The Freer and Sackler Galleries of The Smithsonian celebrate Persian culture through its 18th Annual Iranian Film Festival from January 31 – February 22. A total of 7 screenings will feature the following 4 films: “Fat Shaker,” “Parviz,” “My Name is Nagahdar Jamali and I make Westerns,” and “A Cinema of Discontent.” The film festival is curated by Tom Vick of the Freer and Sackler Galleries; Carter Long of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and Marian Luntz of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. On March 8, the Freer and Sackler Galleries holds its 6th Annual Noruz Celebration. Activities for the Persian New Year include the traditional Haft Sin table, Persian music, performances and food, and games such as chess and backgammon.

Award-winning filmmaker and graphic artist Hamad Rahmanian is participating in a group exhibit at STUX Gallery in New York entitled “if Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” from February 6 – March 8, 2014. Several of his illustrated prints from the Shahnameh will be on display.

Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute is delighted to announce a celebration of the Persian New Year at the Honolulu Museum of Art on March 16. The day will include art activities such as egg decorating, yarn painting and dyed-rice mosaics; demonstrations including the traditional Haft-Seen table, calligraphy and crafts; and poetry readings from works by Rumi and Hafez. The celebration will continue at the Museum with ARTafterDARK: Noruz on March 28.

San José State University announced the Spring 2014 line-up of Roshan Institute Lecture Series. Lectures will include “Jews of Iran” by Dr. Jaleh Pirnazar (UC Berkeley); “Days of Revolution: Political Protest in an Iranian Village” by Dr. Mary Hegland (Santa Clara University); “Iranian American Technology Leaders in Silicon Valley” by Dr. Kathrine Richardson (SJSU); and “Prospectus for Peace: The US-Iran Nuclear Deal Five Months On” by Dr. Muhammad Sahimi (USC). Additional events include a concert in celebration of Noruz, a major conference on “Cultures of the Iranian Diaspora” and an exhibition of paintings.

Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute is pleased to announce that a special concert will be given by Hossein Alizadeh, composer and tar player, Hossein Omoumi, composer and ney player, and Pejman Hadadi on tombak and daf at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland, College Park, on February 2, 2014. This performance is organized by Roshan Institute for Persian Studies at UMD and celebrates the life and works of two master musicians of the twentieth century Iran, Jalil Shahnaz, Tar (1921-2013) and Hassan Kasai, Ney (1928-2012), who nurtured generations of young musicians. Recent events hosted by Roshan Institute for Persian Studies included a lecture and performance on Persian musical instruments, a lecture on the history of Persian illustration, and panel discussion “Making History? Will Iran’s Domestic Politics Permit a Change in its Foreign Policy?”

Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute would like to congratulate Safoura Nourbakhsh, the first recipient of Roshan Institute Fellowship for Excellence in Persian Studies at UMD, on the progress made toward completing her Ph.D. dissertation “Expressions of Gender and Sexuality in Persian Sufism.”