Kanun-e Parvaresh
The non-profit organization Kanun-e Parvaresh , based in Tehran , was founded in January 1965. The full name of the organization is Kanun-e Parvaresh-e Fekri-e Kudakan va Nojavanan Persian کانون پرورش فکری کودکان و نوجوانان(Association for the Promotion of the Intellectual Abilities of Children and Young People, Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young (IIDCYA)). The original aim of the organization was to promote literature for children and young people, to set up a network of children's and young people's libraries and to promote reading for children and young people in Iran. In the following years, the organization also devoted itself to early musical education and media didactics with a focus on "film production". The Kanun-e Parvaresh became known internationally through the award-winning films by Abbas Kiarostami and Majid Majidi .
History of origin
The organization was founded in 1965 on the initiative of Farah Pahlavi . The aim was to set up a network of children's and youth libraries to promote reading and reading in Iran. Since there was no literature for children and young people in Iran , the establishment of the library network also involved the fundamental promotion of literature for children and young people in Iran. Kanun-e Parvaresh worked closely with Iranian authors, artists, educators, scientists and publishers. After building up the book program, support for music, theater and film groups was added.
The libraries quickly developed into cultural centers offering lectures, courses, and music, theater and film workshops. The results of the work of the cultural centers have been shown at festivals in Tehran and other cities in Iran. Numerous films produced by Kanun-e Parvaresh as well as by children and young people took part in international competitions and won prizes and awards.
The organization was financed by private donations as well as funds from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and grants from the Ministry of Education and Culture.
On an international level, Kanun-e Parvaresh worked with authors, educators, scientists and artists from Germany, France, the USA, Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
Structure of the organization
The organization is divided into nine departments: administration, libraries, publishing, film production, film archive, festivals, center for cultural and social research, public relations and logistics. The organization was led until 1979 by an executive committee and a director, who was elected by the executive committee for a period of two years. Today Kanun-e Parvaresh is a government organization.
Children's and youth libraries
Iran 's first children's and youth library was opened in Farah Park in Tehran. It was built as a model library in the middle of a park and was to serve as a model for all other children's and youth libraries to be built in the country. Further libraries were opened mainly in the south of Tehran in Abbasi and Ghaar, the socially disadvantaged areas of the city. In Bagh-e Shah, a school storage room was converted into a school library in order to encourage the principals of the schools to set up their own school libraries . A children's and youth library with its own cinema has been set up in the park of the Niavaran Palace , which is open to the public .
The children and young people were initially unfamiliar with children's literature, as they only knew school books. At first they couldn't believe that they could borrow the books and take them home to read. Use of the library and all associated facilities was free from the start for all children from pre-school to 16 years of age.
In 1971 (1350) the number of children's and youth libraries in Tehran had grown to 21 libraries in buildings and three mobile libraries in library buses. This year, the libraries had 70,388 registered members and more than 2 million users.
In the spring of 1967 (1346), with the construction of the children's and youth library in Babul, the library program was expanded to include the whole country. 55 libraries were built in the following four years. 183,771 registered members and more than 3 million library users were counted.
In addition to the libraries in Tehran and other cities, mobile libraries have been specially developed for villages in order to reach the children in the villages. A selection of books was transported to individual villages in wooden boxes developed for this purpose and kept ready for loan in the schools. After a month, the box of books was exchanged with the neighboring village. By 1971 (1350), 1,111 villages could be connected to the mobile library network. In 1971, more than 127,000 children living in villages made use of the mobile library network.
The publishing department of Kanun-e Parvaresh started its book production in 1966 (1345) with a translation of the book " The Little Mermaid " by Hans Christian Andersen, which Farah Pahlavi had done himself . By 1971 (1,350) more than 40 children's books had been published. These books received 28 prizes at national and international competitions at book exhibitions in Czechoslovakia, Japan and UNESCO .
The work of the children's and youth libraries did not only include the provision of books for lending and reading. The libraries offered a diverse cultural program aimed at children and young people, ranging from reading hours for the little ones to lecture programs for the elderly with new presentations of books, scholars, historical personalities from the country and the world, regional and national studies, film screenings, discussion evenings, chess competitions , Theater performances, exhibitions, excursions, painting courses, music courses and early musical education according to Carl Orff ( Orff-Schulwerk ), courses for choirs and courses in film production.
The works created in the painting courses and the pieces rehearsed in the music courses were exhibited or performed for the first time in 1972 (1351) in the amphitheater of Niavaran Park.
In January 1971 (1350) the theatrical department of the organization began its work and began with children's theater performances, puppet shows, etc.
Festivals
A special feature were the festivals organized by Kanun-e Parvaresh. The International Children's and Youth Film Festival of Iran, which took place for the first time in 1965 and is therefore older than the oldest German children's film festival, Lucas , which only started in 1974, became particularly well known . The festival was intended to provide an overview of the children's films produced worldwide . In addition, the festival should make it clear to the population that the production of films is not only for entertainment, but also has a positive effect on the education and knowledge of children. In the seventh year of the festival (1972) over 120,000 children attended the performances. Most of the films shown at the festival were later shown in other cities in Iran as part of Kanun-e Parvaresh's cultural program.
Film center
In 1970 (1349) a film center was founded under the direction of Firuz Shirvanlu, in which filmmakers such as Abbas Kiarostami and Bahram Bayzai produced films for children and adolescents. The focus of film production was on films with educational content and less on pure entertainment films. The center prepared course materials for writing scripts and film production and offered the young people courses in film production. In this way the young people learned to translate their fantasies and stories into films.
The films produced by the filmmakers on behalf of the youth organization were shown at the children's and youth film festival and awarded prizes. Particularly noteworthy are the film Reise with four prizes and the film Golbaran (" Rain of Flowers "). In addition to color films, black and white films were also produced. The film Rahai (“Liberation”) was shown at the Venice Film Festival and was awarded first prize in San Francisco. The films Junge , Saaz (“Musical Instrument”) and The Birds also received awards at the Venice Film Festival.
The films that were produced by children and young people in 8 mm format in the 3-month workshops also took part in international competitions and were awarded prizes.
Several generations of young Iranians became enthusiastic about the film through the work of the film department of Kanun-e Parvaresh. Many Iranians are still active in film production at home and abroad. The Kanun-e Parvareshe program laid the foundations for this development.
All films produced as part of the program were archived and copies were made available to film theaters in the country for screenings. A film archive attached to Kanun-e Parvareshe served as the country's media center . It acquired the showing rights to films especially suitable for children and young people, dubbed them and showed them free of charge on public holidays in the cultural centers of the children's and young people's libraries in the country.
The high standard of Iranian film is attributed to the exemplary and then worldwide unique work of Kanun-e Parvaresh in this field. Abbas Kiarostami's films are an outstanding example of the film productions of Kanun-e Parvaresh . Martin Scorsese describes Kiarostami as "representing the highest artistic level in cinema". The quote is attributed to Jean-Luc Godard : "The film begins with DW Griffith and ends with Abbas Kiarostami."
Abbas Kiarostami on his work for Kanu-e Parvaresh:
“At first it was just a job, but working at Kanun turned me into an artist. The most important thing was that I wasn't making commercial films. When I look back on these twenty years, it was the best time of my professional life. "
The Iranian film historians Shahzad Rahmati and Majid Sedqi express the work in Kanun-e Parvaresh as follows:
“Filmmakers who worked in the film center had no financial restrictions or problems. They were able to get involved in experiments and work with courage, fresh ideas and intellectual inventiveness. "
Under Noureddin Zarrinkelk , in collaboration with Morteza Momayez , animation films were produced on a large scale for the first time . Noureddin Zarrinkelk studied the technique of puppet animation in the famous “Jiri Trnka” studios in Prague and is considered the father of Iranian animated films. Farshid Mesghali, who initially drew picture books for Kanun-e Parvaresh, later also produced animation films.
Cultural and educational research
The Kanun-e Parvareshe cultural and social research center began its work in 1971. One of the aims was to develop basic criteria for planning cultural programs. In addition, media and educational policy research departments were located at the center. With its scientific claim, the research center broke new ground in some cases.
Cultural sociologists and cultural scientists conducted opinion polls, took part in discussions as part of the participating observations and prepared analyzes of the successes and failures of cultural programs. The center had nine research groups: cultural planning, qualitative and quantitative recording of cultural levels, the effect of mass media in society, educational system research, religion and society, tradition versus modernity, training for skilled trades, applied arts, nomadic and tribal art.
Current activity
Even after the Islamic Revolution, the IIDCYA no longer operates as an independent organization, but as a government organization. The content of the programs has been adapted to the ideas of the current political direction. Today 519 libraries and cultural centers are looked after by more than 2,000 tutors.
The film production of Kanun-e Parvaresh in the areas of children's films , animation , science fiction and documentation is still internationally known . Thus, the 1997 film was produced Children of Heaven by Majid Majidi 1999 for an Oscar in the category "foreign-language Best Picture" nominated.
In addition to the activities of Kanun-e Parvaresh, the privately run Cheesta publishing house was founded in 1999 , specializing in the publication of children's books. In 2000, the Institute for Research into Children's Literature in Iran was founded, which resumed research in the field of children's literature, which had initially been discontinued after the Islamic Revolution. As early as 1997, literary scholars began to publish a 10-volume documentary on the development of children's literature in Iran, starting from orally transmitted stories and fairy tales through to modern children's and youth literature. The house for librarians was founded in 2004 to promote reading for children and young people . All of the above institutions work with the Children's Books Council in Iran .
See also
literature
- Alberto Elena: The Cinema Of Abbas Kiarostami. Saqi Books, 2005. ISBN 978-0-86356-594-6 .
- Fara Diba-Pahlavi: Memories. Gustav Lübbe Verlag, 2004, pp. 160-164.
- Her Highness (Farah Pahlavi) Office publication, 1354 (1975). Pp. 102-110.
- MHMohammadi & Zohreh Ghaeni: The History Of children's literature in Iran. Cheesta Publishing Co. Volume 1 - Volume 7. Tehran, 2001-2007.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Farah Diba-Pahlavi: Memories. Gustav Lübbe Verlag, 2004, p. 160f.
- ↑ a b c d e Publication by Her Highnesses Office (Farah Pahlavi), 1354 (1975). P. 102ff.
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Official website of the IIDCYA
- ↑ a b c Stuart Jeffries: Abbas Kiarostami - A Martyr. April 26, 2005
- ↑ http://chlhistory.org/aboutus
- ↑ http://www.cbc.ir/
