Deputy culture and Islamic guidance minister for artistic affairs has said that holding 26th Fajr International Film Festival and 26th Fajr Theater Festival simultaneously will not have a negative impact on the quality of the two events.
Speaking to ISNA, Mohammad Hossein Imani-Khoshkhou further said, “Changing the schedule was unavoidable since the theater festival coincided with the lunar mourning month of Moharram.“
He added that that cinema and theater have numerous commonalities and there is no room for concern.
This while, a number of artists and theater enthusiasts have expressed dissatisfaction with the schedule.
Budding theater actor, Afshin Hashemi, who is currently playing a role in ’Afra’, directed by Bahram Beizaei, told the same source that holding the two events concurrently will create problems for those involved in both festivals.
“A number of actors will not be able to watch their films due to the coincidence in screening times of their film with their performances,“ he said.
Ali Asghar Dashti, who will stage the play ’Pinocchio’ at Fajr theater festival, also criticized the disorganized manner in which the festival is being held calling disrespect to the audience.
Since theater and film festivals attract large audience, organizers of the events should have been more scrupulous in arranging the timetable, he concluded.
The 26th Fajr International Film Festival is slated for February 1-11, while the theater festival will be held from February 6-16.

Internationally acclaimed composer Loris Tjeknavorian expressed pleasure over the appointment of Manouchehr Sahbaei as the full-time conductor of Tehran Symphony Orchestra.
Speaking to MNA, he said, “Sahbaei is a towering musician and I fully agree with the orchestra council’s decision.“
Tjeknavorian further said that the biggest problem facing Tehran Symphony Orchestra is the shortage of fund which cannot be overcome just by making constant reshuffles. “Previous conductors were also proficient musicians, but they had financial problems.“
The conductor referred to the delays in paying the wages of musicians, and said that members of the orchestra have lost their motivation since salaries fall short of the expenses needed for an ordinary life.
Commenting on his activities, Tjeknavorian said, “I am planning to perform a number of my compositions with Nouri choral music group as well as the choral group of Culture and Islamic Ministry’s Music Office in April.
He added that the performance will feature chamber music as well as a piano solo.

A sample of Iranian teahouse painting

Teahouse painting workshops attended by veteran artists will open in Felestin Museum on Tuesday concurrent with a ceremony to unveil 12 contemporary teahouse paintings featuring a famous poem on Imam Hussein (AS) by Mohtasham Kashani.
According to Fars news agency, the workshops, which are organized by stalwarts in teahouse painting such as Mansour Vafaei, Ali Akbar Lorni, Mohammad Farahani and Ahmad Khalili, will depict various stages of painting the tableaux.
Teahouse painting whose history goes back to almost a century reflects beliefs, traditions, myths as well as the link between public beliefs and the country’s epics and devotions.
This traditional painting has been turned into one of the most comprehensive and popular art by featuring legendary topics and different historical events.

Swiss Bank Piguet, which is one of the leading banks in the country, will organize a photography contest in 2008 in cooperation with Financial Times newspaper.
According to ISNA, British Candle Star Institute, the bank and the newspaper have chosen some 20 selectors from around the world, including Kamran Adl from Iran.
The contest themed ’Water Shortage’ has called on the participants to submit thought-provoking works to the event. A cash award of 100,000 Swiss francs will be presented for the top work.
The final date for submitting the entries to the Museum of Contemporary Art is February 3. From among the participants, top ten contestants will go through to the subsequent stages of the contest in London.

Two-volume ’Iranian Theater in the Course of History’ written jointly by Kazem Shahbazi and Setareh Khorramzadeh Esfahani will be published by Efraz Publishing House.
According to MNA, the first volume of the encyclopedia will feature theatrical groups, faculties, types of performances and training in theater from 1913 to 1978.
The book is in fact the dissertation by Shahbazi which has been set in the form of a 700-page illustrated book.
The second volume written by Khorramzadeh deals with theater workshops from 1969 to the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The 780-page publication is about organizers of the workshops.
Director of Efraz Publishing House said that ’Iranian Theater in the Course of History’ is an encyclopedia available to researchers. Other volumes of the publication will be released in due course.

Head of the cultural organization in the Chinese city of Chuan Cho has called for expansion of cultural ties with Iran, MNA reported.
In a meeting with Iranian Cultural AttachŽ in China Mohammad Javad Aghajari in the Museum of History of Communications with Foreign Countries, Gong Wan Ruan further said that the city has maintained ties with Arab states and Iran since the ancient times.
He further said that in 2004, a number of Chinese artists participated in Iran’s International Theater Festival and won several awards.
“We are happy to see Iranian exhibits are organized in the city,“ he said, adding that the events are warmly welcomed and Chinese Culture Ministry has underlined the need for organizing such events in an appropriate manner.
Chuan Cho was nominated as among the historical cities by UNESCO in the 1980s. The city boasts of 11 historical monuments which are directly managed by the government.

Safavid Complex in Farahabad, Mazandaran

Some 2,100 historical monuments in Mazandaran province are qualified for registering on national heritage list, said head of the provincial Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department said.
Speaking to IRNA, Rahmat Abbasnejad added that a total of 700 edifices in the province has so far been registered on the national heritage list. The department’s Technical Council is currently reviewing monuments to determine their eligibility for registration, he said.
Stating that Mazandaran province is the fifth province in the country in terms of cultural and historical attractions, he complained that the sector has been neglected.
Urban development projects are among the factors contributing to the destruction of the monuments, he said.
Abbasnejad also called on the municipalities in the province to consult his department before issuing construction permits in the vicinity of valuable edifices.
Mazandaran boasts of four cities of historical value, he noted and sought an increase in the provincial cultural budget. He put the province’s cultural heritage budget allocation this year at 12 billion rials.

A French researcher has described Iran as a country with a great history and civilization. According to IRNA, Claris Herrenschmidt said that the West does not have a true image of Iran’s culture and civilization and for this reason, it cannot make a proper judgment about it.
Herrenschmidt has conducted extensive studies on Iranian culture, religion and language and published the findings in her book ’Three Scripts’.
In this book, she presents a comprehensive research on 3,500-year-old history of written characters in the eastern world which covers the Middle East and Mediterranean.
She underlined that Iran and Mesopotamia were the cradles of many civilizations.
Commenting on the history of Elamite Script in Iran, he further said that the background of the script portrays historical, geographical and cultural state of Iran properly.
She maintained that Shoush, Khuzestan province, is one of the regions which played an important role in devising script.
“The book changes our attitude towards scripts and deals with it in an extensive manner within semiotics,“ she said, adding it is considered a special reference for semiotic script.

Seminar titled ’Review of Role and Status of Woman in Monotheistic Religions’ will be held the Spain’s Cordoba University on February 4.
A press release faxed to Iran Daily by the Public Relations Department of Islamic Culture and Relations Organization, said the event will be jointly sponsored by the university, Spanish Islamic Assembly and Cordoba Municipality.
Iran’s Cultural AttachŽ Seyyed Ahmad Reza Khezri and several instructors at Cordoba University will deliver lectures at the event.