"Iran and Britain" by Christopher de Bellaigue (BBC)

Christopher de Bellaigue

Documentary in which writer and journalist Christopher de Bellaigue explores the fraught but often surprisingly intimate history of Britain's relations with Iran, and asks why Iranians think that if something goes wrong in Iran then Britain must have something to do with it.

De Bellaigue has lived in Tehran, speaks fluent Persian and knows well the phenomenon of 'Uncle Napoleonism', the notion that the cunning British are 'out to get you' that has been a common attitude in Iranian society for 100 years.

He looks at some key events in the relationship, notably Britain's role in the overthrow of several Iranian governments, its control of Iran's oil and the on-off support for Iran's democrats.

Meeting prominent Iranians, including Uncle Napoleon's inventor and others with direct knowledge of these events, he examines the foundations and justification for these Iranian suspicions and asks if they are still there after 30 years of isolation. (From BBC)

 

Arg-é Bam

Arg-é Bam

Arg-é Bam

Arg-é Bam

The Arg-é Bam (ارگ بم in Persian, "Bam citadel") was the largest adobe building in the world, located in Bam, a city in the Kermān Province of southeastern Iran. It is listed by UNESCO as part of the World Heritage Site "Bam and its Cultural Landscape". This enormous citadel on the Silk Road was built before 500 BC and remained in use until 1850 AD. It is not known for certain why it was then abandoned.

The entire building was a large fortress in whose heart the citadel itself was located, but because of the impressive look of the citadel, which forms the highest point, the entire fortress is named the Bam Citadel.

Larger than nearby Arg-é Rayen, the area of Bam Citadel is approximately 180,000 square meters, and it is surrounded by gigantic walls 6-7 metres high and 1815 metres long. The citadel features two of the "stay-awake towers" for which Bam is famed - there are as many as 67 such towers scattered across the ancient city of Bam.

On December 26, 2003, the Citadel was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake, along with much of the rest of Bam and its environs.

Heydar Babaya Salam

Heydar Babaya Salam (Azerbaijani: Heydər Babaya Salam, Azeri: حيدر بابايه سلام) is the best known poetical work by Mohammad Hossein Shahriar (Shahriyar), a famous Iranian poet. Published in 1954, it is about Shahriyar's childhood and his memories of his village Khoshginab near Tabriz. Heydar Baba is the name of a mountain overlooking the village.

In Heydar Babaya Salam Sharyar shows a nostalgia for Azerbaijani-Iranian simple village life before modernisation. (From Wikipedia)



Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Behjat-Tabrizi



Heydar Babaya Salam's opening lines in English: (From shehriyar)

Hail to Haydar-Baba

1-
Haydar-Baba when it thunders,
Floods rush down
Girls stand back and watch,

I hail your glory and your people,
May you remember our names too.

2-
When your partridges take flight,
When the rabbits hop out of the bushes,
When your gardens have burst into blossoms,

May you remember our name too,
And make our depressed hearts happy.

3-
When Nowruz gales uproot garden shelters!
And Nowruz flowers and snow drops blossom!
When the clouds wring out their clothes!

Greetings to those who remember us,
Let our sighs turn into mountains.

4-
Haydar-Baba may the sun warm your back,
Make your smiles and your springs shed tears,
Your children collect a bunch of flowers,

Send it with the coming wind towards us,
Perhaps my sleeping fortune would awaken!

5-
Haydar-Baba may you be fortunate!
Be surrounded with springs and orchards!
May you live long after us!

The world is paved with events, deaths and losses!
This world has long been childless and an orphan!

6-
Haydar-Baba my way differed from yours,
Life passed, I could not come until late!
I could not learn what happened to your beautiful ones,

Did not know there were perilous paths,
Losses, separations and death.

7-
Haydar-Baba good sons are faithful,
Life passes,regrets are wasteful,
Disloyal sons won't live long,

Believe me we have never forgotten you,
Forgive us if we failed to see you.

8-
Haydar-Baba when Mirazhdar calls for pilgrimage,
And the village is filled with busy noise,
While Ashig Rustam played his saz,

Do you remember how with such enthusiasm we used to run?
Flapping like winged birds to fly?

9-
Ashig apples from Shangulava village,
Staying there as a guest now and then,
Throwing stones at the apple and quince trees,

All have stayed in my memory like sweet dreams!
Have left traces in my soul and whole being!

10-
Haydar-Baba the geese of Guri lake,
The musical melody of the wind at twisted highways,
The summer and autumn seasons of the village,

Are like moving pictures in front of my eyes!
I sit and watch them within myself!



Gholam-Reza Sabri-Tabrizi



Translated by Dr. Gholam-Reza Sabri-Tabrizi

University of Edinburgh and University of Baku

London, Febuary 29,2002.

"The Flamingos Return to Rezaieh" by Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom

The Flamingos Return to Rezaieh by Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom

Wild Kingdom, sometimes known as Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, is an American television show that features wildlife and nature. It was originally produced from 1963 until 1988, and was revived in 2002. The show's second incarnation currently airs on Animal Planet in the U.S. This video is an episode of the show about Lake Urmia's Flamingos in Rezaieh (Oromieh or Urmia).

Lake Urmia (Azerbaijani: Urmu Gölü , Urmia Gölü ; Persian: دریاچه ارومیه Daryâcheh-ye Orumiyeh (or Oroumieh), ancient name: Lake Matiene) is a salt lake in northwestern Iran, near Iran's border with Turkey. The lake is between the Iranian provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan, west of the southern portion of the similarly shaped Caspian Sea. It is the largest lake in the Middle East, and the third largest salt water lake on earth, with a surface area of approximately 5,200 km² (2,000 mile²), 140 km (87 miles) length, 55 km (34 miles) width, and 16 m (52 ft) depth. (From Wikipedia)

Maryam Hashemi



Maryam Hashemi

Maryam Hashemi (Persian: مریم هاشمی) is an Iranian painter, based in London, UK since 2002. She grew up in Tehran and graduated in Graphic Design from Azad University in 2001. Her first solo exhibition was at the Haft Samar Gallery in Tehran in 2001 which was followed by a group exhibition of "Ten Iranian Female Painters" in Brussels. After finishing her studies she moved to London and since then she has been active as an international artist.

She is a figurative painter, currently working in the Magical Realist style but some of her works are closer to Surrealism, her subjects are mostly women and recently most of her works are in the form of self-portraits. She has been known for her works in watercolors and pencil, but her recent works are produced in acrylic on canvas. Apart from painting, she has also been active as a performer. Her performance art has included working within the experimental Pink Fish Ensemble which typically involves mixed media, such as live painting, body art and poetry, often integrated with music. (From Wikipedia)