Friday, May 17, 2024

Culture

Berlin Cancels Tehran Museum Collections Show as Iran Withholds Loans

The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA) is a treasure trove of masterpieces by pre-eminent artists – from Renoir, Van Gogh and Gauguin to Picasso, Warhol and Rothko. More than 60 paintings from the collection were...

Iran Will Dominate U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda, Says Author and Wall Street Journal Journalist...

By Peyman Pejman
As a foreign affairs and national security writer for The Wall Street Journal, Jay Solomon arrived in Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Until that point, and by his own admission, he had spent little time in the region. The pro-Iran Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah had kidnapped

‘The World’s Fastest Fingers’: Percussionist Mohammad Reza Mortazavi

By Azadeh Karimi and Ali Eshtyagh
Mohammad Reza Mortazavi is an Iranian percussionist once described by a German TV channel as "the fastest fingers in the world." Growing up in Isfahan, he began taking drum lessons when he was six years old, and was so prodigiously gifted that his tombak (percussion) teacher gave up teaching him after three years. Four years later,

Award-winning Photographer Reza Looks Back on a Prolific Career

Reza Deghati is one of the world's most famous photojournalists - so famous that he goes by his first name alone. An awardwinning National Geographic photographer, he has for the past three decades captured countless...

Iran’s ‘Qanat’ Irrigation Tunnels Become UNESCO World Heritage Sites

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee has recently inscribed 11 Iranian treasures on its list of World Heritage sites. They're neither mosques, nor monuments, nor majestic royal palaces: they are qanats, those ancient irrigation tunnels that...

Paris-Based Vocalist Darya Dadvar Longs to Perform in Her Native Iran

Darya Dadvar was born with a beautiful voice, and a love of poetry and music. The Paris-based vocalist and opera singer – whose name means 'sea' in Persian – has endless affection for her native Iran....

Iranian Artists Swarm Paris with Group Show at Galerie Nicolas Flamel

By Katayoun Halajan Iranian modern and contemporary art took center stage at Paris's Galerie Nicolas Flamel earlier this year, as the work of 15 artists went on show in an exhibition titled "Time Machine." The...

War Correspondent and Novelist Peyman Pejman Discusses Journalism and Thriller Writing

As a fearless reporter and war correspondent, Peyman Pejman witnessed major milestones in the contemporary history of the Middle East: from the 1978-79 Iranian Revolution to the Israeli invasion of Beirut to the two...

Artist Monir Farmanfarmaian Achieves Fame in Her Nineties, Stars in Documentary

By the time they reach middle age, most prominent artists will have had a big solo show in a major museum. For Monir Farmanfarmaian, the wait was infinitely longer. Monir, who produces stunning mirror works...

Persepolis’s Lions and Bulls Star in an Exhibition in Northern Italy

By Ahmad Rafat For the first time ever, archaeological treasures from the Museum of Persepolis and the National Museum of Iran travelled abroad earlier this year for an exhibition titled “Lions and Bulls from Ancient...