* UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova visited Iran in late April. She visited several Iranian historical sites registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during her sojourn in Iran.
The Bam Citadel in Kerman Province, the mausoleums of Hafez and Sadi in Shiraz, and Chehel Sotun Palace and Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan were among the sites she visited.
* The 5200-year-old Burnt City located in southeastern Iran was registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee on June 22.
A 10-centimeter ruler with an accuracy of half a millimeter, an artificial eyeball, an earthenware bowl bearing the world’s oldest example of animation and many other artifacts have been discovered among the ruins of the city in the course of the many seasons of archaeological excavations conducted by Iranian teams.
* Several Iranian musicians and literati received France’s Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. The medal is the highest decoration awarded by the French government.
Vocalist Mohammadreza Shajarian received France’s Chevalier of the Legion of Honor on June 24, 2014. Iranian cartoonist Kambiz Derambakhsh received the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor on October 27, 2014. Derambakhsh was the first Iranian visual artist to have received the award.
Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjuii received the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor on November 10, 2014. Mehrjuii is known outside of the country as one of Iran’s new wave directors.
Iranian author Mahmud Dowlatabadi, mostly famous for his novel “Kalidar”, received the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor on November 18, 2014.
Iranian translator Lili Golestan, who is also the curator of Tehran’s Golestan Gallery, received France’s Order of Academic Palms on November 19, 2014.
However, Iranian tar virtuoso and composer Hossein Alizadeh, who has worked with many Iranian and foreign musicians, refused to accept the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor on November 30, 2014.
In an open letter, Alizadeh said that he does not need any decorations and added that he derives satisfaction from his good name.
* Iranian director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad won one of two jury grand prizes at the 8th Asia Pacific Screen Award for her acclaimed social drama “Tales” on December 13, 2014.
However, she plans to sell the award during an international auction to raise funds for homeless women.
* The Cinquantenaire Museum - Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels returned a collection of Persian artifacts, which had been taken by a Belgian diplomat 35 years ago. The treasure arrived in Tehran on December 25.
The collection, which contains over 300 ancient items, was restituted to the Iranian Embassy in Brussels after a Brussels appeals court ruled that the Iranian artifacts must be sent back to Iran.
* Renowned Japanese musician Kitaro gave concerts in Tehran in October, 2014. The concerts by the Grammy award-winning musician were warmly welcomed by the Iranian concertgoers.
* Iranian stage director Behruz Gharibpur and architect Mohammad-Mansur Falamaki each received the order of Stella d’Italia (Star of Italy) for their lifetime achievements on February 16.
Gharibpur’s cultural activities and stage performances in Italy were said to be the reasons for the honor, and Falamaki is a prominent architectural advocate promoting true Iranian architecture.
* The southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz was designated Iran’s Book Capital from among ten nominations competing for the position on February 21, 2015.
Nine other nominations were Bushehr, Yazd, Tabriz, Shahr-e Kord, Qom, Kashan, Kermanshah, Gonbad-e Kavus and Neyshabur.
* A collection from the “Rainbow” series by German artist Otto Piene (1928–2014), one of the leading figures in technology-based art opened at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art on February 25, 2015.
His first ever exhibit in the Middle East, the exhibit reveals a variety of artworks ranging from paintings to light sculptures, smoke and fire paintings, and beautiful environmental “sky art”. The exhibit runs until April 17, 2015.
* Iranian maestro Ali Rahbari returned to his homeland to restore the Tehran Symphony Orchestra (TSO), a mission that he had left unfinished in 2005.
He began on March 5, 2015, and plans to perform the Symphony No. 9, Ludwig van Beethoven’s final complete symphony, during his new collaboration with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra.
RM/YAW
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