Posts tagged : "Culture"

Kourosh Ziabari - Tehran Times: He is indubitably the greatest name in Islamic rock and pop music. Iranians feverishly call him their fellow citizen, but he has spent only his first 3-4 years of life in Iran. He immigrated to Britain with his parents when he was a child. He prefers to be simply called a Muslim artist, and not be associated with his national roots in order for his message to reach out to as many people across the world as possible instead of simply appealing to a certain nation or group of people. Referred to as “Islam’s biggest rock star” by the Time magazine, Sami Yusuf is a well-known singer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist who was has received widespread worldwide acclamation for his unique...

  Kourosh Ziabari, Iran Review: Even if you don’t know his name, you’ve most probably heard of the Christian Pastor who set several copies of Quran, the holy book of Muslims, on fire in 2010 on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The eccentric pastor believes, or pretends to believe that Muslims were responsible for the killing of American citizens as the American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the World Trade Center North and South Towers respectively on September 11, 2001 and killed around 3,000 people. Terry Jones is the name who sparked an international controversy in 2010 and 2011 when announced his plans for burning the copies of Holy Quran under the pretext that Islam is a religion of...

Kourosh Ziabari - The Guinness Book of World Records is being challenged with the efforts of a determined Iranian journalist. A new rival is slated to take the place of Guinness World Records in the near future. Sayyed Mortaza Mirseradji, Iranian researcher, journalist, and essayist, has registered a plan in the Islamic Republic of Iran Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to publish a book containing cultural, spiritual and moral records called “Al-Khayrat.” According to Mirseradji, Al-Khayrat which means “good and decent deeds” in Arabic will be an all-encompassing enterprise including encyclopedic books, movies, and cultural organizations which are aimed at spreading cultural and moral records in the world. Some examples of...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Mark Foster Gage is the founding partner of Gage/Clemenceau Architects in New York City and a professor of architecture at the Yale School of Architecture. His work has been exhibited internationally at venues including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Deutsches Architektur Zentrum in Berlin. Gage/Clemenceau Architects was recently selected as one of the architecture firms to represent the United States in the 2010 Beijing International Biennale. Mr. Gage’s firm received an AIA New Practices citation in 2006 and was chosen as a finalist in the Museum of Modern Art/PS1 Young Architects Program in 2007. In 2008 he was selected as a winner of the...

Kourosh Ziabari - May 18 is dedicated to the commemoration of Omar Khayyam in the Iranian solar calendar; the calendar which Khayyam has invented himself. To the Western world which has always been enchanted by the magnificence and glory of oriental culture, Omar Khayyam is a venerable and honored figure who brings to mind the delicacy and gracefulness of ancient Persian civilization. The Iranian polymath, astronomer, philosopher and poet is internationally known for his insightful rubaiyyat (quatrains) which the influential British poet Edward FitzGerland translated from Persian into English 150 years ago. Omar Khayyam constitutes an inseparable part of Iran’s impressive history of literature and science. He is associated with the...

  Kourosh Ziabari - We’re living in a tumultuous and confused era when human’s need for moderation and ethics can be felt more than ever. The self-alienated mankind is being immersed in a quagmire of immorality, depravity and corruption as a result of his enchantment with modernity and globalization. Traditional values are being lost and people behave toward each other dishonestly, deceitfully. In such a turbulent time, it seems that religions can come to the help of sinking man to be rescued from the ocean of moral decadence and decline. At the same time, the followers of different religions need to interact with each other effectively so as to settle the redundant disputes and come to a comprehensive and lasting...

Kourosh Ziabari - The humankind has always been busy with answering the questions on what is morally good and what is morally unacceptable as he wanted to adhere to what the members of the society admire and appreciate. People have always been after finding the codes of ethics and the behaviors which are morally justifiable. Although the citizens of liberal societies are less concerned with the issues of morality as they believe that what does not violate the freedom of others and does not molest them is socially acceptable, the fact that morality has historically occupied the mind of human being as a major question of life is undeniable, especially given that moral issues have always had religious implications, as well. Roger Crisp is...

Kourosh Ziabari and Jérôme Guillet - Erri De Luca is an internationally-renowned Italian poet and writer. "Corriere della Sera" literature critic Giorgio De Rienzo has called him "the writer of the decade". He started writing since he was 20; however, his first book was published in 1989, when he was 39 years old. Upon graduating from high school in 1968, he joined the newly-established far-left, extra-parliamentary organization of Lotta Continua. The political activities of the organization were terminated early in 1976. Erri De Luca speaks several languages, including English, French, Hebrew and Yiddish. He is the author of several books including "Montedidio" which has won him The Prix Femina award. Erri De Luca has translated...

  Kourosh Ziabari - Adam Roberts is a British academician, literary critic and science fiction writer. He has a degree in English language from the University of Aberdeen and a Ph.D. from the Cambridge University on Robert Browning and the Classics. He has been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award of the best science fiction novel in 2001, 2007 and 2010. Roberts has published 11 novels of which the most prominent ones are Salt (2000), Stone (2002), The Snow (2004), Gradisil (2006) and Swiftly: A Novel (2008). Roberts' "Palgrave History of Science Fiction" has been translated into Chinese. Several reviews of his books have appeared on international newspapers and media outlets. Adam joined me in an exclusive interview to...

Kourosh Ziabari - Alain de Botton is a Swiss public intellectual, author, philosopher, television presenter and entrepreneur living in the United Kingdom. He has written several books on literature, philosophy, art, travel and architecture. In August 2008, he established a new educational enterprise in London called "The School of Life". Among his prominent books are "How Proust Can Change Your Life", "The Consolations of Philosophy" and "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work". De Botton is an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. The title was awarded to him in recognition of his services to art and architecture. His books are translated into several languages and are among the best-selling works of literature in so...