An instructor of architecture said that Isfahan Jame’ Mosque reflects the development of the city.
Speaking to ISNA, Baqer Ayatollahzadeh Shirazi added that the mosque has been the city’s most important political and social hub throughout history.
The mosque once caught fire and it was attacked by the Mongolians, he said, adding that in the pre-Islam era, Isfahan consisted of two small cities and 16 villages.
Muslims built the first mosque in Khoshniyan village soon after their arrival in Isfahan. Isfahan Jame’ Mosque was constructed in an area of 5,000 or 6,000 square meters in 156 AH while it was rebuilt in an area of about one hectare in 224 AH.
Ayatollahzadeh, who is also head of Iranian International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), described Isfahan as being born in the Islamic era and said that urban development system of the city was designed based on the needs of the rulers. The changes in the structure of the mosque, he noted, indicate political and social developments throughout the history of the city.
Describing the mosque as an almanac of Iranian architecture, he further said the construction of a dome was in vogue during the pre-Islamic period.
The religion did not reject the manifestations of Iranian culture; rather it used some such a dome in the construction of religious monuments.

Professional stage directors have reacted differently to the plan by Strategic Theater Council to classify performing halls in Tehran.
According to Mehr, stage director Mohammad Rahmanian maintained that classification of plays to be performed in specific halls is not comprehensive and will create problems.
“If the plan is aimed at solving the problems facing the theater, such an undertaking will add to the problems,“ he pointed out.
Despite the shortage of halls, such limitations will create more difficulties for theater groups. “In my opinion the plan was borrowed from European and American theaters with the difference that they do the same with more clarity,“ he said.
Movie theaters worldwide are classified and each has a particular and experienced director, he said.
They have enough halls to focus on specific genres of theater, he said, adding that this is not possible in Iran due to insufficient number of halls, Rahmanian pointed out.
Meanwhile, another stage director Qotbeddin Sadeqi said the process of classification in the world does not take place in this way; rather management of each hall is assigned to an auteur to run the hall.
Stating that the main criterion of the plan to classify the halls is the directors themselves, he noted that what has been forgotten is that the classification of the hall is determined by the director.
“Iranian theater industry does not have independent management and policy,“ he contended.
Another director has also described the plan as ambiguous.

Ebrahim Hatamikia

Noted Iranian filmmaker Ebrahim Hatamikia is finalizing a documentary in response to ’300’, an anti-Iranian film distributed by Warner Brothers.
Producer of the documentary Mohammad Pirhadi told Fars that it would be ready for screening by March.
He added that Mojgan Inanlou is cooperating in the project which was launched last year. He said that filming began last year in some provinces as well as in Italy.
“Hatamikia’s documentary is a response to the damage inflicted to the historical dignity of Iran,“ he said.
Pirhadi, who is also collaborating with Hatamikia in the production of a television serial named ’Green Circle’, said the film is in its final stages of production and would be aired in the second half of the year to March 2008.

To mark World Museum and Cultural Heritage Day, an exhibition titled ’Essence of Life’ featuring artistic tableaux created by artists devoted to Imam Reza (AS) during 2005-6 and endowed to Imam Reza (AS) Holy Shrine is underway in the Visual Arts Division of Astan-e Qods Razavi Museums, in Mashhad from May 18 to 25.
Announcing this, head of Visual Arts Division, Jamshid Amirian Moqaddam, said that the main objective of holding the exhibition is to appreciate the works of artists, said a press release faxed to Iran Daily by the Astan-e Qods Razavi Foundation.
He noted that a total of 16 artistic works, including paintings, Moarraq (inlaid works in wood) and copper-engraving, which all feature the everlasting characteristic of Iranian art.
Moqaddam enumerated some of the works as Iranian nature, Zamen-e Ahou (Guarantor of Gazelle, an epithet of Imam Reza (AS)) and messenger of mercy.
Visual Arts Division contains valuable works from leading artists such as Mahmoud Farshchian, Kamal ol-Molk and Abbas Katouzian.
Astan-e Qods Razavi Foundation is the custodian of the holy shrine of the eighth Imam of the infallible household of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Imam Reza (AS) located in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi province.

Azadi Tower in Tehran

Azadi Cultural Artistic Complex will host performances by artists as part of programs to introduce the cultural-artistic aspects of Islamic Revolution and the other revolutions in the world.
Director of the complex, Abolfazl Hamrah announced this adding that Islamic Revolution Cultural Complex, as the Azadi cultural complex has been named, was constructed in 1966 and became operational in 1971.
Following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, it remained closed for a long time until it was taken over by Roudaki Cultural and Artistic Foundation in 2003 with the approval of the Majlis.
In the same year, a decision was taken to renovate the structure and following its restoration, the complex was officially inaugurated with an exhibition of copies of handwritten Qur’an last January during the 10-Day Dawn celebrations marking the anniversary of the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Hamrah further said that Azadi Tower is the symbol of freedom and a reminder of national solidarity and events which took place during the revolution.
The complex aims to focus on the Islamic Revolution and the other revolutions worldwide and honor the late Imam Khomeini by reviving his thoughts, he noted, adding that creating incentives among the youth, information dissemination to portray capabilities of the Islamic Revolution in defeating arrogant powers, introducing Iranian literary, artistic and cultural heritage are among the objectives of the complex. “We will also hold music programs featuring the revolution,“ he noted.

The Fifth International Festival of Peace and Friendship was held at Bahonar Campsite in Tehran.
More than 250 children from 10 countries residing in Tehran participated at the one-day event on Wednesday. The children were among 9-13 year-old students of international schools in Tehran.
Secretary of the festival, Babak Raboukheh told Iran Daily’s Nazafarin Mirzakhalili, “The festival sought to arrange a day full of fun for foreign children who are living and studying in this country so that they can take back a good memory of Iran when they return home.
“Iran is an ancient country and has always hosted people from different countries and they live in peace along with the Iranians,“ he told to Iran Daily.
The Fifth International Festival of Peace and Friendship was jointly organized by Tehran Municipality’s Cultural-Artistic Organization, Melal Cultural Center and Tehran-based international schools.
The festival included different sections such as competitions, sports, games, and cultural activities.

Italian filmmaker Alberto Rondalli plans to make a film featuring the ideas of the renowned Iranian poet and mystic, Molana Jalaleddin Rumi Balkhi aimed at forging links between the East and West.
After his 2001 film ’Dervish’, screened in the International Askin Film Festival in Konya, Turkey, Rondalli intends to set off for the same destination to make a film on Molana, ISNA said.
Turkish newspaper ’Zaman Today’ quoted Rondalli as saying, “The countries involved in war do not comprehend Molana’s thoughts and viewpoints. The gap between the East and West deepens everyday. Thus, I intend to help these countries understand each other better by producing a film on Molana.“
The director added that he would begin making the film as soon as he finds a producer.
Rondalli, who made no mention of the film’s name, said that Molana’s thoughts are deep and revolutionary, and his message is significant.

Fifth Seminar on ’Iran-Turkey Cultural Relations’ will be held in Tehran on May 20-21. Participants in the event will include thinkers, researchers and experts from both countries.
According to a press release faxed by the Islamic Culture and Communications Organization, the seminar aims to investigate historical and cultural ties, as well as consolidate cultural relations between two countries on the basis of a cultural cooperation protocol signed between Islamic Cultural and Communications Organization and Turkey’s History Foundation in 2001.
According to the protocol, Tehran and Ankara will host the seminar on a rotating basis once a year.
During the two-day seminar, three specialized meetings dealing with ’Iran-Turkey Cultural Relations in the Mirror of Literature and Mysticism’, ’Iran-Turkey Cultural Relations in the Mirror of History and Art’ and ’Iran-Turkey Cultural Relations in the Mirror of Science and Religion’ will be held.
A total of 20 research paper by Iranian and Turkish researchers will be presented at the seminar. Professor Khalej Oglu, head of Turkey’s History Foundation and several Turkish researchers will take part in the event.