An unmissable event in 2023, the exhibition Ramses the Great. The Gold of the Pharaohs, on tour in 10 cities, will be in Paris at the Grande Halle de la Villette, from 7 April to 6 September. Some180 exceptional works will be on show, including the famous Treasure of Tanis and the gold necklace of Psusenes I, the gold bracelet of Sheshonq I and the pendant of Princess Mereret. Visitors will discover the life, reign, and legacy of the Pharaoh Ramses the Great, through mummies, statues, sarcophagi, jewelry and gold and silver masks.
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Happy Sizdeh-be-dar 2023
Sizdeh-be-dar is an Iranian ancient festival held annually on the thirteenth day of Farvardin،the first month of the Iranian calendar, during which people spend time picnicking outdoors.[1] It marks the end of the Nowruz holidays in Iran.
Our beautiful Iranian Nowruz: A cultural triumph over oppression
In general, it is understood that people of all countries cherish their cultural heritage and demonstrate the best of their culture and heritage to others. It is clear that the cultural values of any period of history are measured based on the existence of those known values as well as the preservation and remembrance of those values and heritage. There have been few cultures that have preserved and have been able to perpetually advance their cultural traditions well beyond their own borders and celebrate it with the rest of the people of the world.
One of these cultures is our “beautiful and secular Iranian culture”;
A culture that respects wisdom and praises kindness,
A culture that has no preference or religious, ethnic, racial, sexual and gender discrimination,
A culture that avoids violence and sadness and loves peace and happiness,
A culture with over thousands of New Year’s celebration which has now transcended across borders and countries around the globe with its beautiful and stunning rituals and ceremonies,
And a culture that even under the suppression of one of the most violent and tyrannical religious governments and its cruel practices, has not reduced its value and credibility; rather, it has shown its significance and pride.
This past year we have seen and experienced a confrontation between glorious and noble Iranian people and a tyrannical regime. The huge price we have paid has been further oppression, imprisonment, torture and death of freedom loving Iranian people.
On the eve of our beautiful Nowruz, we hear the same familiar call which has been uttered by cultures and peoples all over the world and now being repeated by people of Iran: “We want a healthy and free life in a free country that celebrates Nowruz and can no longer tolerate the death of freedom loving people.”
Happy Nowruz and Iranian New year
Shokooh Mirzadegi
March 2023
International Nowruz Day 2023
What is Nowruz and why do we celebrate it?
The word Nowruz (Novruz, Navruz, Nooruz, Nevruz, Nauryz), means new day; its spelling and pronunciation may vary by country.
Nowruz marks the first day of spring and is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox, which usually occurs on 21 March. It is celebrated as the beginning of the new year by more than 300 million people all around the world and has been celebrated for over 3,000 years in the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and other regions.
Inscribed in 2009 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as a cultural tradition observed by numerous peoples, Nowruz is an ancestral festivity marking the first day of spring and the renewal of nature. It promotes values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families as well as reconciliation and neighbourliness, thus contributing to cultural diversity and friendship among peoples and different communities.
Nowruz plays a significant role in strengthening the ties among peoples based on mutual respect and the ideals of peace and good neighbourliness. Its traditions and rituals reflect the cultural and ancient customs of the civilizations of the East and West, which influenced those civilizations through the interchange of human values.
Celebrating Nowruz means the affirmation of life in harmony with nature, awareness of the inseparable link between constructive labour and natural cycles of renewal and a solicitous and respectful attitude towards natural sources of life.
Happy Chaharshanbeh Suri
Happy Chaharshanbeh Suri
Chaharshanbeh Suri is one of the ancient festivals of Iranians, celebrated on the eve of the last Wednesday of the year. Cheharshanbeh Suri involves an evening of celebration when families and friends get together and celebrate with specific rituals and eating festive food. Before the start of the festival, people gather brushwood in an open and exterior space. At sunset, after making one or more bonfires, they jump over the flames, singing sorkhi-ye to az man, zardi-ye man az to, which means; “let your redness [be] mine, my paleness yours”. Chaharshanbeh Suri is a celebration in praise of fire, light and happiness that has been remembered and celebrated by Iranians since the ancient times.
After the Islamic revolution, this festival was declared prohibited by the Iranian government like many Iranian (Persian) secular rituals and celebrations, however, Iranians have continued celebrating it every year.
Pasargad Heritage Foundation Announces Recipients of the Nowruz Award In the field of Cultural Heritage for year 1402 Iranian Calendar (2023)
This press release has been published by the Pasargad Heritage Foundation to the Personalities of the Year for their vision and efforts to preserve the national, cultural, historical, and natural heritage of Iran that also belongs to all humanity.
Recipient of Nowruz Award of Pasargad Heritage Foundation, year 1402 Iranian Calendar (2023)
In the field of Cultural Heritage.
Mr. Armin Langroudi is an author, researcher, and historian and is the recipient of the Nowruz Award in the field of cultural heritage for his achievements as outlined below:
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- For his many years of research on the history of religions and especially interrelationship between history of Iran and those religions,
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- For his extensive writings which include many articles and four unique books related to the history and culture of Iran and other countries, including the book “Why did we become Muslims”, the first book in Persian language that challenges hadiths and “Islamic history”,
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- For his courage to reveal the historical facts of different religions, instead of deceptive stories and legends, in the framework of scientific historiography,
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- For his tireless, realistic, measured and unbiased exploration of the history and culture of Iran which has led to many significant areas of research and debates,
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- For his rare book titled “Who are we and what are the Iranians’ religions” which is a detailed and documented research book about the historical and cultural roots of Iranians.
Biography of Armin Langroudi
Armin Langroudi was born in 1962 (1341 on the Iranian calendar) in Tehran. His family’s roots go back to the city of Langarud. Langarud, is a city and capital of Langarud County, in Gilan Province in Iran.
After completing high school in Tehran, he left Iran for Europe and studied computer science and management. However, he has been continuously engaged in fields of philosophy and history of religions
The beginning of Armin Langroudi’s political life goes back to the beginning of the 1979 (1357 on the Iranian calendar) revolution. Like some of his peers, he was influenced by Marxist ideology at the time and in opposition to the rise of the theocracy, but soon separated himself from that way of thinking and independently researched the philosophy and history of this ideology. Langroudi has a close relationship with some researchers at the “Anara” group (research institute on the early history of Islam and the Qur’an) from the University of Saarland, Germany and his scientific and political articles and works have been published both in German and Persian.
Apart from dozens of historical-political articles and writings, Langroudi has published four books in Persian about the origins and nature of religions. Langroudi is also the Persian translator of Papperlapapp’s bilingual quarterly. It has been published in German and in 11 other languages including Farsi. This quarterly magazine for kindergarten and primary school children is published four times a year.
Armin Langroudi’s books in the order of their publication are:
“How did we become Muslims?” about the origin of Islam in Iran, 316 pages, Forough Publications in Cologne
“Apostasy in early Christianity and its role in the emergence and spread of Islam”, 154 pages, Forough Publications in Cologne, Germany.
“And God created man in his own likeness”, 435 pages, Forough Publications in Cologne, Germany.
“Who are we and what are the Iranian religions”, 435 pages, Forough Publications in Cologne, Germany.
Langroudi is currently writing an essay on the concept of “time” in ancient Eastern religions, Greek philosophy, and modern physics and philosophy.
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Pasargad Heritage Foundation Announces Recipients of the Nowruz Award In the field of Natural Heritage and Environment for year 1402 Iranian Calendar (2023)
This press release has been published by the Pasargad Heritage Foundation to the Personalities of the Year for their vision and efforts to preserve the national, cultural, historical, and natural heritage of Iran that also belongs to all humanity.
Recipient of Nowruz Award of Pasargad Heritage Foundation, year 1402 Iranian Calendar (2023)
In the field of Natural Heritage and Environment.
Nilufar Bayani is a conservationist, researcher, lecturer, and a senior expert in the conservation of natural heritage and wildlife, and is the recipient of the Nowruz award in the field of “natural heritage and environment” for her achievements as outlined below:
- For her impressive achievements and outstanding work as one of the few Iranian women in the field of natural heritage and wildlife protection,
- For her many years of efforts towards scientific learning of ways to preserve natural heritage and environment in different countries of the world,
- For her efforts and several years of work in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and helping to advance international projects to preserve global natural heritage,
- For her work on managing the planning of wildlife conservation in the Parsian (Persian) Wildlife Heritage Institute,
- For her immense affection and love for preserving the natural heritage of her motherland, Iran, which has caused her to pay such high price including years of imprisonment, mental and physical torture, and sexual threats in the hands of Iranian government.
Bayani and other environmental prisoners started a hunger strike. However, this did not result in any positive outcome. In the second court session, she stated that was repeatedly assaulted sexually and physically threatened by the agents, and every confession she made was made under torture. She said that in order to get a confession from her, they even showed her the dead body of Kavos Seyed Emami.
Sometime later, in 2019, she was accused of “collaborating with the hostile government of America and the Zionist regime and espionage against the Islamic Republic of Iran” and was sentenced to 10 more years in prison and the payment of three hundred and fifty six thousand and sixty dollars (equivalent to the salary she had received when she worked with the UN).
Today, in March.2023 Bayani is still in prison in Iran.
Pasargad Heritage Foundation Announces Recipients of the Nowruz Award “Artist (and Author) of the Year” for year 1402 Iranian Calendar (2023)
This press release has been published by the Pasargad Heritage Foundation to the Personalities of the Year for their vision and efforts to preserve the national, cultural, historical, and natural heritage of Iran that also belongs to all humanity
Recipient of Nowruz Award of Pasargad Heritage Foundation, year 1402 Iranian Calendar (2023)
“Artist (and Author) of the Year”
Mr. Jalali Chimeh (M. Sahar) is a poet, author, playwright and a theater actor, and the recipient of the Nowruz, Pasargad Heritage Foundation’s “Artist of the Year” award for his achievements as outlined below:
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- For his several decades of efforts in the field of literature, poetry and performing arts,
- For his extensive writings and several books including books of poetry and plays and articles about the history of Iranian literature,
- For his influential poems that fall into the category of “resistance poetry” or “patriotic poetry”.
- For his impressive deliberation and focus on Iran’s culture and history in his poems and writings, as a weapon in confronting the anti-Persian-culture of the ruling government of Iran.
Biography of Mohammad Jalali Chimeh – M. Sahar
Mohammad Jalali Chimeh M. Sahar was born in Chimeh. Chimeh is a village in Barzrud Rural District, in the Central District of Natanz County, Isfahan Province, Iran. He attended primary school in the Chimeh, and then attended high school in Kashan, Natanz and Tehran. After highschool, he attended the Faculty of Fine Arts of Tehran University and after completing his bachelor’s degree with a thesis in the field of performing arts bibliography, he went to Paris to continue his studies in 1977 (1356 on the Iranian calendar). Sahar studied sociology, theater and literature at the universities of Nanterre, New Sorbonne, and Paris 7.
M. Sahar’s first collection of poems was published in Paris in 1979 (1358 Iranian calendar), which was affected by the troubled situation at the beginning of the Islamic Revolution. The collection, which was titled “Yadar Z Shama Morde Yadar” contains his first poems of protest. After that, his second collection of poems titled the “Memory of the Bloody Homeland” was published, which also contained poems reflecting the events of the first years of the revolution and the protesting voice of the poet.
During the same years, M. Sahar wrote the verse play “Khalifa’s Court”. That book also reflected the current events and situation of the time, with humor and in the form of a poetic and critical play. In that book, which was published in 1982 (1361 Iranian calendar), he chose the pseudonym M. Sahar; A name that has been used on all his works and books of poetry since then.
M. Sahar is also a theater actor and has participated in many plays that have been performed in Paris and several other European cities.
M. Sahar has written dozens of books of poetry and numerous articles in the fields of social and cultural criticism, as well as in the field of literature and poetry, which have been published in various Persian and French literary publications.
Sahar could not return to Iran due to his writings and works, and in 1981 (1360 on Iranian calendar) he inevitably became a refugee in France and since then he has been living in Paris as a political refugee.
Waiting for a day to be named “International Women’s Revolution Day”
On the Occasion of March 8th, 2023, International Women’s Day.
This year on March 8th, what issue could be more important for those striving for equality and freedom for women, than speaking about a movement that started with the slogan “Women, Life, Freedom”? The movement that has appropriately been called “the first women’s revolution in the world” is more importantly Iranian women’s revolution and cultural, political and economic and yet a glorious movement against one of the most violent governments in the world.
For more than four decades, the Islamic government of Iran based on religious laws, first took away all the human rights of Iranian women with the goal of considering women only as half humans. A woman forced back in history and time with lower status and rights who could not claim political or economic rights and equality with men. She has not even had the most basic and the simplest right of her life: the freedom of choosing her own clothing. The Islamic government only brought disaster for women in Iran. Women were treated like medieval slaves forced by their slave owners to wear what he ordered to wear. From the point of view of the Islamic government, an Iranian woman has no more rights than a slave.
Intelligent Iranian women and men have well understood that the way to fight against such a barbaric and cruel government is to appeal to their own national-Iranian culture and identity. The same culture that the Islamic government has tried to destroy its tangible and intangible assets in the last 43 years and is still afraid of hearing its names.
In my opinion, the most important decision that we Iranians have to make is that each of us do our part so that this revolution will come to fruition, and if it comes to fruition, it will present the opportunity to celebrate another international day: A day called “International Women’s Revolution Day”. Perhaps one day, the United Nations will commemorate that day for the most beautiful and virtuous women and men of Iran who have been raped, blinded, poisoned and killed for the crime of wanting freedom and for finally bringing the gift of freedom and democracy to their homeland.
Shokooh Mirzadegi
International Women’s Day March 8th
DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality
Our lives depend on strong technological integration: attending a course, calling loved ones, making a bank transaction, or booking a medical appointment. Everything currently goes through a digital process.
However, 37% of women do not use the internet. 259 million fewer women have access to the Internet than men, even though they account for nearly half the world’s population.
If women are unable to access the Internet and do not feel safe online, they are unable to develop the necessary digital skills to engage in digital spaces, which diminishes their opportunities to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related fields By 2050, 75% of jobs will be related to STEM areas. Yet today, women hold just 22% of positions in artificial intelligence, to name just one.
Bringing women into technology results in more creative solutions and has greater potential for innovations that meet women’s needs and promote gender equality. Their lack of inclusion, by contrast, comes with massive costs.
The United Nations Observance of IWD, under the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, recognizes and celebrates the women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education. The observance will explore the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities, and it will also spotlight the importance of protecting the rights of women and girls in digital spaces and addressing online and ICT-facilitated gender-based violence.
