Big listing: Events during March, New Iranian Soc needed for 2017-18, and SU elections

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SOAS Iranian Society

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Mar 3, 2017, 4:47:15 PM3/3/17
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Dear all,

Just 17 days until the Spring Equinox - for us Norouz, the Persian New Year.

My apologies for the inactivity and absence of this society bulletin since early January. Something about Death during Capricorn, figuratively.

But here's to a temporary breath of life - this is a long list that follows, and i am not sure if there will be another update. So, you might want to book mark some of these, or find a link to this email here: https://groups.google.com/group/soas-iranian-society/ - And if there's any omissions or errors below, just consider it took me a few hours to find and type all these up! - and i dont get paid for this, heh ;}

2017-18 (scroll down to the bottom for a small note on the SU elections):

If you are a (current) SOAS student that will be returning to study here in 2017-18 and would like to be involved in taking over and forming a new Iranian Society for next year, please email me back.

I will not be continuing to oversee the official SU Iranian Society after this year, but can re-register it at the next FF in September before handing it over. I will be forming a smaller, unofficial, informal Iran network at SOAS instead (which is what this used to be when i founded it...) - although i can continue to support the formal SU Iranian Soc if next year's committee wants me to continue with this bulletin and needs any other small help here and there. But the lead really does need to be taken on by current students. I've been reviving and overseeing this now for too long, but as you can tell, i have my limitations on how much time i am able to be a useful presence on campus (none at all these days..).

Let me know.

Film Screening: The Nights of Zayandeh-Rood with an introduction by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Date: Saturday, 04 March
Time: 16:30
Venue: Curzon Bloomsbury, The Brunswick, Bloomsbury, WC1N 1AW

The Nights of Zayandeh-Rood centres on the struggles of a university lecturer and his daughter, before, during and after the 1979 cultural revolution. The film is openly critical of the new regime's anti-intellectualism, authoritarianism and suppression of women. It's a miracle it got made in the first place and that it still exists, albeit in a fragmentary form.

Further info & Tickets: http://www.curzoncinemas.com/bloomsbury/film-info/the-nights-of-zayandeh-rood
Organised by: Curzon Bloomsbury

Prozak Diaries: Psychiatry and Generational Memory in Iran


Date: Tuesday, 07 March
Time: 17:45 - 19:00
Room: Wolfson Lecture Theatre, Paul Webley Wing (Senate House)

Speaker: Orkideh Behrouzan (King’s College London)

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/1859399640999353/

Lecture by Orkideh Behrouzan on the subject of her book Prozak Diaries: Psychiatry and Generational Memory in Iran (Stanford University Press, 2016) an analysis of emerging psychiatric discourses in post-1980s Iran.

Organised by: London Middle East Institute (LMEI) and the Centre for Iranian Studies, SOAS

Private View | Bita Ghezelayagh at Asia House

Date: Tuesday, 07 March
Time: 18:00 - 20:00
Venue: Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, W1G 7LP

Italian-born Iranian artist Ghezelayegh will be at the private view to discuss her work. Her area of research has mainly been the subcultural Iranian feltmakers – who traditionally make clothing, tents and carpet.

Further info & Booking (Free): http://asiahouse.org/events/private-view-bita-ghezelayagh-asia-house/
Organised by: Asia House

University of London "Norooz Party"

Date: Friday, 10 March
Time: 21:00 - 02:00
Location: Drapers Bar and Kitchen, 15 Godward Square, E1 4FZ

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/354419628284911/

Student Norooz party.

Further info & Tickets: https://www.qmsu.org/events/6599/9508/
Organised by: The Iranian societies of UCL, KCL and QMUL

Film screening: Offside (2006)


Date: Friday, 10 March
Time: 19:00 - 22:00
Venue: Venue: Ink@84, 84 Highbury Park, N5 2XE

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/1271860306201623/

When two girls are arrested for trying to attend a football match (which, since they are female, is illegal), they try to sneak in by any means possible. Shot during a real football match in Iran, the director planned two different endings depending on which side won!

Tickets: https://www.ink84bookshop.co.uk/product-page/mar-10-offside
Organised by: Screen84

** Film screening and Q&A: Razor’s Edge - The Legacy of Iranian Actresses (2016) **

Date: Saturday, 11 March
Time: 17:30 - 20:30
Venue: Brunei Gallery, SOAS

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/1840297399562813/

Razor’s Edge: The Legacy of Iranian Actresses looks at the often controversial role of women in Iranian cinema during the secular period from the 1930s to the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The screening will be followed by Q&A and discussion with director, Bahman Maghsoudlou.

Further info & Tickets: https://www.soas.ac.uk/lmei-cis/events/11mar2017-razors-edge-the-legacy-of-iranian-actresses.html
Organised by: Centre for Iranian Studies, SOAS

Film screening and Q&A: Sonita (2016)

Date: Saturday, 11 March
Time: 19:30 - 22:30
Venue: Deptford Cinema, 39 Deptford Broadway, Lewisham, SE8 4PQ

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/424814307864459/

Synopsis: Sonita Alizadeh is a young Afghan refugee in Tehran who dreams of becoming a famous rapper like the Iranian rapper Yas and American rapper Eminem. When her family back in Afghanistan wants to arrange to sell her off into matrimony, she has to find a way to escape from this fate.

Tickets: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/boxoffice/select/bwATRSVyXQOG
Organised by: Afghanistan & Central Asian Association (ACAA) in partnership with Deptford Cinema

Kamran Djam Annual Lectures at SOAS (2017)

Date: Monday 13 & Tuesday 14 March
Time: 19:00 - 20:30
Room: Khalili Lecture Theatre (KLT)

Speaker: Abbas Amanat (Yale University)

FB (1): https://www.facebook.com/events/228870647581952/

FB (2): https://www.facebook.com/events/1185459094900166/

Lecture 1: Managing the Guarded Domains - What made the Safavid state declare Shi’ism as the state creed and patronize a Shi’i establishment? How in the four centuries since the rise of the Shi’i state did the Guarded Domains of Iran endure despite pressures on its vulnerable borders, volatile nomadic powers in its periphery, meager economic resources, popular dissent, and inconsistencies within the structure of the state?

Lecture 2: Paragons and Demons of Modernity - Since early nineteenth century various historical processes slowly unraveled the old imperial arrangement and exposed the Iranian state’s defects. Why did demands for popular sovereignty, which on occasions dislodge the old elites and transform the social order, also pave the way for the rise of arbitrary regimes?

Lecture programme (PDF): https://www.soas.ac.uk/lmei-cis/events/file117956.pdf
Organised by: Centre for Iranian Studies, SOAS

Iran and the Nuclear Programme: A political and technical assessment


Date: Monday, 13 March
Time: 17:00 - 18:30
Location: Room 2.04, New Academic Building, 54 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London School of Economics, WC2A 3LJ

Speaker: Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi (Royal United Services Institute)

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/359017924481838/

Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi examines the state of the comprehensive nuclear agreement reached by the P5+1 and Iran in July 2015 in light of domestic developments in the United States and Iran and will explore the consequent changes in the narrative and strategic interests in Tehran.

Registration (Free): https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/iran-and-the-nuclear-programme-a-political-and-technical-assessment-registration-30527496564
Organised by: LSE Middle East Centre

Vision is Out There

Date: Tuesday, 14 March
Time: 19:00 - 20:00
Location: Southwark Room, Level 5 Switch House, Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 9TG

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/1961352477420267/

Partou Zia (b. Tehran 1958, d. Cornwall 2008) was a painter who could convey weighty subjects – love, death, exile – with lightness and vision.

Further info & Tickets:
http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/talk/vision-out-there
Organised by: Tate in partnership with Notting Hill Editions

A musical celebration of Nowruz 2017


Date: Friday, 17 March
Time: 20:00 - 22:00
Room: Khalili Lecture Theatre ( KLT)

A musical celebration of the Persian New Year.

Further info & Tickets: https://www.facebook.com/events/170733716746501/
Organised by: SOAS Daf society

Central Asian Spring Festival 2017

Date: Sunday, 19 March
Time: 12:00 - 16:00
Location: University College London (Main Quad), Gower Street, WC1E 6BT

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/175355356286218/

Central Asian celebration of "Navruz" (Norouz - the Persian New Year).

Further info: http://www.casf.org.uk/
Organised by: Central Asian Spring Festival UK

Film screening: Close Up (1990)


Date: Friday, 24 March
Time: 19:00 - 22:00
Venue: Ink@84, 84 Highbury Park, N5 2XE

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/202082946940469/

The true story of a man who impersonated filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, conning a family into believing they would star in his new film. A masterpiece and regularly featured in the 'best 100 films of all times' lists.

Tickets: https://www.ink84bookshop.co.uk/product-page/mar-24-close-up
Organised by: Screen84

Film screening: Filmfarsi (work in progress) with filmmaker Ehsan Khoshbakht in conversation


Date: Friday, 31 March
Time: 18:00 - 21:00
Location: Birkbeck Cinema, 43 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0PD

“Filmfarsi was the cinema of a nation with a split personality”, says filmmaker Ehsan Khoshbakht in this film-critical history of Iran under the Shah.

Further info & Tickets (Free): http://www.essayfilmfestival.com/session-15-screening-filmfarsi-filmmaker-ehsan-khoshbakht-conversation/
Organised by: Essay Film Festival, Birkbeck

Iranian voices: Recent acquisitions of works on paper


Date:
26 November 2016 - 02 April 2017
Venue: Room 34, The British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG

The modern and contemporary art of Iran tells a multiplicity of stories. Made by Iranian artists of different generations, the works in this display include a variety of media from collage to artist books and photography. The narratives highlight an engagement with Iranian history from the legendary tales of the Shahnameh or Book of Kings (an epic in verse written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi in about AD 1010) to insights into the politics of recent decades. Between them, they present a series of vivid snapshots of the art and preoccupations of some of Iran’s most significant artists.

Further info:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/iranian_voices.aspx
Organised by: The British Museum

SOAS SU elections


Polls open at 10:00 on Monday, 06 March.

Further info: https://soasunion.org/elections/

See attached flyers for a selection of candidates (there are more). But please vote using your own best judgement of who you feel will best represent the overall SOAS student body. Give them all a chance by hearing them out, but choose carefully. It really does make a difference to how enjoyable your next year here will be.

We are against narrow identity voting. We believe that a person's merit is the most important thing for SOAS.


Right, finally got that all out of the way! Enjoy the final 3 weeks of term all.

And if you dont hear from me before (or ever again!) i wish you all a very blessed Norouz / Spring Equinox on 20 March! And if you want to be precise with your timing, the Sun will cross the 'celestial equator' at 10:28am.

Take care all!

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SOAS Iranian Society

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Mar 6, 2017, 1:02:24 PM3/6/17
to soas-irani...@googlegroups.com
Dear all,

As it turns out, there are actually a few additions i can add to that long list.

Film screening: The Salesman (2016)

Date: 17 - 23 March
Time: (See cinema listings)
Venue: Curzon Bloomsbury, The Brunswick, Bloomsbury, WC1N 1AW


Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi (A Separation) returns with The Salesman, a characteristically taut drama exploring how unexpected cracks can form in the foundations of a seemingly happy marriage.

Organised by: Curzon Cinemas

AKS Lambton Memorial Lecture: Views from inside - How Iranian travellers of the Qajar period perceived and described their own country

Date: Wednesday, 29 March
Time: 18:00 - 20:00
Location: British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, SW1Y 5AH

Speaker: Professor Birgitt Hoffmann (Iranian Studies, University of Bamberg)

The Qajar period (1796-1925) saw a remarkable increase in Persian travelogues describing journeys abroad, pilgrimages and domestic trips. So far scholarly attention has concentrated rather on Iranians touring Europe and beyond in the context of the first diplomatic missions, students’ delegations, official visits of ruling monarchs and private trips of lesser celebrities. Studies mostly focus on the impression Europe made on these travellers and how they expressed their experiences through the writing of travelogues. In contrast this paper will deal with the more neglected travel accounts written by Iranians who for whatever reason roamed their home country and put their impressions into writing. Systematic perusal and evaluation of these texts will not only contribute to a better assessment of local conditions but also to a better understanding of modes of perception and ways of thinking.

Free to attend but RSVP by 22 March to: bi...@britac.ac.uk
Organised by: University of Durham and the British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS)

Spring / Summer Iran Catalogue - I.B. Tauris

I.B. Tauris is an independent publishing house founded in London in 1983 and is now one of the leading publishers of books on Iran. I.B. Tauris is also a regular supporter of various events at SOAS and the publisher has an extensive catalogue of books on numerous other topics such as Classics and Ancient History, History, Geography and Social Sciences, Politics and International Relations, Philosophy, Religion, Film and Visual Culture and Fine Art.

The latest catalogue of books on Iran can be found here: https://issuu.com/ibtauris/docs/iran_2017_new

Conference Call for Papers: Literatures and Images: A Window to the Study of Creativity

Abstract Deadline: 30 April, 2017

The idea of the image (or images) in literature has been subject to nuanced and multifarious observations since the time of Aristotle. Innovative use of new images can, for instance, evoke or enhance metaphors in poetry as well as in prose. However, in the present age, the predominance of visual art due to the proliferation of television, film and advertising has arguably led to different innovative use of images in literature. It would therefore seem appropriate, to further question such a rich concept in this field.

The call for papers is open to all. However doctoral students and young researchers in the fields of World and comparative literature dealing with one or several aspects of Iranian studies are especially encouraged to send their proposals.

Organised by: Department of Persian Studies and GEO, University of Strasbourg

Best,

Aki Elborzi
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