Thursday 19 March 2026 from 18:00 to 22:00.
Ask Nowruz not to come this year!
Ask Nowruz not to enter the land of blood-soaked shrouds!
Ask the nightingale not to sing any joyful melody in the meadow!
A smile does not suit the lips of mourners.
Alas! Blood is oozing from the graves of those who sacrificed their lives for the homeland:
Alas, homeland, alack homeland! (K. Khalili [1907–1987])
At our university, we normally celebrate the beginning of the Persian New Year, Nowruz, on March 21st. Due to the horrific events, this year we have decided to commemorate the people who were killed in Iran on 8 and 9 January 2026, and the days after, so that we can pay our respects to the bereaved and to the courageous individuals who offered their lives for freedom and democracy.
The Chair of Iranian and Persian Studies and the Faculty Club have put together a programme that provides space for reflection, meeting, and contemplation. In a subdued atmosphere, we wish to come together with the hope that a new year can dawn for an Iran where freedom, equality, and human dignity are at the center.
Programme (6:00–7:30 PM)
17:45 – Check-in and Registration
18:00 – Words of welcome
Prof. Ted Sanders (Utrecht University)
Prof. Asghar Seyed-Gohrab (Utrecht University)
18:10 – Persian Music
Maryam Imanizadeh (vocals & daf/tanboor), Mehmet Polat (oud), Milad Ahmadi (vocals), Karvan Mustafa (kamanche), Arman Kavian (tombak), Ali Soltaninejad (santur)
18:25 – Pooyan Tamimi Arab (Utrecht University)
Visual Triggers of Iranian Feminism
18:40 – Exhibition: Remembering the Rainbow God
Sara Emami
18:55 – 19:05 Persian Poetry Recitation
Zhinia Noorian (Utrecht University)
Location: the Aula of the Academiegebouw (changed from the Faculty Club)
Programme (7:30–10:00 PM)
19:15 – Check-in and Registration
19:30 – Exhibition: Les demoiselles de Tehran – Women, Identity and Resistance in Contemporary Iran
Aynaz Najafi
19.50 Nilou Yekta (Utrecht University)
“Don’t cry. Be Joyful.”: Funeral Videos as Protest in Iran
20:05 – Misagh Javadpour (University of Amsterdam)
When the Bazaar Burns: Memory, Violence, and the Struggle for Public Space in Iran
20:20 – Mina Etemad (Journalist, writer and podcast producer)
The endangered lives of Lake Urmia
20:35 – Keynote Lecture: Professor Kamran Talattof (University of Arizona) (ONLINE) The Lion and Sun Uprising: Cultural Memory and Political Transformation in Iran
21:15 – Q&A
Location: the Aula of the Academiegebouw
Feel free to download the programme booklet (PDF) below