Paris to Host Persian Art and Culture Jamboree

The first International Festival of Persian Speaking Communities in Europe will be held in Paris, January 13-28, 2018.

Aimed at furthering unity among Persian speakers and promoting Persian culture and arts across continents, the festival covers a wide range of Persian artistic and cultural programs.

Keynote speakers at the opening ceremony will be writer, poet and literary researcher Leili Anvar, secretary of the festival, and a French parliamentarian.

The festival runs in the categories of visual arts, music, photography, literature and stand-up comedy. It provides an opportunity for Iranian, Afghan and Tajik artists to come together.

Noteworthy among the programs is the Simurgh (a bird in Iranian mythology) concert in which classical vocalist and tonbak player Homayoun Shajarian, 42, son of the renowned traditional singer Mohammadreza Shajarian, will sing, Honaronline reported on Tuesday.

Tajiks, who are expected to have a high turnout at the event, can enjoy a concert on January 15: Tajik music band ‘Falak’ led by Dolatmand Khalef will perform at the event. Khalef is an acclaimed musician and singer. Most of his songs are based on the poetry of Persian poet and scholar Rumi (1207-1273). Two concerts by Afghan musicians are also planned.

The International Festival of Persian Speaking Communities in Europe is organized by the Persiana Cultural and Artistic Society based in Paris, which has embarked on a series of initiatives to help introduce ancient Persian art and culture to the world.

Paris Photo Contest is among the programs of the festival for which enthusiasts can submit photos of the French capital to the secretariat of the festival from January 9-12.

A miniature exhibition is another major item that will dedicate a part of its proceeds to the refugees in Europe as well as the earthquake-stricken people of Kermanshah Province. A 7.3-magnitude earthquake rocked Kermanshah and regions bordering Iraq on Nov. 12, killing over 500 people and injuring thousands of others.

At the end of the festival, two books will be unveiled. One is ‘Paris 2018,’ a collection of works by the event’s Parisian artists; the other is ‘Persiana 2018,’ a book on selected caricatures by Persian speakers.

Leili Anvar is a professor in Persian Language and Literature at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), Paris, where she is also head of the Iranian Languages Department. She had her PhD dissertation on Rumi’s Magnum Opus ‘Divan-e-Shams,’ a collection of lyric poems containing over 40,000 verses. Her thesis was ‘From Paradox to Unity: A Study of Divan-e Shams.’

A specialist in Persian mystical literature, Anvar has translated works of classical Persian poets Rumi, Attar, Nezami and more modern writers into French.