Armanshahr Foundation in collaboration with the French Cultural Center in Kabul (CCF) is pleased to invite you to its 61st (year IV) public event GOFTEGU.
With a selection of poems submitted to the Simorgh Literary Peace Prize we celebrate the International Peace Day:
Simorgh on the Peak of Peace
Producers: Guissou Jahangiri and Rooholamin Amini
Collaborators: Kabir Neshat (Camera), Shourangiz Dadashi and Ajmal Baluchzada (Coordinators), Gholam Heydar Yaghoubi (Logistics)
Elka Sadat (Film and Sound), Arash Absalan (Music), Nassir Khan Mansuri (Lighting)
Poems recited by: Rooholamin Amini, Habiba Sadeqi, Aman Pooyamak, Beheshta Shahin, Farahnaz Froutan, Seyyed Jawad Darwaziyan, Zabihollah Yussefzada
(Programme in Dari)
Date & Time: Wednesday, 22 September 2010, at 14:30 hours
Venue: French Cultural Center in Kabul (CCF) Istiqlal High School, Across from Kabul Town Hall
Contact Tel: 0779217755 & 0775321697
E-mail: armanshahrfoundation.openasia@gmail.com
ATTENTION! KINDLY CARRY INVITATION.
NO cars are allowed inside the center for security reasons
This Programme is supported by the European Commission. However the programme is the sole responsibility of Armanshahr Foundation and does not reflect the Commission’s opinion.
Armanshahr Foundation/OPEN ASIA is a member of the
International Federation for Human Rights
Simorgh on the peak of peace
“Simorgh on the peak of peace” was the title of the 61st Goftegu public debate – a bridge between the elite and the citizens – of Armanshahr Foundation. The meeting, marking the International Day of Peace, was organised at the French Cultural Centre on 22nd September 2010. About 400 students, cultural, civil society and human rights activists attended.
The programme started with a short film of Armanshahr Foundation’s past public debates. It was followed by a poetry recital play, where Rooholamin Amini, Habibeh Sadeghi, Aman Puyamak, Beheshteh Shahin, Farahnaz Forutan, Seyed Jawad Darwazian, and Zabihollah Yousefi took part.
“Simorgh on the peak of peace” is a story based on the Conference of the Birds by Fariduddin Attar of Nayshabur. It tells the story of a group of birds who set out on a journey to Mount Qaaf to find their Simorgh [Si=30; morgh=bird; hence Simorgh=30 birds]. The story has been told for centuries. The birds travelled a difficult journey and paid a high price to find their leader Simorgh; they did, not on Mount Qaaf, but within themselves.
“Simorgh on the peak of peace” was one episode in the run-up to the Simorgh Literary Peace Prize, which has been under way for over a year. About 1,000 works have been collected from Persian-speaking countries; works with the theme of peace, hatred for war, violence and savagery.
The play was based on some of the works sent to the Festival’s secretariat. The actors were signing:
Alas!
Your silence
Finally persuaded “Buddha” to speak
He wrote in Russian in your throat:
“Tovarich”
And before writing
It stamped your mouth
“11th September”
Not everything was uttered so sadly. To tell of pain is not the only solution and the story was occasionally narrated:
“When they arrived at the court, the wing-broken birds were treated with humiliation by the court attendants; now love was flaring deep in them. They were then given a log of their journey. “
There were also words to be cried out; words seeking ears to listen and go far:
“The breath leaving the warmth of the breast, grows into a dark cloud
Standing before your eyes as though a wall
If that is your breath, what do you expect of friends?
My brave saviour! Old god-fearing man!
It is such a freezing cold…
I hail thee!
Hail me and open up!”
The seven actors recited various poems. The narrator narrated Attar’s story. There was the Pheasant, who leads and advises the birds in the story. One other actor was a crazy general, as the symbol of militarism and despotism. Others were subjects who are trampled upon in large numbers in our world today. Or they were birds who were seeking a path to change their world, through finding the imaginary Simorgh. But Simorgh was not too imaginary, because they finally found it within themselves.
Finally, the pain and hardship of the journey was sweetened, because they found out that they have the power to build the world as they wish, if they wish. The young people who planned and implemented the programme wished to say: We can if we want.
To view the publications related to this Public Debate, please refer to the following links:
Invitation for 61st Goftegu Public Debate: Simorgh on the Peak of Peace
