Looks like a pump, feels like a wingtip.
A cute picture of two Iranian skater girls is cropping up online and it is from the work of Brandon Stanton’s “Humans of Tehran” project. I did a little digging and came up with some interesting pictures from Stanton himself (check out the parkour shot) and also some others posted on a forum. These show kid skating round Vanak Square and also the new park project and skatepark that is about to open. It looks mighty impressive.
All pretty timely as tomorrow in class we cover skateboarding, parkour and emotional ties to the city.
The Afro-Iranian Community: Beyond Haji Firuz Blackface, the Slave Trade, & Bandari Music [Ajam Media Collective]
Currently reading part 1 of the series this article belongs to (“A ‘Persian’ Iran?”) and really like both articles.
Afro-Iranians in the south (Bushehr/Balochestan) talking about Tehrani racism.
In the Bandari dialect. From the vid description:
Black and Mixed Iranians (Bandaris= Persians, Arabs, Blacks and a Mix of all) of south Iran (Hormozgan, Sunni province of Iran)talking about their lighter-skinned countrymen of the north. The Afro-Persian is making fun of people from Tehran, centre of Iran, who have lighter skin and have not seen black people among them, and he is describing the reaction of those people and asking him the reason why he is black, but in a very funny way. Basically a diss do all those Iranians who think Iran is only made up by Tehranis, Shirazis etc Lovely !
Stencil work by Iranian street artists ICY and SOT
Artist info:
ICY (born 1985) and SOT (born 1991) are stencil artists from Tabriz – IRAN. they started their professional career in 2008 they had uploaded previous works as early as 2006 and they influenced and dragged their friends to street art. Their works are about peace, war, Love, hate, hope, despair, children, human rights and the Iranian culture. The two brothers have held numerous exhibitions and un-official street works in Iran and foreign countries.
More at their website.
Asa Soltan Rahmati, Muslim Iranian rapper (and fuckin dope as hell)
Just watched one of her videos and I’m convinced I’d dig hanging out with her in LA for a weekend.
Women Without Men - Official Trailer
Shirin Neshat’s feature film from 2009
So great! I’ve been wanting to watch this.
Through the lens of culture, The Internet of Elsewhere looks at the role of the Internet as a catalyst in transforming communications, politics, and economics. Cyrus Farivar explores the Internet’s history and effects in four distinct and, to some, surprising societies — Iran, Estonia, South Korea, and Senegal. He profiles Web pioneers in these countries and, at the same time, surveys the environments in which they each work. After all, contends Farivar, despite California’s great success in creating the Internet and spawning companies like Apple and Google, in some areas the United States is still years behind other nations.
Surprised? You won’t be for long as Farivar proves there are reasons that:
- Skype was invented in Estonia–the same country that developed a digital ID system and e-voting;
- Iran was the first country in the world to arrest a blogger, in 2003;
- South Korea is the most wired country on the planet, with faster and less expensive broadband than anywhere in the United States;
- Senegal may be one of sub-Saharan Africa’s best chances for greater Internet access, and yet, continues to lag behind.The Internet of Elsewhere brings forth a new complex and modern understanding of how the Internet spreads globally, with both good and bad effects.
I’m late on starting my summer reading… yet another to add to the list.
