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Iran: More than thirty concerts cancelled
Iran is experiencing a cultural clampdown, reports Iran Press Service. In three months, from September to November 2005, Iran’s Ministry of Culture has cancelled more than thirty concerts in the country
The ministry has also announced the cancellation of the Fajr Music Festival on the grounds that it would overlap with the period of Moharram, the mourning ceremonies for the Shi’ite third imam, but after seeing the extent of public dissatisfaction and its negative impact on Ahmadi Nezhad’s image, the ministry allowed the festival to take place at a later date. The rescheduled festival will differ from recent years, though, focusing on religious music.
After a period of some tolerance under former president Mohammad Khatami, Iran's new hard line Muslim president Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad wants western culture off from Iran, writes journalist and political analyst, Mr. Mehdi Khalaji for Iran Press Service. Khalaji writes that the president is implementing the hardest of hardline ideological tendencies in the cultural arena, consistent with his belief that his administration should prepare the country for the reappearance of the “hidden imam” (who is now more than a thousand years old). As such, the gap between young people and the government is growing wider and deeper, reports Khalaji. |
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| Related reading |
| Iran: Music gives hope |
| Austin Dacey's article about the underground music scene and the system of music censorship in Iran, based on an interview with the rock band Kiosk |
| 17 July 2009 |
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| Iran: Musicians respond to the crisis |
| Despite a general ban, rock music has become one of the most vibrant forces for critiquing the various ills of Iranian society, writes music researcher Mark Levine |
| 23 June 2009 |
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| Iran: Rock concert raided, 104 arrested |
| A concert in Shiraz was raided by an Islamist militia, and 104 people arrested, on the grounds of being 'immoral', reported Jam-e Jam newspaper on 27 May 2009 |
| 08 June 2009 |
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