The northernmost city of Bulgaria on the banks of the Danube has witnessed the presence of Iranian history and culture

The play Shahnameh and Iran and the exhibition of Iranian handicrafts took place on 29 May 2023

This text is a press release of the Iranian cultural centre in Sofia.

The fourth big performance of Ferdowsi’s Shahname, emphasizing the story of Zal and Rudabe, was held in the northernmost city of Bulgaria, next to the Danube, in the city of Rousse. Rousse is the fifth largest city in Bulgaria, 330 km away from Sofia and 75 km from Bucharest, the capital of Romania. Its architecture is old and traditional of Baroque and Rococo type, and in terms of beauty and history, it has been nicknamed “Little Vienna”.

The city of Rousse in Bulgaria has also been given the title of the city of the first things. Many manifestations of the industry, including the railway, as well as the printing industry and other industries, entered Bulgaria for the first time in Rousse. It is also known as the city of literature and art.

The large hall of the city theater witnessed a very good reception by the people and artists of this international tourist city of Bulgaria. The 600-seat theater hall of this city witnessed the presence of people and those interested in the art, history, culture and civilization of Iran. People who paid the price of the entrance ticket were eagerly waiting to see the story of Zal Irani and his wife Rudabe, which has been a symbol of the unbreakable bond of the Iranian nation throughout history. This show lasted for 120 minutes and the participants, who saw this show from the beginning to the end witnessed the display of authentic and chaste clothes and Iranian culture and customs in Bulgarian language. Iranian historical figures such as Manouchehr, Rudabah, Zal, Mehrab Shah Kabuli and others were able to introduce the audience to the corners of Iran’s ancient culture.

Also, at the same time as this historical show, the exhibition of Iranian handicrafts was also shown in the performing arts hall of Rousse city. It is safe to say that the reception of Iranian handicraft exhibitions in all the cities of Bulgaria is wonderful and each one is more exciting and better than the other. They requested to hold weekly and permanent exhibitions with the aim of selling and supplying Iranian handicrafts.

Various conversations with people and visitors to the exhibition show that there is a great capacity to expand Iranian culture through handicrafts and the cultural strategy and presentation of Iranian handicrafts and cultural products is one of the best strategies to introduce the rich face of Iranian culture and civilization in this world, where it is full of attacks against Iran and Islamic Iranian culture.

Vladimir is a Bulgarian student who is studying Iranology at Sofia University and is also familiar with Persian language. He is among those interested in Iranian culture who, together with the cultural center colleagues, worked hard to hold this exhibition in the city of Rousse. Vladimir believes that such programs are a bridge to connect nations together, and the people of the West should understand the rich and beautiful Iranian and Eastern culture better and more beautifully by passing along these bridges.

Denitsa Komonova, another student from Rousse, who is also Bulgarian, expressed her interest in see the theater play and especially the handicrafts exhibition in a conversation with a representative of the Iranian cultural center and thanked the cultural center of Iran for its efforts to introduce authentic Eastern culture. Also, Mr. Dimitri, a retired teacher from Bulgaria, emphasizing the common cultural roots of Iran and Bulgaria, demanded to introduce this common culture as much as possible to the people of Bulgaria, centered on Iranian cultural leaders such as Khayyam, Attar, Hafez, Saadi, and Ferdowsi, so that they can learn more about Iranian culture and stand against the news distortions of today’s world.

Photo: The team of Shahnameh: The Story of Zal on the scene of the 40th Tehran Theatre Festival Fajr (source: Elena Panaiotova)

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