November 29 2013
The US Library of Congress will open a six-month exhibition next Now Ruz showcasing the Persian language and literature.
Despite its name, the Library of Congress is actually the national library of the United States. It sits just across the street from the US Capitol building.
“One Thousand Years of the Persian Book” will open in March 2014 and provide a glimpse into the library’s Persian collection and the role the Persian language has played in world history.
Persian came into prominence as a literary language and a cultural lingua franca more than a thousand years ago. As a literary and cultural language, Persian was used mainly in Central, South and West Asia. Among the cultural elite, its use covered a vast area that reached from the bay of Bengal to the Balkans. For nearly five centuries, Persian was the official language of the Indian court.
Persian is the modern-day language of Tajikistan and much of Afghanistan as well Iran.
The exhibition will open in March 2014 for a six-month period. It will feature, among many other items, the poetry of Rumi, Saadi, Hafez, Omar Khayyam, and Ferdowsi.
The exhibit will showcase classic Persian masterpieces, such as Saadi’s “Bustan” and “Gulistan,” Jami’s “Uruz -i Jami,” the “Divan-i- Hafiz,” Ferdowsi’s “Shahnameh,” and Khayyam’s “Rubaiyat.”
It will also feature a number of Qorans with Persian designs and decorative motifs, lithographs such as the “Iskandarnameh” (the Book of Alexander), ancient maps of Iran, and unique calligraphic texts.
And it will include a display of works from modern poets and writers, including Sadegh Hedayat, Nima Yushij, Forough Farokhzad and Sohrab Sepehri.
The exhibition is being curated by Dr. Mary-Jane Deeb, chief of the African and Middle Eastern Division (AMED), Dr. Christopher Murphy, head of the Near East Section, and Hirad Dinavari, the Iranian World Reference Librarian.
Several other programs are planned in conjunction with the exhibition, including a series of seminars and lectures developed by the University of Maryland. The exhibition will also be offered on the Library of Congress website.