The “Oral History of One Hundred Years of Children and Adolescent Theater” was unveiled

Theater News Base: The beginning of the unveiling ceremony of this seven-volume book, which is the result of a conversation between Davood Kianian and Parvaneh Baghcheban, Reza Babak, Bahram Shahmohammadlou, Qutbuddin Sadeghi, Abdolreza Fayazi and Mansour Khalaj, and was published with the support of the Veteran Artists Institute Performed by Ehsan Hajipour – Secretary of the Iranian Theater Directors Guild – was held.

Art cannot be boycotted

Seyyed Abbas Azimi, the director of the Institute of Veteran Artists, said at the ceremony that if one day the oil or resources of the country run out, these are veteran artists who earn money for the country with their artistic ability, which is inexhaustible and cannot be sanctioned.

He added: “In the new term of my responsibility, I ask the members to help me move forward differently from the past and we are trying to take steps to transfer the experiences of your veterans to future generations. The publication of this collection of books is also one of these steps.” Is. Of course, we are currently having problems in terms of budget, but with your help, artists, as in the past, we will put on iron shoes and take steps to solve this problem.

I wish we had thought about preparing an oral history sooner

Davood Kianian, the author of the book, said: “When we are alien to our past history, it is unreasonable to expect children’s theater artists to be aware of their theater history.” When we are unfamiliar with our history and do not know it, then it seems natural to repeat the mistakes of the past. Not only do we not have a written history of children’s theater, we do not even have an oral history. While our children’s theater art historians are fortunately still alive and a treasure trove of experiences. I wish we had thought about preparing this oral history earlier, when Jabbar Baghcheban was still alive, when we could talk to Bijan Mofid, when we could interview Ardeshir Keshavarz, Kambiz Samimi Mofakhm and Javad Zolfaghari. .

Kianian added: “This important issue was first keyed by the efforts of the members of the Children’s Theater Foundation, who are all activists in the field of children’s theater.” Although these members did their best in this way, it was not possible to take a step forward without financial support. The publication of the book required a special budget, which it did not have a foundation for, and we proposed to the institutions that were related to this book to publish, among which only the Institute of Veteran Artists stepped forward. A tripartite agreement began with the presence of a third party.

I played because of economic problems

Bahram Shahmohammadlou, while not being tired, told the Children’s Play Foundation and the Veteran Artists Institute: “I wish I could continue this field continuously from the year I started working as a child, but unfortunately due to economic conditions and gaining other experiences, I had to act.” , I became a director and so on. But if we focused on the child’s work, the results would be far more authentic, deeper and more accurate.

I had a good year

Actor Reza Fayazi, another activist in the field of books, said about this collection of books: “In the conversation with Mr. Kianian, I talked so much that I forgot what I had said, I mean that it is very difficult to publish such a collection of books.” I feel that I had a good year this year with all the problems I had. Book collection.

There is no nation without narration

Qutbuddin Sadeghi also said at the ceremony: “I kiss the hand of anyone and everywhere who takes a step for the culture of the country.” Greetings to Mr. Kianian and Mr. Khalaj and to Mr. Azimi who sponsored this work. I have spent part of my life in academic research, knowing that one of the tasks of every generation is to bring some order to the troubled past. The past is fragmented and fragmented. We usually try to collect these pieces like a broken jar and correct what is lost with the help of theory and then imagination, which is a very difficult task. It is much easier now that all those who have broken bones in this field are present and we can hear their own voice and narration. I consider this collection of books, which narrates a common history with this innovative action like a charter and from different angles as well as the language of the active people in this field, a dramatic act. This cultural destiny has not been narrated only from the point of view of one or two people, but also from the point of view of most activists in this field.

He pointed out: The most important point is that nations are made by narrations and there is no nation without narrations. Our historical memory and emotional memory are made up of narrative. If we do not narrate about ourselves, others narrate that our words and message are not in it and narrate for their own benefit. Now that we have expressed and we have educational and research institutions as well as cultural production institutions, we must respect this narrative. If this nation still exists because we have narrators like Ferdowsi, Suhrawardi, Hafez, Rumi, Saadi, etc. It is to the credit of these narratives that we are still far apart and understand each other, and we have a single idea of ​​the world, as well as a coherent image of ourselves to the world.

Let’s bring theater to schools

Reza Babak also praised this work and said: “No matter how much we do cultural work for children, it is still small.” Every society, if it wants to be reformed, must first start with children. We have to be forward-thinking, we have repeatedly offered education to allow theater to be taken to schools and to teach children through film, theater, poetry and music to have a bright future.

In the end, with the presence of Ehteram Boroumand, Davood Kianian, Reza Babak, Mansour Khalaj, Bahram Shahmohammadlou, Abdolreza Fayazi, Qutbuddin Sadeghi and Seyed Abbas Azimi, the book collection “Oral History of One Hundred Years of Children and Adolescent Theater” was unveiled in Iran.

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