TEHRAN -- A photo exhibition featuring Sadi Afshar, the veteran Iranian performer of siah-bazi will open at the Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) on Saturday November 7.

Entitled “Behind the Mask”, a collection of 25 photos taken by Reza Musavi will be put on display with the central theme of the veteran performer of siah-bazi, a type of folk play featuring a black faced harlequin who stirs the audience to laughter with amusing improvisations.
In a press conference held here at the forum on Tuesday, several cultural figures and managing directors of theatrical periodicals attended and discussed the issue.
Managing director of Cinema-Theater monthly magazine Hossein Farrokhi first lamented over the ignorance of cultural officials about traditional plays. “In the world of today, much attention is being paid to art. In countries like China and Japan, traditional plays have dedicated theaters and are performed regularly, with the aim of transferring these cultural traditions to younger generations.
“But here, there is no public support for our traditional plays that bear our Persian culture, traditions and civilization, and veteran performers are fading away with no understudies to replace them,” he said.
“Plays like pardehkhani (curtain-reading performance), naqqali (Iranian dramatic performance accompanied by traditional Iranian music) and siah-bazi are being forgotten, while veterans like Afshar earn the minimum required to cover their expenses,” he explained.
He added that while many festivals are being arranged for theater, if just one-tenth of the budget was dedicated to the traditional arts, this form of traditional play rooted in culture and civilization would be preserved.
Photographer Musavi also remarked that the exhibit was organized to help raise funds for the artist and the officials are scheduled to pay tribute to Afshar on the closing day, November 14, at the forum.
Photo: Sadi Afshar performs a siah-bazi during a ceremony, in which he was honored for his lifetime achievement in the Iranian traditional performing art at the Iranian Artists Forum on November 5, 2005. (Mehr/Azin Zanjani)