Noted Iranian vocalist Mohammad Reza Shajarian believes that ’She’r-e Nou’ (new Iranian poetry) lacks the capacity for being performed on Dastgahs (Iranian music sound systems).
According to www.Jamejamonline.ir, addressing the Second Annual Meeting of the Literati, Intellectuals and Artists, Shajarian referred to the interaction between music and other branches of arts and said that each artist should become familiar with traditions and customs of the community so that his/her art would be eternal.
Unless this is developed, the artist will not attain higher status, he said, adding, “I believe that each branch of art has mysteries which can also be useful in other arts. I have learnt some things in calligraphy classes conducted by the noted Iranian calligrapher Gholamhossein Amirkhani, which were useful for me in performing songs.“
Shajarian further elaborated on the mechanism for educational workshop on Iranian songs and said, “Since I was engaged in Iranian song music for years, I felt the need to organize a workshop on that subject.“
Iranian song has always been associated with sonnets but this is not the case with She’r-e Nou and it is meaningless to sing such poems on Dastgahi music, Shajarian concluded.

A painting by Farideh Lashaei, an Iranian artist participating in the ongoing painting and sculpture exhibition at Sadabad Complex, fetched the highest price at the event.
The painting, with a price tag of 140 million rials, has so far been the most expensive artwork sold at the event, while the least expensive tableau was priced at 2.5 million rials.
Deputy head of the complex for cultural affairs, Nematollah Keikavousi told ISNA that a total of 600 tableaux were originally put on show. However, given the great public interest in the event, another 200 tableaux went on display on the second day.
“Tableaux are solely bought by private collectors and no state entity has so far expressed willingness to purchase the artworks. However, we may set a date for selling artworks to state bodies,“ he said.
Keikavousi added that the exhibition also presents ten sculptures by artists, including Saeid Shahlapour, Gholamhossein Nami and Fatemeh Emdadian.
The official further said that Visual Arts Department of Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance as well as the Academy of Arts are involved in the purchase of contemporary artworks for display in museums.
Sadabad Complex has 14 museums, of which seven display paintings.
The exhibition will run until December 16.

Iranian actor Ahmad Najafi has accepted an invitation by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to produce a film in that country.
Najafi, who is playing the lead role in the TV series ’Detective Alavi 2’, told Fars news agency that he met with Chavez during his recent visit to the shooting location.
“Some years ago, I put forward a plan to Iranian ambassador to Venezuela to make a film there,“ he said.
Najafi added that the idea was welcomed by Chavez and he will soon discuss the plan with the Venezuelan ambassador to Tehran.
Commenting on the theme of the project, he said, “It is about a smuggled Iranian historical item which was taken to foreign countries. However it is not yet clear whether it will be a TV series or a film.“
Najafi will soon leave for Venezuela for preliminary works on the project.

An Iranian feature film, ’The Liar Shepherd’, directed by Sirous Hassanpour received the Best Director Award at the 14th Minsk International Film Festival Listapad 2007, which concluded on Saturday in Belarus.
’The Liar Shepherd’, produced by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and distributed by Cima Media International (CMI), was featured in the children’s competition section of the event, reported sourehcinema.com quoting CMI.
Another Iranian film ’The Sun Equally Shines on All’, directed by Abbas Rafiei, was screened in the festival’s main section.
’The Liar Shepherd’ is the story of a young shepherd, Alimorad, who forfeits the trust of the rural community he belongs to. When given the task of escorting a sick donkey, Alimorad must make a difficult choice between betraying the villagers’ trust and looking after the animal in the best way.

A seminar to review issues facing Iranian youth will be held in Shiraz University from February 20 to 22, according to IRNA.
Announcing this, secretary of the seminar, Esmaeil Jalilvand told reporters that the event seeks to identify challenges faced by this stratum of the society, put forward solutions to social maladies concerning the youth and provide opportunity for researchers to exchange views.
Promoting a sense of responsibility among university students and making them more sensitive to social issues are among the other objectives of the event.
Superficial attitude towards the issue can aggravate the situation and therefore, organizers of the seminar seek to pave the way for conducting research on these issues and take even a small step in finding solutions to the maladies.
Jalilvand maintained that non-implementation of scientific researches is the lost link of social sciences in Iran and holding the seminar can compensate for the shortage to a certain extent.
Topics for discussion include ’Identity Crisis’ (gender, national, religious and ethnical), ’Youth, Needs and Expectations’, ’Youth, Media and Virtual Space’, ’Youth and Dangerous Behaviors’, ’Models for Solving Youth Issues’ and ’Addiction’.
So far, a total of 100 articles have been submitted to the secretariat of the seminar, he said, adding that 40 percent of the articles were forwarded by the staff of universities and centers of higher education.

An international seminar to commemorate the eighth birth centenary of Molana Jalaleddin Rumi, well-known Iranian poet and mystic, will be held in, Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on November 30.
According to Fars news agency, the event will be attended by researchers from Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Ali Asghar Sherdoust, secretary general of Molana international seminars, Gholamreza Avani, head of Iran’s Association of Theosophy and Philosophy and Hossein Jafari, deputy head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization for cultural affairs will deliver lectures.

Head of Documents and National Library Organization Ali Akbar Ashari signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with his Azeri counterpart Karim Taherov on Saturday, IRNA reported.
Speaking at the ceremony, Ashari described expansion of cultural relations as the government’s top priority and said that given the cultural commonalities between the two countries, forging cultural and scientific interactions will promote further understanding among intellectuals and peoples of the two nations.
The presidential advisor further stated that Azerbaijan is the most important country for Iran from the cultural standpoint and agreement with that country indicates the significance of the country.
Ashari, also head of the Union of Archives and National Libraries of ECO member states, referred to the recently concluded two-day seminar in Tehran and described it as the first step toward establishing a united cultural front in the region.
“We can help develop science and culture in the region in cooperation with each other,“ he said.
Taherov, for his part, said the visit helped him become familiar with the capabilities of Iranian experts.
Describing Iran’s National Library as among the most modern in the world, he called for benefiting from the experiences of Iranian experts.
Based on the agreement, the two sides underlined further cooperation with the aim of developing academic and cultural ties and expanding exchange of information between the two national libraries.

Anton Chekhov

The teleplay titled ’Chekhov’s Satires’, which is based on six short stories by the noted Russian writer, is to be broadcast on national television’s Channel Four in a number of episodes of 50 minutes duration.
According to ISNA, the channel earlier aired the play ’Death and Encompasses’ which was produced by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting TV Channel Two.
’Officer’s Proposal’ is one of the plays portraying the adventures of an officer’s who proposes to a young girl. ’Procuress’ is another serial depicting the wooing of driver of a locomotive by a widow.
’Proposal for Bridegroom’, ’After Engagement’, ’After Wedding’ and ’Separation’ are among the other episodes of the teleplay, which were broadcast on TV’s Channel Four during Norouz--the Iranian new year holidays.
The cast of the teleplay, produced by Mohammad Rasoulef includes Asghar Hemmat, Gohar Kheirandish, Dariush Kardan, Sohrab Salimi, Gilda Hamidi and Mandana Mobasheri.
Dariush Pir-Mehdi is the stage designer while Mah-Leqa Naqed is costume designer.