TEHRAN, Iran (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Kerman Art Bureau has dedicated a huge place for performances of the Iranian passion play tazieh, making it the largest center for tazieh in Iran.
A huge area covering over 2000 square meters has been dedicated for tazieh performances in Iran that are soon to take place, said director of Kerman Art Bureau Gholam-Abbas Salari.
Tazieh appeared on UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in November.
The Iranian passion play tazieh recounts religious events, historical and mythical stories and folk tales. Each performance has the four components of poetry, music, song and motion.
Performers are always male, and female roles are played by men, most of whom are amateurs who make their living through other means but perform for spiritual rewards.
“Kerman is the only city in Iran that has consistently provided such a large space for tazieh performances over all these years,” he said.
The bureau established a permanent secretariat for tazieh in 1993 and since then, it has been inviting different troupes from other provinces, Salari said, adding that eleven professional troupes are currently active in the city.
He added that different troupes coming from Kerman, Tafresh, Qom, Isfahan and Arak have been invited to the city to give their performances for a week beginning on Ashura this year.
Ashura is the tenth day of the lunar month of Muharram and the day Imam Hussein (AS) was martyred.
Experts Mohammad-Hossein Naser-Bakht, Azim Musavi and Davud Fat’hali Beigi will study and analyze their works, he said. Tazieh performances are to be combined with photography, painting and calligraphy.
In older times, the Dowlat Tekyeh, a center in Tehran for seasonal religious ceremonies in Iran, was used for performances of tazieh.
The Dowlat Tekyeh was built during the reign of Qajar king Nasser ad-Din Shah near the Golestan Palace in downtown Tehran. Covering 2824 square meters in area, the Tekyeh had been built in three stories with 24 meters in height in a circular shape. Unfortunately, the structure was demolished years ago.
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