Aug 29, 2008, 6:34 PM

Researcher asks for compiling encyclopedia on Iran’s nomad culture

Researcher asks for compiling encyclopedia on Iran’s nomad culture

TEHRAN, Aug. 29 (MNA) -- Bakhtiari nomads researcher Javad Safinejad asked for compiling an encyclopedia on the culture of Iranian nomads.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the seminar on the art and culture of Iran’s nomads on Wednesday, Safinejad said that there are many points of great interest in the culture of nomads that need to be collected and published in an encyclopedia.

 

“Iran’s nomads are living in an area covering 123,000 square meters of which 43,000 belong to the Bakhtiari nomads,” he added.

 

He went on to say that Iranian nomads enjoy their own social structure, adding, “There is a variety of cultures of nomadic life with which urban dwellers are generally unfamiliar or perhaps totally unaware. For example, the nomads count heads inside their own population every seven years.”

 

Mohammad-Mehdi Asgarian, the representative of the Iranian Academy of Arts (IAA) also gave a short presentation at the ceremony and said, “The IAA established the nomadic art and culture committee this year to organize the seminar that was supposed to be held in a nomadic region of the country, but the local officials were not prepared to host it.”

 

He expressed hope that next year’s programs will be held in the nomadic regions.

 

The head of the committee Ali Qanbari also announced that several other seminars are scheduled to be held in the coming years that will produce a complete review of Iran’s nomadic life and culture.

 

“Cultural preservation is the major task of the committee. The origins of nomad’s life and his nature, which was filled with talent and creativity, has been preserved over the past years,” he remarked.

 

Displaying handicrafts, staging plays, and performing regional music were among the programs of the one-day seminar held at Tehran’s Aseman Cultural Center.

 

RM/YAW

END

MNA

News ID 29628

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