The capacities of the provinces to hold the festival of traditional and ritual shows come into play
According to Fars news agency, the poster unveiling ceremony of the 21st International Festival of Ritual and Traditional Shows and the exchange of memorandums of participating provinces in this cultural event with the presence of Kazem Nazari (Director General of Performing Arts), Ahmad Joulii (Festival Secretary) with the slogan “Ritual, tradition, national capital” It was held in the conference hall of the artistic vice-chancellor.
Kazem Nazari, Director General of Performing Arts, said at the beginning of the ceremony: “After twenty-one periods and for the first time, the various parts of the International Festival of Ritual and Traditional Shows are going to their original homes.”
He continued: “According to the discussions, the municipalities in the organizing provinces are supposed to accompany the organizers in the space creation and general advertising department. In the broadcasting department, program makers will also be present to cover the festival.
The General Director of Performing Arts added: “The International Festival of Ritual and Traditional Shows is one of the most important theater festivals in the country. This event is considered our national capital and identity.”
Nazari said: “In the international sector, efforts have been made to introduce our theater to other countries, and fortunately, active international centers have a special view on Iranian performing arts.”
He continued: “I hope that you, dear ones, will put all the cultural capacity of your province to work so that this great artistic event in the country will have a good appearance and will be effective in making people aware of Iranian culture and rituals.”
At the end of his speech, the Director General of Performing Arts said, referring to the time of the festival: “The simultaneous holding of the 21st International Festival of Ritual and Traditional Shows with the Cultural Heritage Week and also the birth of the Prophet Masoud (PBUH) is a good opportunity for the provinces to develop their performance and tourism capacities in They should be used more to introduce rituals, traditions, and the ecosystem, as well as to create vitality, empathy, and harmony among ethnic groups.
In the continuation of this meeting, Ahmed Joulii, the secretary of the 21st International Festival of Ritual and Traditional Shows, referring to the decentralization of the festival to bring the provinces together, said: “The perseverance, determination and collective wisdom of the provincial managers led us to decentralize the host center 1010 domestic and foreign guests.
He continued: “More than 20 foreign countries have applied to participate in the festival, and fortunately, we had applicants from all over the country in all the eight fields of the festival. In this period, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari provinces will host individual arts, performances and outdoor works, North Khorasan province will host student performances and puppetry, Golestan province will host stage shows of the free and special section, and Central province will host strange Ta’zieh gatherings of the festival.
The secretary of the 21st International Festival of Ritual and Traditional Shows added: “International seminars will be held in Tehran under the management of Mrs. Narges Yazdi (director of the show’s publications) and the selected examples will also be published.”
Referring to the playwriting section as the only competitive section of the festival, Julayi explained: “The playwriting section has two custodians. The Public Culture Council of the General Department of Dramatic Arts is considered the custodians of the playwriting department. Our effort is to publish the good works of this department as well.”
He said: “Directors of Culture and Islamic Guidance of four provinces are involved in organizing this artistic event as deputy directors of the festival and will lead the festival with all powers.”
At the end of his speech, the secretary of the festival said: “A separate bulletin and publication will be considered for each province.”
Taghi Sadeghi, Director General of Culture and Islamic Guidance of North Khorasan Province, also said in the continuation of this meeting: “We are happy that with the tact of the Director General of Performing Arts, less seen provinces that are the cradle of special talents are being seen. North Khorasan province has a good track record in traditional and ritual performing arts and modern shows. The memory of the 9th edition of the Razavi Theater Festival is recorded in the minds of prominent artists of the country. “Razavi Theater was born and raised in North Khorasan province, and wherever it is, it is proud.”
He continued: “There is good synergy in the province. All public and government departments are working and we hope that a good and dignified event will be held, and we request that this festival be considered as the national, cultural and spiritual heritage of the province and that the art of theater in North Khorasan will go a few steps further.”
The Director General of Culture and Islamic Guidance of North Khorasan Province added: “I am sure that the support of the General Department of Performing Arts as well as the festival secretariat will be included in the province and we will host this event with pride and we will not worry about anything.”
At the end of his speech, Sadeghi said: “Razavi Khorasan Province is ready for any cooperation for the best possible organization of the festival.” Even if there is a need to be accompanied in other departments during the holding process, we will still be by your side. These events spread joy in the society and I hope that people will mark the happy days in their calendar this year.”
Also, Payam Ahmadi, Director General of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province said: “All these arts boil in the blood of Iranian people and we hope to be able to have the honor of hosting this artistic event in the coming years.”
In the continuation of this program, Hadi Marzban, an actor, a veteran theater director and a member of the selection board, spoke in the free stage section.
He said: “More than 150 texts were sent to us in the free stage section. Due to the fact that some works are judged in two stages, the texts were read once, and in the second stage of judging, examples of implementation will be considered.
He continued: “Since university, whether in Iran or abroad, I have loved Iranian theater and paid attention to my rituals and culture. I have always said in my speeches that my theater should smell of the noble dampness of straw. It is not possible that in these fifty years of artistic activity, I have staged a work without paying attention to Iranian roots and traditions.”
Ali Akbar Qudousian, ta’zieh reciter and veteran theater artist, also expressed his childhood memories of ta’zieh, and said: “I started ta’zieh since I was a child with the role of Ali Asghar in the arms of my father, who was a reciter and impersonator of Imam Hussain (AS). Actually, I am 70 years old now and I have been engaged in this art for 69 years and 6 months.
Stating that he has taken ta’ziyeh to cultural centers, he said: “The space for performing ta’ziyeh is not a cultural center, but it is better to remember the corners of the parks until the name of this art is heard.” Ta’ziyeh is valuable and the international festival of ritual and traditional shows will magnify it with regard to Ta’ziyeh.
The artist added: “I tried to remove the superstitions from tazzie and rationalize this art in the book “Tazzie’s manuscripts” that I wrote. I hope Tazzie shines more and its artists distance themselves from material things and focus on spirituality.”
Hossein Shondi, a member of the selection board for stage plays in the special section, said in this program: “I have traveled to the provinces for many years and I am very familiar with their performance rituals. If our theater wants to live and survive, it should return to our ritual literature. This ritual literature is an ocean of undiscovered gems. This return to the provinces is a source of good and I hope this happens again in the following years and we use our funds more.”
At the end of this meeting and after the unveiling of the festival poster with a design by Mehdi Raagani by Kazem Nazari (Director General of Performing Arts) and Hadi Marzban (Veteran artist and member of the selection board of the free stage section), the Memorandum of Cooperation between the provinces was signed by the Director General of Performing Arts and the General Managers of Culture. And the Islamic guidance of Chaharmahal, Bakhtiari and North Khorasan provinces was signed.
The general directors of Islamic culture and guidance of Golestan and Central provinces were not present in this meeting.
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