Iranian Theater Manager, Director Detained After Release of Play Teaser
Saeed Asadi, the manager of the City Theater of Tehran, and Maryam Kazemi, the director of a musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” have been arrested by security agents after...
Iranian Director of AIDS-Related Movie Offers Public Free HIV Tests
Iranian director Masoud Jafari Jozani and the cast and the crew of his movie “Behind the Wall of Silence” have set up mobile medical units in front of cinemas screening the film to provide...
Tehran Museum to Put on Major Show of Works by Warhol, Rothko, Duchamp
A major exhibition is due to open in February at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA). Organized by Dutch architect and curator Mattijs Visser, "Portrait, Still Life, Landscape" comes after the unsuccessful attempt...
Iranian Films Are Among Award Contenders at Venice Film Festival
By Ahmad Rafat
The Venice Film Festival -- which gave Shirin Neshat its best director award in 2009 -- opened on August 29 on the island of Lido. While this year's main competition has no...
Sotheby’s Hosts Mideastern Art Show Inspired by Kahlil Gibran
By Tara Biglari
Earlier this month, crowds of attendees, young and old, gathered at the plush premises of Sotheby’s London to view the works of 38 acclaimed Middle Eastern contemporary artists.
The weeklong exhibition, titled ‘Kahlil...
‘Boarding School Girls’ Co-Author Ferdows Remembers Childhood Away from Home
By Fred Parvaneh
Roya Movahedi Ferdows and Soosan Daghighi were born in Iran and sent to different boarding schools in Britain at the age of 12. Their common childhood experiences are recounted in a new...
Iran’s National Orchestra Gets Its First Female Conductor: Nezhat Amiri
Nezhat Amiri has been appointed as the first female conductor of Iran’s national orchestra. She will assume the post on August 30 at the Vahdat (formerly Roudaki) Concert Hall in Tehran.
This is the first...
Composer Mehdi Rajabian Releases Peace Album with 12 Mideastern Players
The Iranian composer Mehdi Rajabian (1989-) and 12 musicians from neighboring countries have released an album entitled “Middle East.” The record is the result of a remarkable collaboration between musicians in the region.
None of...
Teaching Tar and Setar on YouTube: Interview with Sahba Motallebi
By Firouzeh Ramezanzadeh
Sahba Motallebi is an Iranian musician, songwriter and player of tar and setar (Iranian string instruments) Motallebi was born in 1978 in Tehran. She is a graduate of the Tehran Conservatory of...
Meet Skincare Company Founder Asal Shirazi
By Fred Parvaneh
British-Iranian Asal Shirazi is a quiet, unassuming mother of five children who has studied law, medicine, and aromatherapy. She is also a licensed skin practitioner.
Asal suffers from a life-threatening autoimmune disorder, yet...
