Nouruz-Newroz Festival

We are pleased to invite to our Nouruz-Newroz Festival organised between 20-23 of March 2023 in cooperation with the Iranian Studies Department, Iranian Studies Students Club, Kurdish and Iranian Kraków Diaspora, Ogniwo Cooperative and the project Citizenship, Migration and Women’s Activism in Kurdistan and the Diaspora.

 

 

Nowruz is the traditional Iranian New Year, widely celebrated across the Middle East and Central Asia, including Iran, Kurdistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan (except the Pashto-speaking communities), by many ethnic groups and communities. It typically falls on the spring equinox, around March 20–22, and is marked by a variety of celebrations, rituals, myths, and performances. In our festival, organized as an accompanying event to the Day of Oriental Languages at the Institute of Oriental Studies and in collaboration with Ogniwo Cooperative, Iranian Studies Students Club, Kurdish and Iranian Kraków Diaspora and the project Citizenship, Migration and Women’s Activism in Kurdistan and the Diaspora financed by National Science Centre – Poland from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism (2014-2021) and the EEA Financial Mechanism (2014-2021) we would like to draw attention to the linguistic and cultural diversity of this tradition.

 

Known among Iranian ethnic groups as “A New Day,” by Persians it is called Now Ruz, and Newroz by the Kurds for whom it symbolizes not only the New Year and the beginning of Spring but also the liberation from oppression. However, there are also plenty of other linguistic variants signifying the name of the festival that represent the richness and diversity of the Iranian world which extends far beyond Iran. During our festival, we will invite you to film screenings and discussions, musical performance, Persian and Kurdish language lessons, and meeting with Kurdish women artists and activists, book launch, workshops and many others.

 

The detailed programme below:

 

Thursday 20.03.2025

 

19.00 film screening&discussion

Place: Ogniwo Cooperative (Spółdzielnia Ogniwo), Smolki 1

 

Film: Translating Ulysses directed by Aylin Kuryel and Firat Yücel

Kawa Nemir is like a walking dictionary of Kurdish language. He flees Turkey and takes refuge at Anne Frank's former house in Amsterdam. Will he be able to finish the translation of Ulysses and publish it? Discussion with the participation of the specialists in Kurdish cinema Fatma Edemen&Cem Koç, Azad Hajiagha Kurdish translator and researcher, and Joanna Bocheńska, head of the Section of Kurdish Studies IO UJ, teacher and translator of Kurdish language.

 

 

Friday, 21.03.2025

 

Day of Oriental Languages, Institute of Oriental Studies & Library of the Institute, Paderevianum, Mickiewicza 9, rooms: 103&104B&412

 

10:00-10:30 Pashto, what’s that? – short presentation about Afganistan with basic expressions in Pashto, Dr Mateusz Kłagisz, Department of Iranian Studies/DIS IO, room 103

 

10:30- 11:00 Musical performance by Pervin Kaplan & Zeynep Isik (in front of the Institute of Oriental Studies or in the Library of the Institute in case of bad weather)

 

11:00-11:30 Meeting with Pervin Kaplan and Zeynep Isik, the Kurdish artists and language activists, Library of the Institute of Oriental Studies

 

11:30 – 11:50 Basic Kurdish language lesson led by Dr. hab. Joanna Bocheńska, with the participation of Pervin Kaplan, Zeynep Isik and other representatives of the Kurdish diaspora in Poland and Kurdish students, Library of the IO

 

11:50 – 12:30 Write Your Own Name in Persian, DIS room 104B

– Introduction to Persian Calligraphy Short lecture on Persian script and calligraphy – Dr. Katarzyna Wąsala (DIS)

- Writing names in Persian – Dr. Katarzyna Wąsala, M.A. Soraya Musavi, and students of Iranian Studies

 

12:30 – 13:00 Basic Persian language lesson Renata Rusek-Kowalska, and students, DIS - 103

 

13:00 – 13:15 Learning to write real Arabic numerals (originally Indian) with a short quiz, DIS -104B

 

13:15 – 13:35  Singing a Persian hit song Arash – Boro Boro / Are – Key Persian words, translation, and a group sing-along with transcription, DIS - 104B

 

13:35 – 14:00 A few words about Persian poetry – Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam – listening, reading, and translating, DIS - 104B

 

14:00 – 14:30 A few words about the hijab, DIS - 412

- Short lecture by Dr. Karolina Rakowiecka-Asgari
- Demonstration of how a devout Iranian woman wears a chador Dr. Renata Rusek-Kowalska

 

14:30 – 14:50 Kahoot quiz on Iranian languages with prizes! DIS - 104B

 

14:50-15:30 Govend/Helpêrke – Kurdish circle dance lesson – led by Rojda Özer and Zübeyide Beyaz, in front of the Institute or in the entrance hall in case of the bad weather

 

15.30-16.30 break

 

16:30 – 17:30 Enacting Citizenship: Kurdish Women's Resilience, Activism, and Creativity, Palgrave Macmillan 2025 - launch of the book with the participation of ALCITfem team, DIS - 103

 

17:30-19:00 Film screening&discussion, DIS - 103

Film: In Between; director Ali Kemal Çınar

 

Osman can understand his mother tongue, Kurdish, but he cannot speak it. Conversely, he speaks Turkish, which happens to be his second language, but he cannot understand it. As a result of this condition, Osman begins to struggle with managing two concurrent tasks. Just as he cannot respond to his patrons while working, he also finds it difficult to engage in conversation with his friends while having coffee together. Although he wants to get married, he struggles to sustain a long-term relationship with the women he meets. Osman’s life begins to change when a customer offers to help him with his problem.

Discussion: Fatma Edemen & Cem Koç and ALCITfem Team

 

Additional attractions during the whole day celebrations:

Iranian-Kurdish Tea House & Sweets Musical Setting

A playlist of Persian, Kurdish, Afghan, and Tajik hits

 

 

Saturday, 22.03.2023

 

17.00 Nouruz celebration organized by the students of Iranian Studies Department IO UJ Sunday

Place: Hevre, ul. Beera Meiselsa 18, Kraków 17.00

 

 

Sunday, 23.03.2025

 

13:00 Newroz celebration organized by Kurdish diaspora in Kraków

 

Place:Krakus Mound/ Kopiec Krakusa

 

Please bring fruits and snacks

Kurdish Music and Dance (gowend)

Photoshoot with Kurdish traditional clothes and accessories

Kurdish traditional street games

Making braided rope bracelet