Tuesday, July 1, 2025

‘Masterpieces of Iranian New Wave’: London’s Barbican to Celebrate Iran’s Cinema 

By Nazanine Nouri The Barbican Centre, one of Europe’s most prominent multidisciplinary arts centers, is paying homage to Iranian cinema in February with a season of masterworks by trailblazers such as Abbas Kiarostami, Bahram Beyzai,...

Inspired by Iran-Iraq War, Photographer Gohar Dashti Shows Her ‘Home’ Series at Paris Photo...

By Nazanine Nouri The Iranian-born photographer Gohar Dashti featured prominently at the recent edition of Paris Photo, a major international fair dedicated to photography and held this year in the newly restored Grand Palais, the...

Skateboards Meet Persian Craftsmanship In Leila Nazarian’s Paris Gallery Show

By Nazanine Nouri Skateboards are not a medium that you would readily associate with Persian craftsmanship. Yet the two overlap successfully in the works of the Iranian-American artist Leila Nazarian, who is showing her work...

Remembering Sirak Melkonian, Iranian-Armenian Modern Artist, Pioneer Of Abstraction

By Nazanine Nouri Sirak Melkonian, a prominent Iranian-Armenian artist and one of the founders of the modern art movement in Iran passed away in Toronto last Saturday at the age of 93. Melkonian was a...

Trading Shahnameh for De Kooning: New Memoir Recounts Historic 1994 ‘Exchange’

By Nazanine Nouri A new memoir by the late British art dealer Oliver Hoare tells the story of how, 30 years ago, he engineered a clandestine swap between a priceless 16th-century manuscript of the Shahnameh,...

UNESCO Celebrates Rumi, the 13th-Century Persian Poet and Sufi Mystic, in Paris

By Nazanine Nouri UNESCO is this week holding a conference, exhibition and two concerts at its headquarters in Paris to commemorate the 815th anniversary of the birth of Mawlana, the 13th-century Persian poet, scholar and...

At Sotheby’s, Two Paintings by ‘Persian Picasso’ Bahman Mohasses Sell For Six Figures

By Nazanine Nouri A painting by Bahman Mohasses, the prominent Iranian artist known as the ‘Persian Picasso,’ sold for 304,800 pounds ($380,000) in the bi-annual Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary Middle East sale, which was held...

Marjane Satrapi Is Elected to France’s Académie des Beaux Arts, 50 Years After Empress...

By Nazanine Nouri Marjane Satrapi, the award-winning French-Iranian graphic novelist and filmmaker, has been elected to France’s prestigious Académie des Beaux-arts – or Fine Arts Academy. Satrapi is the second Iranian-born personality to be elected to...

Iranians Celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year; Google Doodle Marks the Moment

By Nazanine Nouri More than 300 million people around the world this week are celebrating Nowruz—the start of the Persian New Year 1403. Ushering in the most beautiful season of the year, Nowruz celebrates the...

US’s 1988 Downing of Iran Air Flight Inspires Acclaimed Novel By Kaveh Akbar 

By Nazanine Nouri The critically acclaimed Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar has just released his debut novel “Martyr” — the story of a young man who mourns the death of his mother in the accidental U.S. ...