TEHRAN, Jan. 17--First Scientific Association for Middle East Music was established in the premises of Music Faculty at Tehran Art University.
Announcing this, secretary of the association, Pouyan Azadeh told ISNA that the Sciences, Research and Technology Ministry has authorized the formation of the association.
Its articles of association have been compiled and it is ready to cooperate in music projects both in Iran and abroad.
He further said that all music students are eligible to become members of the association.
"Students of courses pertaining to art can apply for ordinary membership while graduates majoring in music as well as domestic and foreign professors can become honorary members," Azadeh noted.
Pointing to the association's efforts to develop the scientific aspects of music, he said that organizing seminars on music, supervising the level of education in Iranian universities, holding artistic camps in the country and abroad and publishing the researches conducted by the students are among the association's programs.

TEHRAN, Jan. 17--By-laws for conducting trade in antiques and historical objects will be formulated by March, reported Cultural Heritage News agency.
A market for antiques and historical artifacts will also be set up in the coming Iranian year which begins in March.
An expert of Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO), Mohammad Abdolalipour said that drawing up the procedure for dealing in artifacts is currently in the final stage. "A market for antiques should have been established several years ago. However it was suspended due to the absence of well-defined procedures for administering such market," he said.
The procedure for establishing the antique market will be finalized by March and the project will be implemented within one year, he said.
Abdolalipour said that the cabinet has authorized the setting up of the market and assigned the task to the ICHTO.
He said that the stock market will put an end to the smuggling of antique items.
There are no restrictions on artifacts trade in Iran, but, the owners of the antiques are not permitted to take them out of the country, he concluded.

Colin Farrell as Alexander the Great

TEHRAN, Jan. 17--An Iranian film director has said that a promoter is needed to undertake the production of films pertaining to the country's history.
Rasoul Sadr-Ameli told Cultural Heritage News Agency that unfortunately, in the past three decades, for a number of reasons, no serious private company has dared to produce films in this field.
Citing the economic shortcomings of the cinema industry as the most important reason that such films were not produced, he said, "If some films have been made in this field, they were very superficial and unappealing."
In fact, Iran's cinema industry is tied up with day-to-day issues, which are directly related to the expenses involved in producing such movies, he noted, adding that for the same reason the private sector goes after cheap film-scripts.
On the other hand, he said, high-ranking officials have never taken the cinema industry and its impact on the society seriously.
Institutes such as Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization can create conditions for producing such films, he said.
Sadr-Ameli, who is giving the final touches to his latest work 'Last Night, I Saw Your Father Ayda!' which is a prospective entry for the Fajr Festival, also referred to the distortions of Iranian culture and civilization in the film 'Alexander', which, he said, enjoyed unlimited budget and freedom of action.
"Anyone, who loves Iran and is attached to this country, should feel concerned about such films," he said, adding, "One wonders why the production of such films should not be undertaken in Iran."
Commenting on the capabilities of Iranian filmmakers to direct such major projects, Sadr-Ameli said that the filmmakers have proved that they have high potentials.
Since the facilities permit the production of a film like 'Duel', grounds can also be paved for making historical films, he noted.
Not a single film has so far been made about the Islamic Revolution or the epic eight-year sacred defense period which the audience can take pride in, he concluded.

TEHRAN, Jan. 17--Chairman of Majlis Cultural Commission has rejected the inconsistent ideas about national dress code which have appeared in a section of the press, saying that the draft of the related bill has been made available to the commission members.
In an interview with Fars news agency, Emad Afrough said, "We will seek the people's as well as the experts' views about the draft."
The draft bill on national dress code, which was compiled by Majlis Research Center, enjoys an acceptable framework and the MPs will review it after the commissioners complete their studies, he said.
Afrough further noted that once the bill becomes a law, the government will be obliged to design a dress to safeguard Islamic Iran's cultural identity, promote national dress models, supply clothes designed on the basis of domestic models to encourage people to shun western fashions and those which are incompatible with Iranian culture and national identity.
According to him, Article 1 of the draft lays down that Islamic and Iranian models, symbols should be applied in all stages of producing fabric and designing the dress, while Article 2 calls for respecting traditional models and manifestations of Iranian tribes' lives and observance of Islamic tenets in drawing up models and designs.
Article 3 stresses that research achievements should be taken into consideration so as to get access to original designs in this respect.
Article 4 calls for encouraging the public to use Iranian models by supplying compatible clothes.
Afrough pointed out that currently the clothes available do not conform to Iranian traditions and symbols and no competition exists in this field.
The Iranians are deeply committed to their identity and the aliens have not managed to target their divine and monotheistic views directly, he said, noting that they want to achieve their goals by launching assaults on the national symbols in architecture, music and urban development.

TEHRAN, Jan. 17--The Lui Francois Institute affiliated to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will hold an international contest of visual arts called 'Food and Recipes'.
According to ISNA, mankind has been hunting and fishing to get food since ancient times, but, in the modern age, agriculture has undergone development yielding more crops. Therefore food shortage no longer exists though there are some people who still don't have access to enough food.
Food serves a means to come together and hold dialogue. Every nation has its own culture of food. Their staple food depends on the environment.
The contest will be held in the 3-5, 6-9, 10-13, 14-17, and 18-25 age groups.
Participants should send their drawings, pastels, paintings, photography, statue or carvings with an English description to Lui Francois Institute in Paris by February 28.

TEHRAN, Jan. 17--An exhibit of works by modern Japanese artists is currently underway in Tehran Contemporary Arts Museum until January 19.
Japanese video artists Yaeco Komya, Shingo Savada, Nobuki Yamamoto, Tokyo Maroyama and Haro Higoma have put their works on display at the event.
The arts belong to the modern generation in Japan. The Japanese artists are presenting their works which are mainly placed in the category of 'conceptual art' and they used video art in presenting their works.
Conceptual arts is a branch of visual arts which was founded in the second half of the 20th century on the teachings of the popular artist, Marcel De Shan, who lived in the beginning of the same century.
Artists of conceptual arts school usually take advantage of the style to convey messages such as hatred of war and the hazards to the environment.
Haro Higoma, has used a harmonic arrangement in his video art to express concern about air and water pollution and the harmful greenhouse effects.
Tokyo Maroyama, is another artist who has focused on the lifestyle of humans on the Earth and the diversity of cultures and civilizations.
He says, "Every individual has occupied a special ambiance which is interdependent on other atmospheres."
Maroyama uses different means to express himself and elicit a reaction he wants from the audience.
Yaeco Komya is contemplating on the nature of women, advocating women's rights.
He says, "My works talk about the nature of women. I wanted to present women in my works. I likened women to plants whose growths are interrelated."
Nobuki Yamamoto, is considering social life and environment by presenting an arrangement of the withered leaves of the trees in the autumn conveying the sense of recycling and disposal of the waste materials in a modern way.
Shingo Savada has made a beautiful arrangement of Japanese abstract paintings on a special paper. Savada successfully created an atmosphere representing the Japanese tradition and culture.

TEHRAN, Jan. 17--A book titled 'The Myth of Affection' will be published by Saales Publishing House soon. The book is about the career of the lady of Iranian drama Susan Taslimi and its author is Bita Malakouti.
This is the second edition of books about Iranian cinematographers, their biography and their works.
'The Myth of Affection' contains a number of chapters including Taslimi's biography, Taslimi and theater, Analyses about six films, Taslimi in Sweden, and an essay by Sirous Taslimi.
The book has 416 pages and Taslimi wrote an introductory at the behest of the author.
The film star wrote the introductory on November 27, 2004.
"The art of cinema and theater has high peaks to attain. I see myself as a student at the beginning of the road. No artist can remain on the scene without the audience. The violence in the profession is that you may be ruthlessly eliminated from the scene," Taslimi said.