Iranian Literary Arts Festival Essay

Cultural Festivals are usually done to celebrate traditions and cultures of certain places in order to preserve and maintain its significance. The festival I visited was the Iranian Literary Arts Festival at Project Artaud Theatre in San Francisco, California at 450 Florida Street last November 17, 2007 produced by the Translation Project. It is a commemoration of Iranian literary arts, which includes activities such as film screenings and art exhibits. However, the highlight of the event is the world premiere of Icarus/Rise, a play about the myth of Icarus written by Niloufar Talebi. Also, other Iranian films were shown almost everyday in theaters. With this celebration, it shows that the Iraqis like literature, especially poetry and film and they give importance to it thru the activities conducted in this festival. The contemporary issue here for the Iraqis is that they value the fruits of the Persian culture that is shown in the Iraqi movies screened during the festival that also featured literary panel discussions, art auctions and gala dinner. This experience was a surprise for me regarding their culture. I heard a lot about Iraq before, and they were all about wars, suicide bombings and brutality, and so with this festival, I have seen a different side of their country. Now I know that their culture is rich in literary arts and that they value it. I also realized that the literary treasures of a country say a lot about their culture and their history. Though I wasn’t able to watch all of the movies, I have felt the value they gave to such treasures. With this experience, I conclude that cultural festivals play a significant role in the present day by preserving and reliving the culture of a region, and it also helps the residents get to know their forefathers since it says a lot about the way of living of the people in the past. I also realized that every person should know the value of this festivities, and participate in every cultural festivals they can go to because its like a time machine that they can go back to the past and relive the good old days of their community. Reference Iranian Literary Arts Festival. November 18, 2007. Retrieved from http://www. sfgate. com/listings/event. php? events,e263149 The Translation Project. November 18, 2007. Retrieved from http://thetranslationproject. org/