As the Green Movement continues its political resistance and protests, the green movement is expanding in new and interesting ways. One such way is the what I call the new "Green Art." Please see the photos above and below, as well the slide show linked below for many beautiful examples of this new dimension of the Green Movement in Iran.
Dear All,
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I hope you are well. As I was thinking hard about how to balance the heavy political doze of these recent windows with some cultural content, I came across a set of beautiful art work, visual manifestations of the recent events by anonymous Iranian artists. What I love about them most is that despite their sad theme, they generate energy and hope. I turned them into a power point slide show that you can enjoy, take to class, or share with friends. What better way to open this window? Please click to see what I call the new “Green Art”: The New Green Art of Iran.
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Another example of the new "Green art." See the link above for a full slide show.
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A Football Match
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* The truth is it is hard to speak about anything happening in Iran these days without running into politics. The government cancels most events that would give people an opportunity to gather together and feel somewhat safe to express themselves – inside a packed stadium, for example. Soccer matches may be next in line for cancellation. For now, they are still going on, but the one you will see below, which took place on Friday, Oct. 2, was marked by demonstrations: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=102474203102700.
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A Short Pictorial Essay on Meshkatian
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* Last week I told you about the passing of a great Iranian composer and instrumentalist, Parviz Meshkatian. The following is a short pictorial biography for him with one of his compositions played in the background: Pictorial Biography of Parviz Meshkatian, the great Iranian composer and instrumentalist.
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Ahmadinejad on those Killed in the Post-Election Protests
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* Much of the objection of Iranians to Mr. Ahmadinejad – even before the 2009 election – centered around the fact that he made false claims. Gradually, he came to be known as “dorough gou,” the lier. This was one of the points that Mr. Mousavi raised during the election campaign and recieved much sympathy for it. Below, I have attached a clip from Mr. Ahmadinejad’s interview with Charlie Rose during his last visit to U.S. In this part of the interview, he claims that only about 30 people died in the post-election protests and most of them were supporters of his government. Making no mention of the attacks by security forces on unarmed demonstrators, which are amply available on youtube, he names one of the victims – Mohsen Rouholamini – as the son of a friend. What Charlie Rose does not seem to know is that the victim in question died in prison as a result of fractures to his skull. This is not denied even by Iranian officials.
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* Here is the clip from Charlie Rose interview. At the end of this clip there is another brief clip that dates back to Mr. Mousavi’s election debates, where Mr. Mousavi says, “This is an amazing phenomenon. He [Mr. Ahmadinejad] can look at you straight in the face, point to something white, and say ‘this is black’ without
blinking”: http://www.facebook.com/mousavi?ref=nf#/video/video.php?v=102405879776199. Or watch it here:
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* Now, please take a look at this report in the National Iranian American Blog. Not only did Mr. Mohsen Rouhulamini die in prison, his family, supposedly friends of the Mr. Ahmadinejad, were not given permission to mourn his death for weeks after his tragic death: http://niacblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/tomorrow-the-40th-day-anniversary-of-mohsen-rooholamini/.
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The Complexities of the Current Negotiations with Iran
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* Negotiations are going on between Iranian officials and their European and American counterparts in Geneva as we speak. President Obama has expressed cautious optimism after the first round of talks. Iran appears willing to allow international inspectors to come to its recently declared nuclear facility near the city of Qom. There are rumors of tougher sanctions against Iran and Russia’s support for them. However, there are also rumors of Russia’s direct involvement in the Iranian enrichment efforts. Juan Cole’s blog “Informed Comment”, today Oct. 3rd, has a wealth of information on all of the interrelated aspects of these recent developments: http://www.juancole.com/2009/10/russia-china-satisfied-with-1109-talks.html.
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* On the complexities of the new energy related developments, particularly as far as Russia and China are concerned, you might find this article by Pepe Escobar interesting: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175121/pepe_escobar_pipelineistan_s_ultimate_opera.
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* I would like to mention again that, in my opinion, far more important than any other factor for the health and safety of Iran and the region is to support the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people. The majority of the Iranians will tell you that this will not be achieved by tougher sanctions or military intervention. The International community can do this by refusing to recognize the Iranian government and making deals with it until and unless it frees the political prisoners, and allows its people the peaceful expression of their views.
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Iranian Artist Manijeh Sehi
Manijeh Sehi’s Feat of Color
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* Now, to close this window, I invite you to enjoy another visual feast. A professor and an artist, Ms. Sehi’s work has been exhibited in Iran since 1999. Click here for a slide show of the most recent exhibit of the her works: Recent Exhibit of the Paintings of Manijeh Sehi.
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Here is one example of the beautiful and strikingly colorful paintings of contemporary Iranian artist Manijeh Sehi. Please see the link above for a complete slide show of a recent exhibition of her work.
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Have a great night, and don’t forget to share these windows and the blog https://windowsoniran.wordpress.com/ with friends.
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Best,
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Fatemeh
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Fatemeh Keshavarz, Professor and Chair
Dept. of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures
Washington University in St. Louis
Honorary Co-Chair, Iranians For Peace
Tel: (314) 935-5156
Fax: (314) 935-4399
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Windows on Iran 