The latest cultural headlines in the media.

Tehran Book City to hold congress on Sadi and Pushkin

Tehran Times: The cultural center of Tehran’s Book City will celebrate the birthday anniversaries of the giants of Persian and Russian literature Sadi and Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin during two separate congresses in coming spring.

The congresses will be held in Tehran on April 18 and 19 and in Moscow on June 6, the secretariat of the congresses Ali-Asghar Mohammadkhani mentioned in a press release.

The common themes of poems composed by Pushkin and Sadi, the place of Pushkin in Russian literature, a review on Persian translation of Pushkin works, and the influence of Sadi on Russian poets will be reviewed during the congresses.

Mohammadkhani mentioned that Pushkin’s works have been translated into Persian over the past 100 years by Saeid Nafisi, Ali-Asghar Hemmat, Karim Keshavarz, Parviz Natel-Khanlari, Ebrahim Yunesi and Abdollah Kowsari.

Sadi is one of the greatest poets of Persian poetry and his language is the foundation of the Persian language. Similarly, Pushkin is one of the most important poets of Russia and both of them are representative of human culture, he added.

A selection of works by Sadi has been translated into Russian and several academics have done research on him, he added.

The event is cosponsored by the Iranian cultural attaché’s office in Moscow, Iran’s Center for the Study of Sadi and Russkiy Mir Foundation.

On June 6 in Russia, people celebrate Pushkin’s Day annually and honor the memory of one of the greatest authors of all the times. On this day thousands of people gather in Pushkin’s Mountains and in Mihailovskoe in order to listen to poetic masterpieces of the great author read by young and established poets. Very often famous actors and singers take part in these celebrations.

Iranians annually celebrate April 21, which has been designated as National Sadi Day. Sheikh Muslih od-Din Sadi Shirazi (C. 1213-1291) is one of the greatest figures of classical Persian literature, famous worldwide for his Bustan (The Orchard) and Gulistan (The Rose Garden).

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Japanese cultural festival opens in Isfahan

Tehran Times: The Japanese cultural festival was opened in the Isfahan Museum of Contemporary Art on Thursday to express thanks to Iranians who shared their sympathy with the quake-stricken people of Fukushima.

Kinichi Komano, Japan’s ambassador to Tehran, who was attending the opening ceremony in Isfahan, was quite pleased that Isfahan is hosting the first Japanese cultural festival.

However, the Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) in Tehran will be hosting the event next from January 25 to 29, the Persian service of ISNA reported on Friday.

Japan enjoys a rich art and culture such as traditional paintings, calligraphy, the Japanese tea ceremony (Chanuyo) and the Japanese flower arranging ceremony (Ikebana), Komano said.

The ambassador further noted that the festival helps expand bilateral understanding, and also aims to show the Iranians that Japan is now ready to reconstruct the quake-stricken regions thanks to their sympathy and support.

Isfahan Governor General Alireza Zaker Isfahani, also present at the ceremony, expressed hope that the festival helps introduce part of the art and culture of Japan to the people of Isfahan.

The students studying at the girls’ art schools in Isfahan will get a chance to learn origami during the festival in Isfahan. Origami is the traditional Japanese art or technique of folding paper into a variety of decorative or representational forms, as of animals, mostly cranes, or flowers.

The paintings created by children of quake-stricken regions as well as a photo exhibition featuring the Fukushima earthquake and the reconstruction process will go on show in Tehran next.

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Iran, Armenia Ink Literary Deal

Iran Daily: Iranian and Armenian literary institutes signed a cooperation agreement with the start of cultural programs in Yerevan as the World’s Cultural Capital for 2012.
Havva literary institute of Iran agreed with its Armenian counterpart to introduce and market all copyrighted books in the two countries, IRNA reported.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization announced Yerevan as World’s Cultural Capital for the year 2012.
Hence, based on the agreement Iran and Armenia will do their best to coordinate all their cultural activities, especially in the printing industry.

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