Washington, DC–Marking the 30-year anniversary of the Islamic Republic’s existence and reign in Iran, the year 2009 went by…well, fast. The summer of 2009, not so much.
The Iranian election–which took the world by shock with its results and brutal force used on Iranian citizens by government-led orders–began in June and lasted throughout the summer: Most of which, we spent watching videos of our fellow Iranians in distress and under severe and inhumane conditions. Seconds seemed like hours and hours seemed like seconds as we were entranced and lost in an intense phase of tweet-based news flowing out of Iran–much due to the effort of citizen journalists, social networking and micro-blogging sites–but one substantial and influential player in the game of reportage that needs to be credited is Pulitzer Prize-finalist Iranian-American journalist, and Persianesque Magazine’s “Man of the Year”: Borzou Daragahi.
Fataneh Dadkhah is a pioneer of stage-photography as an artistic discipline in Iran. She has documented the rebirth of Iranian theatre since the 1979 revolution, and in 1983 she published Theatre Photography, in association with the Dramatic Arts Centre in Iran. Since 2001 Dadkhah has travelled extensively inside and outside of Iran taking snapshots of her experiences, and has exhibited nationally and internationally.
The two photographs presented by Candlestar are part of Dadkhah’s beautiful Balouchi Bride series taken in Balouchestan, Iran, and can be commissioned exclusively from Candlestar as limited edition prints.
Beat out by the Irish, Australians, and Canadians–respectively–Iranians made Opentravel’s “5 friendliest nations on the planet” list, ranking an appreciable and healthy placement as shomaareh (number) 4.
We can’t really complain.
We have to agree with Opentravel’s decision to include the Irish and their naturally happy faces (albeit due to overintoxification), on the list. But to give them the number one spot?
In addition to singing with Freedom Glory Project–a band he co-founded with members of the Iranian band, Hypernova–Johnny B. sings and writes for his own band, Electric Black.
I caught Electric Black live at the launch party for their new CD, on the Lower East Side at Rockwood Music Hall in Manhattan. Seeing Johnny B. perform onstage together with the female accordion player, female guest singer, male guitarist, male harmonica player, male upright bassist, male trumpet player, and male drummer–before a mixed audience, in a public venue serving alcohol–was a reminder I was not in Iran!
CrystalCruises wants to take you on a “journey into the heart of ancient lands, where the Persian, Greek, Egyptian, Roman and Ottoman empires once ruled the world, and monuments to their great legacies still stand,” via their cruise, World Voyage IV: Middle East Mystique.
As the 40th day of Neda’s death was commemorated in Iran a few days ago, and [I learned] that a staggering number of 4,000 people were detained in protests that followed June’s disputed presidential election, I was reminded of my years there as a high school student just before the Islamic Revolution subdued the country and cast it into a nightmare from which it is still trying to awaken 30 years later.
