Why is the Iranian new year, Nowruz, a reason for celebration in the arts world?
Well, the Met can rejoice because a group of Iranian-Americans held a sumptuous dinner-dance at — where else? — the Temple of Dendur. David Patrick Columbia’s New York Social Diary has the pictures. (Keep scrolling — NYSD also has some great pix of Maastricht.) That must have added some much-needed cash to the Met’s coffers.
But President Obama also gave a little signal when he sent a videotaped message to the Iranian people late last
week. It offered a new beginning in diplomacy between our two countries — and contained a message
to the cultural world here, too, according to a couple of White House-ologists and cultural mavens.
The President used the occasion of an ancient Persian festival called Nowruz to extend the olive branch. Then he said:
Nowruz is just one part of your great and celebrated culture. Over many centuries your art, your music, literature and innovation have made the world a better and more beautiful place….We know that you are a great civilization, and your accomplishments have earned the respect of the United States and the world.
Obama made no promises, offered no cultural overtures. But at the end of the message, he returned to the arts:
There are those who insist that we be defined by our differences. But let us remember the words that were written by the poet Saadi, so many years ago: “The children of Adam are limbs to each other, having been created of one essence.”
Obama is a master of symbolism and of gesture. His campaign arts policy promised he would expand cultural diplomacy, though the post-election task forces, according to one knowledgeable source, did not focus on the issue. This speech, though, indicates that Obama is thinking about it.
Maybe the nation’s orchestras, operas and museums should be too.