2008 Events

Mon, Apr 14
PAF sponsors Jamshied Sharifi's "ONE" CD Release Concert
Joe's Pub 9:30pm
425 Lafayette @ Astor Place
Jamshied Sharifi with special guests Hassan Hakmoun, Yungchen Lhamo, Vishal Vaid and Mamak Khadem. Also performing: Ole Mathisen, Brahim Fribgane, Damon Banks, Benjamin Wittman, Simone Haggiag.
Only $20
BUY TIX ALMOST SOLD OUT!!

Wed, Apr 16
PAF Poetry Night
Bowery Poetry Club
6-8pm
308 Bowery @ Bleecker
PAF's April 16th edition of its monthly poetry night features Maryam Habibian, author of the play Forugh's Reflecting Pool: The Life and Work of Forugh Farrokhzad, and Fawzia Afzal-Khan, editor of Shattering The Stereotypes: Muslim Women Speak Out. Dr. Habibian will read a section from her play and offer a dramatic reading of some of Farrokhzad's poems, in English and Persian. Dr. Afzal-Khan will sing a selection of Farrokhzad's poems in Persian.
Sign up to read via email poetry@persianartsfestival.org.

Fri, Apr 18
Mamak Khadem w/ Jamshied Sharifi
DROM 8pm
85 Avenue A b/w 5th & 6th
Melodies of Iran, Greece, Turkey, and Armenia. Mamak Khadem is best known as the voice of the acclaimed and popular cross-cultural Persian fusion ensemble Axiom of Choice. Her first solo album, Jostojoo, co-produced with Jamshied Sharifi. PAF is proud to be a promotional partner for this concert, featuring two prominent Iranian artists.
BUY TIX

Sat, March 15, 5-9pm, Closing Reception
Weaving the Common Thread: Perspectives from Iranian Artists
Queens Museum of Art
On view Feb 24 – March 16
Download Press Release here
Weaving the Common Thread investigates how contemporary Persian art has been influenced and inspired by the post-revolutionary Iranian Diaspora. This collection showcases more than 20 pieces from eight emerging Iranian artists.  Saturday's closing reception features an artist & curatorial talk, a Persian New Year (Norooz) celebration with DJ Payam, a special, tonight-only, interactive multi-media project and a series of Iranian short films.

Exhibiting Artists
Pooneh Maghazehe (curator), Samira Abbassy, Anahita Vossoughi, Sara Rahbar, Arien Valizadeh, Negar Ahkami, Ali Banisadr and Khosro Berahmandi.
Multi-media Installation at reception by Parastou Marashi & Dean Gransar.

Gallery Hours: Wed-Fri 10a-5p, Sat & Sun 12p-5p.
WHERE IS QMA?

Wed, March 19, 6-9pm
Night of Persian Poetry, Shab’e Sha’er
Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery @ Bleecker NYC MAP
Sign up for the open mic email poetry@persianartsfestival.org
Open mic night to recite your favorite Persian poetry or your own original work in Persian or English.  Featured guest Joe Martin, author of the stage adaptation of Rumi’s Mathnavi.
Every third Wednesday of the month!
Next dates: Apr 16, 2008, May 21, 2008, June 18, 2008

Sun, March 23, 7:30pm
Haale & Divahn
DROM
85 Avenue A b/w 5th & 6th
Drom & The Persian Arts Festival are pleased to present Haale and Divahn together onstage for a special show of female-fronted Persian rock and contemporary music. Tonight Haale celebrates the release of her new record; while Divahn performs a special set for Purim, a Jewish holiday commemorating a woman's courage to save her Persian Jewish community from persecution.

OTHER COLLABORATIONS

The New York Arab and South Asian Film Festival present Greta Films from Iran
Co-Presented with Persian Arts Festival
Fri, Mar 14, 11:45 pm
Have You Another Apple? / Baaz ham sib daari?
Directed by: Bayram Fazli
Iran / 2007 / 90 mins / 35 mm / Farsi with English Subtitles
Tribeca Film Center, 375 Greenwich Street, b/w North Moore Street & Franklin Street
http://www.tribecafilmcenter.com
http://www.nyasaff.org

2007 Events

Shab-e She'r Poetry Night
DEC 19 2007 6-8pm $12 cover incl. one drink
Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery @ Bleecker NYC MAP
Shab-e She'r, A Night of (Persian) Poetry, at the Bowery Poetry Club (BPC). FeaturIing well known Iranian-American novelist and memoirist, Nahid Rachlin, reading from her recent memoir, Persian Girls. An open mic follows Rachlin’s reading, inviting everyone to read either his or her own poetry or works by other poets, in Persian or English, though we ask that the work connects to Iran or Iranian/Persian culture.  Poet, essayist, translator and PAF Literary Arts Director, Richard Jeffrey Newman, hosts the December launch of Shab-e She’r.  Sign up for the open mic email richard@persianartsfestival.org. Shab-e She’r at the Bowery Poetry Club will run from 6-8 PM every third Wednesday of the month through May 2008.

A Tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
OCT 16 2007
Featuring Vishal Vaid & Karsh Kale + GlobeSonic Sound System
Joe's Pub | 324 Lafayette | NYC
Free Dub Qawwali CD giveaways
9:30 pm & 11 pm $20 advance/$25 door


NYU's Annual NORWUZ PARTY Sponsored by PAF
March 24    8pm
New York Univiersity, Kimmel Center 4th Floor
(60 Washington Square South b/w LaGuardia & Thompson)
Highlights include a Persian dinner, DJ Alex & Amir, a piano performance by Tania Nourmand, and a dance performance by Delbara.
Click here for flyer & more information

BOOK READING
April 5     8pm
NYU Persian Cultural Society Presents/Co-sponsored by PAF
New York Univiersity, Kimmel Center Room 802 (60 Washington Square South b/w LaGuardia & Thompson)
Come hear poet & translator Richard Jeffrey Newman read from his two books of translations, Selections from Saadi's Gulistan & Selections from Saadi's Bustan (both published by Global Scholarly Publications.)  Newman's Bustan has been called "fine and engaging" by Professor John Moyne and "a milestone in literary history" by Bob Holman. Richard Jeffrey Newman, PAF's Literary Arts Director, is an Associate Professor in the English Department at Nassau Community College and is the author of The Silence Of Men (CavanKerry Press 2006), a book of his poems.

PERSIAN FILMS, BOOK READING & MUSIC
March 15    7pm-12mid
Persian Arts Festival, ArteEast & Rattapallax Present:
Jonathan Shorr Gallery, 109 Crosby @ Prince St., NYC   $10
We are celebrating Norooz, the Persian New Year with a book reading by critically acclaimed author, Nahid Rachlin, a series of short films and music while you socialize with New York’s Persian community. A special edition of the AIC-Rattapallax Salon at Jonathan Shorr Gallery.
8pm Nahid Rachlin reading, Persian Girls
9pm Persian Short Films:
Fortune Telling, Sara Saeidan, 4 min Animation (Documentary and Experimental Film Center)
The Dragonfly Storm, Shahram Mokri 14 min (Association of Young Iranian Cinema) 
A Hasty Story of a Simple Revenge with a Happy Ending, Bahram Tavakoli, 15 min (Association of Young Iranian Cinema)
10pm-12mid Persian Music

NOROOZ PARTY
March 16    9pm-4am
KUSH Lounge, NYC (Free til 11pm, $10 after 11pm)
191 Christie Street b/w Stanton & Rivington. 
A Norooz Party featuring Persian and Middle Eastern soundscapes by DJ Payam and a special performance by Persian dance troupe, Delbara.

Special series: War in Iranian Cinema
January 31st – February 14th, 2007
Cantor Film Center 36 East 8 Street NYC
Spring at CINEMAEAST
Co-sponsored by the Persian Arts Festival

For over 20 years, Iranian cinema has held a predominant place on the stage of world cinema. The most prestigious awards have been given to Iranian filmmakers year after year for their powerful narratives and beautiful storytelling. However there is one genre that has been overlooked and given little attention –the war film. Many of the most important Iranian directors have tackled the subject of the Iran-Iraq war – a traumatic experience that lasted eight years and left an indelible mark on the whole of Iranian society – but few have made their way outside Iran.

This series will be the first time many of these films will be viewed by a wide audience outside Iran. It concludes with a special panel discussion moderated by Shouleh Vatanabadi and provides a unique opportunity to address the issues of war, particularly at a time when the mainstream American media is beating the drums of military action all over the Middle East.

Curated by Asal Shakeri and Fereshtah Taerpour

Wednesday, January 31, 6:30 PM
Bashu, the Little Stranger (Bashu, Gharibeye Koochak) by Bahram Beizai. Iran 1989, 117 min
Wednesday, January 31, 9:00 PM
The Legend of Love (Cherikeye Hooram)by Farhad Mehranfar. Iran, 2000, 83 min
Tuesday, February 6, 6:30 PM
The Adult Game (Baziye Bozorgan) by Kambozia Partovi. Iran, 85 min, 1992
Tuesday, February 6, 8:30 PM
Kimia by Ahmad-Reza Darvish. Iran, 1995, 92 min
Wednesday, February 14, 6:30 PM
Gilaneh by Rakhshan Beni-Etimad and Mohsen Abdolvahab. Iran, 84 min, 2005
Wednesday, February 14, 8:30 PM
Panel discussion: War in Iranian Cinema
Moderated by Shouleh Vatanabadi (Prof. of Global Cultures, General Studies, Arts & Sciences, NYU)

A Tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Thursday Jan 18 2007
Makor | 35 W 67th St | NYC
$15 advance | $18 doors | Free to APAP badge holders
We are excited to kick off 2007 by honoring Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi, a 13th century Persian poet, jurist and theologian. Transcending national and ethnic borders, Rumi’s work has had widespread influence on literature, artists, musicians and has been translated in many of the world’s languages.  Upon a proposal by Culture and Tourism Ministry of Turkey, the year 2007 was declared as the "International Rumi Year" by UNESCO.  Intended to mark the prominent Iranian mystic and poet’s 800th birth anniversary, with many happening celebrations all over the world.

Persian Arts Festival collaborates with GlobeSonic Entertainment to present a very special evening, A Tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan with Vishal Vaid, The Brooklyn Qawwali Party, GlobeSonic DJs & special guests.  2007 marks the 800th year of the birth of Rumi and the 10-year anniversary since Pakistani qawwali legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan passed away.  From his birth in Faisalabad, Punjab in 1948 until his passing in 1997, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan took the devotional Sufi music of qawwali to reaches unknown in the Islamic world. He was part of a 700-year familial lineage of qawwals, but the first to break it from the folk tradition of weddings, funerals and public service and to mainstream audiences through collaborations with the likes of Peter Gabriel, Eddie Vedder and Michael Brook.  That low, guttural trademark voice is beloved by fans worldwide, for having brought the sacred poetry of Rumi, Hafiz and others to an entire planet.  His music reminds us how the beautiful terrain of Pakistan, India and Iran – the profound richness of the Islamic world – radiated through his voice.”

2006 Events - click here