological stories, Press TV said.
He has also adapted the themes of his other forms of art, such as Farhad the Mountain Carve, Lovers, Poet, Lion, Bird and Cage in designing the rugs.
Born in 1937, Tanavoli is an Iranian sculptor, painter, scholar and art collector whose works have been showcased and auctioned around the world.
Tanavoli who has been influenced heavily by Iran’s history and culture is one of the founders of the ‘Saqqakhaneh School’.
Tanavoli’s exhibition in Dubai’s Meem Gallery is set to be mounted from January 15 through February 28.

Tarkovsky Quartet To Perform at Fajr

A group of German and French musicians known as Tarkovsky Quartet is slated to perform their program at the 2013 Fajr International Music Festival.
The ensemble led by the French jazz pianist and composer François Couturier is comprised of Jean-Marc Larché (soprano saxophonist), Jean-Louis Matinier (accordionist) and German violoncellist Anja Lechner.
Established in 1977, the quartet creates the works mainly inspired by the Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky’s films, Mehr News Agency said.
Some 57 ensembles from over 70 submitted groups were selected to participate in this year’s festival.
The event is programmed to be presented at six music halls in the Iranian capital city of Tehran.
Tehran Symphony Orchestra and Iran’s National Orchestra are also to perform their programs at the 2013 Fajr music festival.
Iran’s Fajr International Music Festival is part of the country’s cultural programs held every year to commemorate the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The 28th Fajr International Music Festival is programmed to take place from February 13-19.

Niavaran Holds Ta’zieh Confab

Iran is planning to present Persian passion play (Ta’zieh) conference and performance at the Niavaran Cultural and Historical Complex in Tehran.
Ta’zieh program will be held to mark the rituals’ registration on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2011.
Iranian National Commission for UNESCO has organized the event in collaboration with Mellat Cultural Institute and Niavaran Cultural and Historical Complex.
Ta’zieh as an Iranian national and religious dramatic musical performance recounts religious events, historical and mythical stories and folk tales through poetry, recitation, music, song and motion.
The traditional and folkloric play, Ta’zieh, narrates the story of martyrdom of Imam Hussain (PBUH) and his companions and their tragedy in Karbala with its own specific style and rituals.
Ta’zieh rituals symbolize the eternal and unwavering stance of truth against falsehood and humanity’s struggle against tyranny realized by Imam Hussein (PBUH).
This Persian passion play was registered on the UNESCO list during the fifth session of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee in Nairobi, Kenya in November 2011.
The 3-day event is scheduled to kick off on January 10.

‘King Ubu’ Heading to Fajr

‘King Ubu’, the grotesque and wild satirical farce by French writer Alfred Jarry, will be performed by the Hungarian troupe Maladype Theatre at the 31st Fajr International Theater Festival.
Zoltan Balazs will direct the play, which was a forerunner of the theater of the absurd. The 36-year-old Romanian director has helmed the Maladype Theatre since 2002, ISNA said.
The play was previously performed in Hungary in 2009. Akos Orosz, Zoltan Lendvaczky, Gabor Jaszberényi, Zsolt Pall, Kamilla Fatyol and Mirella Matrai are in the cast.
The 31st Fajr Theater Festival will be held in Tehran from January 15-31.

Picasso Ceramics for Auction

Sotheby’s London announced the auction of a private collection of over 100 ceramics by Pablo Picasso on 19 March 2013.
These plates, bowls and vases, transformed by Picasso into owls, goats, men, women, bulls and fishes, and produced at the renowned Madoura pottery, represent the full scope of the artist’s experimentation with the art form.
The individual pieces range from around £2,000-£30,000. Picasso stunned the art world when, in 1947, as one of the most famous western artists, and approaching 65 years of age, he absconded from post-war Paris to undertake an apprenticeship at the then little-known Madoura pottery in Vallauris, in rural Southern France, ArtDaily said.
The playful works he created in the region over two decades, of animals and people sculpted in clay, represent a critical period in Picasso’s late career when he sought to further immortalize his place in the history of art. Pottery, one of the oldest of all art forms, had been produced in Vallauris since Roman times; by mastering this traditional craft he sought to join the long history of artisans who had worked in the area for millennia.
Sotheby’s auction coincides with a major exhibition currently showing at the Museu de Picasso de Barcelona, a display of major ceramics donated to the museum by the Picasso’s wife Jacqueline: ‘Picasso Ceramics: Jacqueline’s Gift to Barcelona’.
Alongside the Picasso ceramics, this single-owner auction will include a selection of major prints by Picasso, Joan Miró and Andy Warhol, and will coincide with Sotheby’s bi-annual auction of Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints, also on 19th March.

Christie’s Announces Impressionist & Modern Art Sale

Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale in London on February 6, 2013 marks the start of the first major auctions of the year, meeting current market demands with a particularly strong offering of high quality, rare works. This sale builds on the strength of the international market in 2012 which saw discerning, informed and passionate collectors celebrate the best and rarest Impressionist and Modern Art.
The upcoming auction is led by Jeanne Hébuterne (au chapeau), 1919, one of the acclaimed elegant and lyrical portraits that Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) created of his muse and lover (estimate: £16-22 million).
The focused sale of 37 lots highlights the best of the Impressionist movement and the early avant-garde of the 20th century--from figuration to abstraction--with works by a roll call of the most important artists of the period including Renoir, Modigliani, Picasso, Kandinsky and Matisse.
Estimates range from £200,000 to £22 million, with a pre-sale estimate of £67,470,000 to £99,710,000. Combined with The Art of the Surreal Christie’s Evening Auctions on 6 February have a total pre-sale estimate of £98,350,000 to £146,580,000.
Jay Vincze, International Director and Head of The Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale, Christie’s London, “The market continues to demonstrate that a passion for art is key to many of the greatest acquisitions and collections. The highlights in this sale also point to the significant part which passion plays in many artists’ greatest works: Modigliani’s dramatically intense and brief romance with his common-law wife and the mother of his daughter Jeanne Hébuterne, which led to his lyrical portrait ‘Jeanne Hébuterne (au chapeau)’--the top lot of the sale; Picasso’s complex expression of his deep love for Marie-Thérèse Walter in ‘Minotaure aveugle conduit par une petite fille’ and the happiness his final love Jacqueline brought to his life, in ‘Nu accroupi.’
Buyers continue to be hungry for the best and rarest works of Impressionist and Modern art. We have ensured that this sale focuses on significant works by the most important artists and are proud to present a rich and focused offering which spans figuration to abstraction, presenting international collectors and institutions with rare and exciting opportunities.”

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH):

To honor an old man is showing respect to God.