The Guardian published an article dedicated to one of Iran’s most inspiring and innovative living artists, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian. Farmanfarmaian’s art is deeply rooted in Iranian culture and tradition, both in form and spirit, despite her formal training in New York at the Parsons School of Art and Design and her 12 years spent there as a freelance designer for Vogue, as well as working as a commercial and fashion designer for the department store Bonwit Teller. Now back in Tehran, in her recent work she displays a wildly energetic productivity that defies the horizon of a lifetime now in its eighth decade. Farmanfarmaian's art has encompassed many forms, from simple paintings of flowers and birds to unsettling "memory box" installations, reminiscent of the oeuvre of Louis Bourgeois. But her largest and most compelling body of work combines two techniques from traditional Islamic design: mirror mosaic, in which fragments of mirror and coloured glass are laid in plaster to create intricate geometric patterns; and reverse glass painting, in which images are carefully painted on to sheets of glass that are then viewed from another side.
Monir decided to move from Tehran to Paris to become a painter in 1944. There was just one small obstacle for the 20-year-old to overcome: the second world war. But Shahroudy was undeterred: she resolved to move to America, and from there to Paris once peace was declared. She returned to Iran in 1957, but after the Islamic revolution of 1979, which saw the vast majority of her works confiscated, sold or destroyed, she spent another 10 years in New York. During her years in Iran, she had to persuade craftsmen to work with her who were distinctly uncomfortable about taking their orders from a woman. But she thinks her nationality has been more of an obstacle, at least internationally, than her gender. "In America,after the revolution, after the [Gulf] war, nobody wanted to do anything with Iran," she says. "None of the galleries wanted to talk to me. And after September 11 – my God. No way. Rather than being a woman, it was difficult just being Iranian."
According to the Washington Post, in the last two weeks, Iran has sentenced Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani to death just for being a Christian, in what the U.S. State Department has noted would be the first such Iranian state execution for one’s faith since 1990. When this blatant human rights violation caught the attention of the international community, the Iranian regime attempted to calm the outcry by giving Pastor Nadarkhani a choice – renounce his Christian faith or die. While the Ayatollah’s regime continues oppressing its own people and threatening the stability of the Middle East, there have been new concerns raised in Capitol Hill hearings about Iran and its puppet Hezbollah, the article reads. Iran cannot be allowed to increase its threat by obtaining nuclear weapons. Therefore the article suggests that all those who are not indifferent should sign an open letter entitled “Christian Leaders for a Nuclear-Free Iran”, formulated by leaders of evangelical, Roman Catholic and other Christian confessions.
Iranian state-run news agency Press-TV informs its readers that Iran's Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi has dismissed the recent threats against Tehran by the former CIA director, recently appointed as the new US defense chief. Speaking to reporters in a post-cabinet session in the capital Tehran on Wednesday, Moslehi vehemently rejected Leon Panetta's latest claims that weapons supplied by Iran are behind a spate of attacks against American forces in Iraq, as US troops set out to depart from the strife-torn country.
Hyrriyet Daily News informs its readers that prominent Kurdish politician and poet Kemal Burkay, who has been living in exile abroad since 1980, is planning to return to Turkey at the end of the month. Mr Burkay, the founder and former secretary-general of the Kurdistan Socialist Party, or PSK, said he would not be active in Turkish politics, but also added that he would not “retire.”
Meanwhile, pro-Kurdish deputies have not yet been convinced to call off their parliamentary boycott, despite calls from Speaker of Parliament Çiçek and Prime Minister Erdoğan. Efforts to bring pro-Kurdish deputies to the Parliament continued on Tuesday, as the parliamentary group leader of Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party again defended his party’s decision to boycott the legislature and accused the ruling party of trying to cow them into submission.
