LITERATURES OF RESISTANCE - An Afternoon In Solidarity with the Iranian People JULY 11th, NYC
Saturday, July 11th, 2009
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Join Persian Arts Festival, sponsoring organizations and local artists of conscience as they bear witness, in poetry and music, struggle for democracy in Iran
Rana Farhan, Luis Francia, D. Nurske, Eleanor Wilner, Said Sayrafiezadeh, The Tehran-Dakar Brothers, Roger Sedarat, Amir Parsa, Dalia Sofer, Niloufar Talebi and more!
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery (Btwn Houston and Bleecker)
Take the F Train to 2nd Avenue or the 6 train to Bleecker
info: manijeh_nasrabadi@yahoo.com
This event is sponsored by the Association of Iranian American Writers, Persian Arts Festival, The Translation Project, ArteEast, Kodoom Events and The Bowery Poetry Club
www.persianartsfestival.org
www.iranianamericanwriters.org
www.bowerypoetry.org
www.thetranslationproject.org
www.arteeast.org
Iran Inside Out Exhibition Panel Discussion
Tuesday, July 14th, 7 pm, Chelsea Art Museum, 556 W 22nd Street
Chelsea Art Museum proudly presents a Persian Arts Panel in conjunction with the Persian Arts Festival to contextualize its current exhibition, Iran Inside Out. The discussion will be centered on the five main themes of Iran Inside Out: War and politics, gender and sexuality, culture as commodity, reinventing the traditional art forms and street culture within Tehran. The panel will be followed by a rooftop performance by Hypernova, an indie-rock band from Tehran.
Iran Inside Out is a groundbreaking exhibition featuring 35 artists that live and work in Iran, some exhibiting abroad for the first time, alongside 21 others living in the Diaspora. The result is a multifarious portrait of 56 contemporary Iranian artists challenging the conventional perceptions of Iran and Iranian art.
PAF will provide a transcription of the panel and post it on their blog found at www.persianartsfestival.org for further commentary.
IRAN INSIDE OUT EXHIBITION - Chelsea Art Museum
The Chelsea Art Museum is pleased to announce the opening of its upcoming exhibition Iran Inside Out. The groundbreaking exhibition features 35 artists living and working in Iran alongside 20 others living in the Diaspora. The result is a multifarious portrait of 55 contemporary Iranian artists challenging the conventional perceptions of Iran and Iranian art.
Chelsea Art Museum
556 West 22nd Street
New York, NY 10011
Exhibition Info http://chelseaartmuseum.org/exhibits/2009/iraninsideout/index.html
Museum info http://chelseaartmuseum.org/information/
Wednesday, June 17th - Shab-e She’r, A Night of Persian Poetry Featuring Charlotte Noruzi and Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
Wednesday, June 17th
Shab-e She’r, A Night of Persian Poetry
Featuring Charlotte Noruzi and Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
6 - 8 pm / $6 admission / Bowery Poetry Club - 308 Bowery (Between Houston and Bleecker) F train to 2nd Ave, 6 to Bleecker.
Join us for PAF’s last Shab-e She’r on Wednesday, June 17th before our summer hiatus! We have two fantastic authors who will be joining us: Charlotte Noruzi, who will read from her new book Urban Iran which is co-authored with Salar Abdoh, and Saïd Sayrafiezadeh who will read from his new book, When Skateboards Will Be Free.
Charlotte Noruzi was born in Tehran, moving to the U.S. in 1977. She is an author-illustrator-designer based in New York City. Urban Iran is a depiction of everyday life apart from international and diplomatic policies, giving voice to people living and working in Iran today while probing the complexities of contemporary Iran. Described and revealed by photographers, writers and visual artists, from street art to heavy metal bands and book publishing, Urban Iran documents how the Western media gaze influences how much of the world views Iran, but also how this gaze impacts how Iranians see themselves, especially in the realm of the creative arts.
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh is a writer and dramatist. He was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1968 to an Iranian father and a Jewish-American mother, both of whom were members of the Socialist Workers Party. He was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. http://www.sayrafiezadeh.com/) When Skateboards Will Be Free: A Memoir of a Political Childhood was published by Dial Press in March 2009. Dwight Garner, writing in the New York Times, called it “exacting and finely made… [written] with extraordinary power and restraint.” It was chosen as one of the 7 Best Books of the month by Amazon. And Barnes & Noble has selected it for the “Discover Great New Writers” upcoming summer season. Saïd’s stories and essays have appeared in The Paris Review, Granta, Open City, and other publications.
Be sure to bring your own work or favorite Iranian poetry to read during the open mic portion of the event!
Wednesday, May 20th - Shab-e She’r Featuring Kayatoon Zandvakili!
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Shab-e She’r Featuring Kayatoon Zandvakili
6 - 8 pm / $6 suggested donation / Bowery Poetry Club / 308 Bowery btwn Houston and Bleecker
Join us on Wednesday, May 20th for PAF’s May edition of Shab-e She’r! Our featured reader will be Kayatoon Zandvakili, who has written a collection of poetry titled Deer Table Legs, which has won the University of Georgia Press Contemporary Poetry Series prize, as well as a Pushcart prize for the book’s title poem. Her work has been published in journals such as Rattapallax, Arte East, Let Me Tell You Where I’ve Been: New Writing by Women of the Iranian Diaspora, The Poetry of Iranian Woman, Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond, and many more. Katayoon is also a member of the Iranian American Writers Association.
Please join us for this exciting event, and be sure to also bring your own work or favorite Iranian poetry to read during the open mic portion of the event!
Persian-Swedish Recording Artist Makes US Debut in New York City
LaLeh
Grammis Winning Persian-Swedish Recording Artist Makes US Debut in New York City
Tuesday, April 21
9pm
The Living Room
154 Ludlow St.
www.livingroomny.com
LaLeh is possibly Sweden’s best-kept musical secret. This young Persian-Swedish songwriter purposely honed her craft over the years and though she has not released her music outside of Sweden, her perspective on music is truly international. In her home country, she has released three albums on Warner music; achieved Platinum sales, won three Grammis (the Swedish Grammy) for Female Artist, Newcomer and Producer and starred in the Swedish box office mash film, Jalla Jalla!
2009 sees the release of the third domestic album “Me and Simon”. Once again Laleh brings her melting pot of influences as she continues to mix styles and languages into something very personal. Pushing her own envelope she takes the Swedish language title to full Orchestral arrangements as she worked with The London Symphony Orchestra for this track written specially for the historical blockbuster movie “Arn”. The lead single “Simon Says” currently enjoys heavy rotation on radio as well as ZTV and MTV Nordic. Laleh will be performing solo on guitar and piano.
www.laleh.se
www.myspace.com/lalehsweden
New Stories from Iranians in America - Literary Event / 4.17.09
New Stories from Iranians in America: An Association of Iranian American Writers (AIAW) Literary Event
Founded in 2008, AIAW has become a vibrant and growing nexus for contemporary Iranian American writing. Please join us for an evening of readings by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Taha Ebrahimi, Javad Mohsenian and Solmaz Sharif.
7 pm, Friday, April 17th
16 W 32 St., Suite 10A: Asian American Writers’ Workshop
(Btwn B’way and 5th Ave; suggested $5 donation)
aaww.org
iranianamericanwriters.org
PAF’s April Edition of Shab-e She’r with Parviz Nezami!
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
Shab-e She’r Featuring Parviz Nezami
6 - 8 pm / $6 suggested donation / Bowery Poetry Club - 308 Bowery (Between Houston and Bleecker) F train to 2nd Ave, 6 to Bleecker.
Join us this Wednesday for PAF’s April edition of Shab-e She’r! Our featured speaker will be Parviz Nezami, a civil engineer and graduate of the University of Manchester England. He is a former professor of the National University of Iran and has been involved in major civil engineering projects for the past forty years in Iran, Canada and United States. For the past 8 years since his retirement, Mr. Nezami has devoted his life to promoting and introducing Iran’s rich cultural heritage. He has organized monthly nights of poetry in Long Island, each night devoted to honoring Iran’s great poets, discussion of Persian literacy history, arts and music. Mr. Nezami also travels extensively to deliver speeches on Iran’s literature and history at various centers and colleges. Mr. Nezami has published a book on the history of Persian literature. Please note that this edition of Shab-e She’r will mostly be conducted in Farsi.
Be sure to also bring your own work or favorite Iranian poetry to read during the open mic portion of the event!
Artist, Pooneh Maghazehe, to speak at: SAWCC SLIDE SLAM:::Friday, April 24th::: 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM::: AAWW
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Attention artists and art lovers! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Join The South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (SAWCC) at the SAWCC Slide Slam – an amazing night celebrating artists and art lovers. Enjoy wine and appetizers during a stimulating conversation with HAMRA ABBAS, VANDANA JAIN, POONEH MAGHAZEHE,DIVYA MEHRA, and SONALI SRIDHAR sharing their recent work followed by Q&A with the artists.
This event is open to everyone, so please invite your friends and family, men and women, South Asian and all else.
Friday, April 24th6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
16 West 32 St 10th floor
(b/t 5th and 6th Ave)N, R, Q, W, B, D, F, V to 34th St/Herald Sq |6 to 33rd St | 1, 2, 3 to 34th St
$7 - $10 entrance (suggested donation)Proceeds will help fund the 12th Year programming for SAWCC!ALL are invited! For information: sawcc.org or info@sawcc.org
PAF Visual Art Director, Pooneh Maghazehe, at Kreft Gallery: Concordia University
Winners of 2009 Kreft Competition Announced ANN ARBOR, Mich., February 26, 2009 – The winners of the 2009 Kreft Competition at Concordia University Ann Arbor were announced on Friday, February 20, at the gallery’s opening reception. Best of Show went to Pooneh Maghazehe of Brooklyn, New York; second place was awarded to Daniel Gerwin of Iowa City, Iowa; and third place went to Leslie Donaldson of Lansing, Michigan. As Best of Show, Maghazehe also receives a solo show in the Kreft Center Gallery in the fall. Artists from around the nation submitted prints, drawings, photographs, digital/video, paintings, and sculptures. The exhibit displays the very best in the visual arts that incorporates various meanings and potential approaches to the idea of reconciliation: a sense of connection or re-connection between people and communities, a sense of making on thing compatible with another; of bringing together disparate elements into an harmonious whole or a momentary sense of completion and/or fulfillment.Rebecca Hart, associate curator and acting head of contemporary art for the Detroit Institute of Art, served as juror for the 2009 Kreft Competition. The exhibit will be displayed in the Kreft Center Gallery at Concordia University through March 22. Hart received the Mary Kirk Haggerty Award for Art Historical research from Wayne State University, a merit award for “Paper/Fiber XIV, Iowa City, and the Contemporary Award, “Basket Weave,” Athens, OH. She has held numerous positions teaching fiber arts. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally and Rebecca is a respected artist, curator, critic and community volunteer.Concordia University is located at 4090 Geddes Road in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Kreft Center Gallery is open M-F from noon to 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.Contact Professor Chris Niemiec at niemic@cuaa.edu for more information. For images of Pooneh’s work: www.poonehspeaks.com
