TEHRAN -- The document on Iran’s pardehkhani (curtain-reading performance) is ready for registration on the UNESCO List of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

In a curtain-reading ceremony, a raconteur tells a story depicted on a painted hanging curtain.
The document will be submitted to UNESCO Headquarters in Paris within ten days, said author of the book on Iran’s curtain-reading Hamidreza Ardalan.
He noted that in collaboration with the Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO), a series of photos and one film about the ceremony has also been attached to the document to be submitted to UNESCO.
“Iran’s curtain-reading ceremony is the only art in the world of Islam which narrates religious stories and this unique Islamic tradition is unfortunately facing decline,” Ardalan added.
According to Ardalan, these ceremonies originated in the Safavid era, but the paintings on the curtains date back to over one thousand years ago and bear the images of Ferdowsi’s epic story, the Shahnameh.
There are also paintings narrating the epic of Karbala and the events of Ashura in addition to various historical and religious stories, he explained.
No country is as rich as Iran in its historical and ritual ceremonies, and they need to be introduced to the world, Ardalan concluded.
Photo: Morshed Abolhassan Mirza-Ali performs a pardehkhani at the Niavaran Cultural Center in Tehran on August 3, 2009. (Theater.ir/Mani Lotfizadeh)