REORIENT

REORIENT is a magazine celebrating contemporary Middle Eastern arts and culture // edited by Joobin Bekhrad

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Everything you always wanted to know about the Iranian community in Toronto* (*but were too afraid to ask). Grab a copy of REORIENT Editor @joobinbekhrad’s new book, ‘Guguli’, via http://joobinbekhrad.com/portfolio/guguli/ (link in bio). All of his other books are also available via his personal site. Cover artwork by @louiserosenkrands. . When his English teacher, Miss Holland, lures him home one day, Sepehr Ranjbaran’s miserable teenage life is turned on its head. Tormented by his unrequited love for Nazy, an older girl who dances at his parents’ restaurant, he turns to the newfound world of lust and wild abandon introduced to him by his teacher for solace and escape, only to find himself spiritually unfulfilled, debauched beyond hope, and racked with guilt. Set in the northern suburbs of Toronto, the city Sepehr loves to hate, Guguli is a coming-of-age tale of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, as well as a window to the heart of Toronto’s Iranian community in the early 2000s. . #iranian #iran #persian #tehranto #toronto #literature #fiction #rockandroll #thesmiths #johnnymarr #morrissey https://www.instagram.com/p/BnEpoH9BIcs/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1r3uuwvjbjo7o

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it ... Read my piece for the BBC about the ‘Perfumed Garden’ and eroticism in Arabic literature (http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20170725-the-ancient-arabic-kama-sutra) . ‘Unlike the Kama Sutra, which some might look at as largely educational, The Perfumed Garden, while edifying readers on various subjects, such as alternatives for the enlargement of male genitals and “everything that is favourable” regarding sex, also places a heavy emphasis on entertainment. The stories are narrated in a lively manner akin to those of the One Thousand and One Nights and one might argue that its explicit descriptions of all manners of sexual intercourse could put even Vãtsyãyana to shame.’ . #arabic #arab #erotica #eroticism #literature

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it … Read ‘Divine Mysteries at Asia House’, a little piece of mine for Apollo about the ‘Golshan-e Raz’ (‘Garden of Mystery’), a fourteenth-century classic of Persian Sufi poetry, and an exhibition of contemporary Iranian art in London (https://www.apollo-magazine.com/divine-mysteries-at-asia-house/). . In The Garden of Mystery (Golshan-e Raz), the fourteenth-century Persian poet and Sufi mystic Mahmoud Shabestari answers a series of questions posed by a fellow scholar. The treatise, written in rhyming couplets (masnavi), deals with themes, allegories, and imagery prevalent in the Persian Sufi tradition. At its core is the Sufi concept of the ‘unity of being’: the transcendental oneness of God. ‘Beneath the veil of each atom’, Shabestari wrote, ‘is hidden the heart-ravishing beauty of the Beloved’s face!’ . #iran #iranian #persian #poetry #sufi #sufism #art

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it … Read ‘Tagore Meets an Old Friend in Iran’, a piece of mine for the British Library about Tagore’s visit to the tomb of the Persian poet Hafez (http://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2016/10/tagore-meets-an-old-friend-in-iran.html). . 'In Shiraz, Tagore visited the tombs of the revered Persian poets Sa’di and Hafez. Unlike Voltaire, who had been nicknamed “Sa’di”, Tagore – like Goethe before him –felt more of a kinship with Hafez. Could this have been because of his upbringing? Tagore’s father was a known lover of Hafez. “I spent half the night reciting hymns and the verses of Hafez”, he remarked of his childhood evenings. This love was later passed down to his son: “... I had my first introduction to Hafez through my father, who used to recite his verses for me”, Tagore recalled in Esfahan. “They seemed to me like a greeting from a faraway poet who was yet near to me.”’ . #tagore #iran #iranian #persian #poetry #shiraz #hafez

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it … Read ‘What Exactly is the “Islamic” World’, a piece I wrote for Forbes in 2017 (https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2017/02/07/what-exactly-is-the-islamic-world/). Image: the Shah Mosque in Esfahan, Iran, captured by Roger Wood in 1969. . 'Even mosques, the images of which are perhaps first conjured when the word "Islam" is uttered in the West, present a problem. Many Iranian mosques have been built upon Zoroastrian fire temples, for example, and contain elements that are indigenously Iranian. Can an Iranian mosque, then, be spoken of in the same context as one in Timbuktu simply because of a connection to a religion — and one practised so differently in both places, at that? To quote Robert Byron in his classic 1937 travelogue, "The Road to Oxiana”: "… The Kala-i-Dukhtar at Firuzabad provides another Sassanian prototype for Persia’s next most important contribution to Mohammedan architecture after the dome on squinches: the ivan or open-fronted hall. This form, more than any other, changed the character of the early mosques … Its vagaries have changed the face of every town in Islam, and it was pleasing, I thought, to find myself hanging on to an old nut-tree and eating an orange in the place where the idea began.”' . #islam #islamic #iran #iranian #persian

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it … Read my piece for Jadaliyya on Forough Farrokhzad, Leila Pazooki’s ‘Moment of Glory', and why we need to stop comparing Iranian artists (and others in the region) to their perceived Western counterparts (http://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/34149/Moment-of-Glory). For more on Iranian art, check out my book ‘With My Head in the Clouds and Stars in My Eyes’, available via joobinbekhrad.com. . 'Yes, artists like Forough Farrokhzad were brilliant, and yes, their legacies continue to shine, but make no mistake: they were brilliant precisely (and solely) because they were Forough Farrokhzad, Sadegh Hedayat, Bahman Mohassess, or whomever else – not the Iranian Sylvia Plath, Kafka, or Picasso. Their works spoke (and speak) for themselves, and comparisons to perceived Western counterparts, however gratifying some may find them, are not only beside the fact, but also disrespectful and disempowering. Accept no substitutes – or comparisons.’ . #iran #iranian #persian #poetry #foroughfarrokhzad #art

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it … Read ‘Basilico Before Basilico’, my piece about the late Italian photographer Gabriele Basilico’s travels in Iran in 1970 for Aesthetica (http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/452674-2/). To read a detailed story about his experiences in the country, for which I got in touch with his wife, Giovana Calvenzi, check out the chapter ‘Iran, 1970, or, Persian Pictures: Gabriele Basilico on the Road in Iran’ in my book ‘With My Head in the Clouds and Stars in My Eyes’, available via joobinbekhrad.com. . 'Describing Tehran as a “frenetic city”, the iconic artist wasn’t interested in images of swanky clubs, lewd film posters, and chic passers-by on Pahlavi Avenue, rather, he tried to translate into celluloid the Iranian “experience” and essence of the country in a heady era marred by rifts in social classes, a widening gap between the government and its subjects, and the very idea of what it meant to be Iranian. He may have considered these photographs to be “juvenile”, but one can see with clarity the facets that gave his name such weighting: a lust for knowing, a sympathy devoid of prejudice for the unknown, and – undeniably – a genius for freezing moments of haunting beauty in the unlikeliest places.’ . #iran #iranian #persian #photography #gabrielebasilico

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it … Read my piece for the Economist about the importance of wine in Iranian culture (https://www.economist.com/prospero/2016/09/27/why-wine-is-integral-to-persian-culture). For an in-depth look at the subject, check out the chapter ‘Ramblings of an Iranian Wino’ in my book ‘With My Head in the Clouds and Stars in My Eyes’, available via joobinbekhrad.com. Image: a detail of a Safavid-era Persian miniature. . 'European accounts of Safavid and Qajar-era Iran (1785-1925) dispel any doubt about the longstanding Iranian penchant for wine. Early adventurers such as John Ussher, Charles James Wills and Henry Austen Layard, told far less of “Mahometan” piety in their travelogues than they did of debauchery and dissolution. Orgies, topless female musicians and boozing were very much “the order of the day”, according to Ussher. Even mullahs instructed foreigners in the Iranian art of winemaking. So enamoured of wine were these Iranians that many of the travellers who encountered them could hardly fathom that they were pious. “The people were a laughing, careless set, devoid of fanaticism, having indeed very little religion,” wrote Wills. “Nearly all drank wine to excess.”’ . #iran #iranian #persian #wine #history #safavid

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it … Read my piece on Iran’s influence on Western fashion for i-D (https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/mbvqxv/the-unspoken-iranian-influence-on-western-fashion). For more on the subject, check out ‘The Timeless Appeal of the Persian Rug’, another of my stories for the BBC (http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20171206-the-timeless-appeal-of-the-persian-rug?ocid=twcul). Image: Persian carpet boots from Margiela SS12. . 'Fast-forward a few centuries, and the high heel was introduced to Europe by Persian cavalrymen on diplomatic missions during the "golden age" of the Safavid era (1501-1722), particularly during the reign of Shah Abbas the Great. Quickly adopted by Western Europe, they were seen as markers of social status. High-heeled shoes not only broadened the sartorial horizons of countries like France, but also allowed those who rocked them to channel the look of the Persian characters they read about in Antoine Galland's famous eighteenth-century translation of the Thousand and One Nights.’ . #iran #iranian #persian #fashion #style #margiela #shoes

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it … Read ‘The Ancient Symbol That Spanned Millennia’, a piece for the BBC in which I look at the mysterious ‘ouroboros’ symbol in various cultures and religions, as well as in the context of contemporary art (http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20171204-the-ancient-symbol-that-spanned-millennia). . ‘… The ouroboros … is a symbol that has been the subject of awe and wonder for millennia. Literally meaning "tail-devourer" in Greek, it has appeared in numerous forms in a wide array of contexts and geographies. In its original and most common variation, it depicts a snake eating its own tail in a closed circle. The ouroboros, however, isn’t Greek, and certainly isn’t a celebration of self-cannibalism. What, then, are its origins, and what does it signify?’ . #ouroboros #egyptian #greek #alchemy #art

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it ... Read ‘By Royal Appointment’, my piece about Iran’s Dizin ski resort before the Revolution (http://joobinbekhrad.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Monocle2.pdf). The story appeared in the third edition of Monocle’s 2017 ‘Winter Weekly’, shortly after the publication’s radio interview with me about my book ‘With My Head in the Clouds and Stars in My Eyes’ (https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-monocle-arts-review/sunday-brunch-28/weekend-read-joobin-bekhrad/). . #iran #iranian #dizin #skiing #tehran #pahlavi (at Dizin, Tehran, Iran)

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it … Read my piece about Iran’s influence on twentieth-century rock and roll for Another Man (http://www.anothermanmag.com/life-culture/10079/why-iran-s-impact-on-rock-and-roll-is-criminally-overlooked). Together with my story on Johnny Thunders (see one of my recent posts), it was one of the top ten most-read online stories published by the magazine in 2017. For an in-depth look at the subject (this piece merely scratches the surface), check out the chapter ‘Of Bandits and Popinjays’ in my book ‘With My Head in the Clouds and Stars in My Eyes’, available via joobinbekhrad.com. Photo: Freddie Mercury by @therealmickrock. . 'Given the slew of vitriol that has often surrounded Iran in the mainstream Western media since the 1979 Revolution, it’s not a country you tend to associate with … rock and roll. Yet, both before and after Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile in France to found the nascent Islamic Republic, rock and roll musicians of the twentieth century looked towards the land of roses and nightingales for inspiration; in fact, one of the greatest was even Iranian himself. When it comes to Eastern environs and rock and roll, however, minds usually turn towards the usual suspects: the Stones in Tangier, the Beatles in Rishikesh, Page and Plant wandering around the Sahara Desert, and all that. Many Iranian ‘chapters’ of rock and roll history have been largely forgotten, overlooked and relegated to the gossamer-strewn recesses of memory, which is a shame, especially considering how great some of them are.’ . #iran #iranian #persian #rockandroll #sexdrugsandgolobolbol #withmyheadinthecloudsandstarsinmyeyes #anotherman #farrokhbulsara

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it … Read ‘The Timeless Appeal of the Persian Rug’, a piece of mine for the BBC in which I look at the Persian rug in history, culture, art, and even fashion (http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20171206-the-timeless-appeal-of-the-persian-rug). For the purposes of the story, I interviewed the amazing @annasui and Dr Aimee Froom of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: a design by Marlou Breuls at the 2016 Mercedes-Benz Amsterdam Fashion Week. . . 'In spite of its domestic woes, the Persian rug still, as it has for aeons, holds a timeless, luxurious, opulent and extravagant allure and appeal. “There’s something so magical about it,” says Froom. “It pervades so many different aspects of life.” As for Persian-rug patterns like paisley, which have become ubiquitous in fashion and design, Sui’s words echo Froom’s: “[Paisley] is so beautiful … it’s not that you either like it or don’t: everyone likes it… I think there’s a reason it’s been so successful in carpeting — it’s a pattern you can really live with.”' . #iran #iranian #persian #persianrug #ruglife #persiancarpet #annasui null

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it … Read this little piece of mine about fashion designer Paria Farzaneh for Blanc Magazine (https://blancmagazine.com/fashion/designers/pariafarzaneh/). . 'One might expect to find reliefs of Achaemenid soldiers from Persepolis, giant Zoroastrian emblems, and tea kettles emblazoned with the portrait of Nasereddin Shah-e Qajar adorning the walls of a traditional Iranian restaurant, or perhaps the living room of a little old maman bozorg. One would not, however, anticipate such elements to abound in the photo shoots of a critically acclaimed menswear designer who counts Frank Ocean among her fans. But these Iranian elements are anything but coincidental: Paria Farzaneh knows exactly what she’s doing.’ . #iran #iranian #persian #zoroastrian #qajar #fashion #style

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Today on the BBC.com homepage — ‘The Book That Defines Iranians’, REORIENT Editor @joobinbekhrad’s story about the ‘Shahnameh’ (‘Book of Kings’), Iran’s national epic - http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180810-the-book-of-kings-the-book-that-defines-iranians. We’ve also included the link in our bio. Image: a statue of Ferdowsi in Tehran. . 'Completed by Abolqasem Ferdowsi in the early eleventh century, the Shahnameh (Book of Kings) is not only a literary masterpiece, but also a book that has for centuries helped define Iran and the Iranian peoples, as well as safeguard the existence of the Persian language. Consisting of over 50,000 rhyming couplets, it is the longest poem ever written by a single author. It is not an epic about a single defining event, a fantastical voyage, or a particular pair or star-crossed lovers or arch-rivals, as is the case with many national epics. Although certainly brimming with the aforementioned, the Shahnameh is an epic centred around the very essence and soul of Iran; and, while ancient Iran is its chief object, the book’s messages are timeless, and in many cases may well have been written for humanity as a whole.’ . #iran #iranian #persian #shahnameh #ferdowsi #literature (at Iran)

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it … Read my interview with fashion stylist @keanoushdarosa for Spain’s @metal_magazine (https://metalmagazine.eu/en/post/interview/keanoush-da-rosa-persian-heritage-in-contemporary-fashion). . 'It all happened one afternoon, when, finding himself all alone at home, little Keanoush da Rosa entered a world of dusky-eyed cupbearers, drunken poets, and the most bewildering sets of eyebrows he’d ever laid his eyes on. Or, perhaps it happened far before that. Perhaps, unbeknownst to he himself, there was something in his bones, in his blood, that thirsted for his ancestral Iran – the land of the Aryans, of the Lion and Sun, of roses and nightingales and wandering bards. As per the Persian proverb, when exactly Iran set Keanoush’s heart aflame is known to none but God and Hafez of Shiraz.' . #iran #iranian #persian #fashion #style

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Repost @joobinbekhrad ・・・ In case you missed it … Read my BBC piece about the medieval Iranian polymath Omar Khayyam and an early twentieth-century copy of his ‘Robaiyat’ (‘Quatrains’) that was perhaps the most luxurious book of poetry that had ever been made (http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180111-the-rubaiyat-historys-most-luxurious-book-of-poetry). The piece also includes a couple of quatrains from my translation of the ‘Robaiyat’, available via joobinbekhrad.com (under ‘Books’). Image: an illustration from another early twentieth-century edition of the ‘Robaiyat’ by Gilbert James. 'Owing to his inquisitive nature, Khayyám questioned things most around him took for granted: faith, the hereafter, and the meaning of life itself. He had little confidence in the promises of religion, with its talk of Heaven and Hell, and even expressed doubts regarding the logic of God. There was only one thing Khayyám was certain about, and which he cherished: this life.’ #iran #iranian #persian #poetry #omarkhayyam #khayyam #mementomori