25
Mar
2014
A Thousand Years of the Persian Book Opens March 27, 2014 at Library of Congress
March 25, 2014, Washington, D.C. – Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) invites you to visit A Thousand Years of the Persian Book exhibition at the Library of Congress. The exhibition, sponsored by PAAIA and the generous support of other sponsors, will explore the rich literary tradition of the Persian language over the last millennium, from illuminated manuscripts to contemporary publications. The exhibition will bring attention to the literary achievements of Iran and the greater Persian-speaking regions of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Central and South Asia and the Caucasus.
A Thousand Years of the Persian Book will open on Thursday, March 27, 2014 in the South Gallery on the second level of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 E. First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. Free and open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, the exhibition will close on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014.
The exhibition’s 75 items are drawn primarily from the outstanding Persian collection in the Library’s African and Middle Eastern Division. The Library’s Persian collection is among the most important in the world today outside of Iran. The exhibition will look at the Persian language and earlier writing systems and scripts; the seminal 10th-century “Shahnameh” (Book of Kings); and works in the fields of religion, science and technology, history, literature, classical Persian poetry, 18th- and 19th-century literature, modern and contemporary literature, women writers, and storytelling and children’s literature. The exhibition will also demonstrate the continuity of the written word as a unifying cultural force in Persian-speaking lands.
In conjunction with the exhibition, a series of lectures at the Library of Congress will take place from April through September, organized by AMED and cosponsored by the Roshan Institute for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland.
For more information about the exhibition and planned lectures, click here. To view the Library of Congress press release, click here.
