Ta’zieh performance at Khavaran Cultural Complex

(Photo by Amir Hossein Bandi)

Ferdowsi Hall to Host Ashura Puppet Opera

Arts & Culture Desk

‘Ashura’ puppet opera directed by Behrouz Gharibpour will go on stage at Tehran’s Ferdowsi Hall from December 5.
The play recently met an enthusiastic reception in Poland. It has also been staged in Italy and France, according to Roudaki Foundation.
The music for the play has been recorded with Ukraine’s National Orchestra.
The religious puppet opera highlights Ashura tragedy, depicting the incidents leading to the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shiite Imam, and his loyal companions on Ashura--the 10th day of the lunar month of Muharram.
The play was also welcomed at the French Charleville-Mezieres’s International Puppet Theater Festival in 2011.
Gharibpour is in the vanguard of traditional Persian puppet theater, known for his extensive research on Qajar puppetry.
‘Macbeth’, ‘Molavi’ and ‘Rostam and Sohrab’ are his better-known works.

‘Ta’zieh’ Reflects Persian Language Glory

‘Ta’zieh’ reflects the grandeur of Persian language, said a theater director.
Announcing this, Hossein Parsaei also said that Persian plays, relying on the creativity of its artists, feature an eloquent language for narration of insightful stories about Islam. And, the epitome of this is reflected in ‘Ta’zieh’.
Director of the ‘Water and Mirror’ play, went on to say that performing arts such as ‘Ta’zieh’ are centered on religious thought and the basis of human relation with his creator.
Ta’zieh (meaning passion play) was inspired by religious and historical events, which symbolize the epic spirit and resistance, he added.
Ta’zieh is a traditional Persian theatrical genre particularly performed during the lunar month of Muharram concurrent with the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS) and his companions in Karbala about 1,400 years ago.

No Winners for Al-e Ahmad Award

Arts & Culture Desk

The Fifth Al-e Ahmad Literary Award, named after the late Iranian author Jalal Al-e Ahmad, announced top works on Wednesday.
This year’s event had no winners, though there were speculations that ‘Hafez Seven’, written by Akbar Sahraei, had been selected by the jury panel. The book was only honored in the fiction category.
‘Hafez Seven’ narrates the journey of the Leader of Islamic Revolution by Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to Fars Province in 2009.
‘Like Molavi on Silent Secrets’ written by Ali Mohammadi Asiabadi and ‘Red Mind’ by Taqi Pournamdarian were honored in the literary criticism category.
Massoumeh Sepehri’s ‘Noureddin, the Son of Iran’ and Hedayatollah Behboudi’s ‘The Description of Name’ were selected in the memoirs and documentary writing categories, respectively.
Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Award is presented yearly since 2008. The top winner receives 110 Bahar Azadi gold coins, making it Iran’s most lucrative literary award. In some years there is no top winner, other notables receive up to 25 gold coins.

‘The Queen’ for Azarbaijan Quake Victims

Box office revenues for ‘The Queen’, a drama about the early days of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, will be donated to the quake victims in East Azarbaijan province.
“The screening of the film has coincided with the bitter cold in the quake-stricken regions in East Azarbaijan,” Hamed Hossein, the film’s producer, said.
“Thus, all people and the Farabi Cinematic Foundation, which are involved in the production of the film, decided to donate all box office receipts for the movie to the quake victims,” he said.
‘The Queen’ is set in the southwestern Iranian city of Abadan during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. An Iranian soldier hides in the Abadan Oil Refinery to reconnoiter the Iraqi forces. The film will debut on December 5, Mehr News Agency said.

Ancient Rock Carvings Stolen In Sierra Nevada

Rock carvings that graced a sacred American Indian site in California’s Sierra Nevada for thousands of years have fallen prey to modern thieves armed with power saws. At least four petroglyphs--some two feet wide and located 15 feet above the ground--were hacked from lava cliffs in the Eastern Sierra, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Visitors to the area, known as Volcanic Tableland, discovered the theft and reported it to the federal Bureau of Land Management on October 31. “This was the worst act of vandalism ever seen” on the 750,000 acres of public land administered by the BLM field office in Bishop, BLM archaeologist Greg Haverstock told the newspaper. The thieves must have used ladders, electric generators and power saws.
In addition to the four carvings that were stolen, one was defaced with deep saw cuts on three sides, and another was removed but apparently broke during the theft and was left propped against a boulder near a visitor parking lot.
More than 3,500 years ago, Native Americans carved pictures of hunters, deer and other animals, and geometric and other designs into a half-mile-long volcanic escarpment. The images adorn hundreds of lava boulders.
The petroglyphs are probably worth only about $500 to $1,500 on the illegal art market but are priceless to American Indians, authorities said. “We still use this sacred place as a kind of church to educate tribal members and children about our historical and spiritual connections,” Paiute tribal historic preservation officer Raymond Andrews said.

Exquisite Antiquities on Offer At Christie’s

Christie’s announced the sale of Antiquities on December 5, which will feature over 200 superb works of art that embrace the cultures of Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Near East.
With estimates ranging from $1,500 to $5 million, the sale highlights include a pair of important Roman bronze girls pursuing partridges, a Roman marble portrait bust of Marcus Aurelius, and a Roman marble head of Apollo Lyceus, ArtDaily wrote.
The sale is expected to realize in excess of $8 million and will be followed by the 14th annual sale of Ancient Jewelry. A set of two important Roman bronze genre statues, circa late 1st century B.C.--early 1st century A.D., each depict a young girl pursuing a partridge (estimate: $3,000,000-5,000,000).
The exquisitely detailed toddlers are positioned similarly, sitting on the base, leaning forward with open arms and splayed fingers, stretching toward a bird that is just out of reach.
The partridges are equally impressive, with the plumage naturalistically represented as they turn their head back to glance at their pursuer. These spectacular bronzes offer a rare glimpse into the opulence of the Roman private sphere and vividly illustrate the pinnacle of bronze casting technology during the early Imperial period.
The bronzes come to Christie’s from a private collection, the owner’s family having acquired them from renowned Swiss collector Giovanni Züst in the 1960s, whose collection formed the nucleus of Basel’s famed Antikensammlung.
A Roman marble portrait bust of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, circa 170-180 A.D., is among the works of art from a distinguished private collection that spans the categories of Antiquities and Old Master Paintings (estimate: $800,000-1,200,000).

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH):

Except three, every eye will be weeping on the Day of Resurrection. These three are: an eye that spent a night sleeplessly for God’s sake, an eye that is lowered before what God has prohibited to gaze, and an eye that shed tears due to fear of God.