Twin cities Iranian Culture Festival
Celebrating iranian-americans’ rich cultural heritage
Upcoming Events
Backgammon night with the Twin Cities Backgammon Club
The Twin Cities Iranian Culture Collective is excited to partner with the Twin Cities Backgammon Club for an evening of backgammon and fun. If you need a quick refresher or […]
Featured Twin Cities Iranian Artists and Performers
- Emel Sherzad’s Paintings Bring Peace and Amplify Iranian Culture
MEET THE ARTIST: Emel Sherzad is a Persian artist and musician now living in Minnesota. While art has been a part of his family for generations, Sherzad has developed his own path in art as a painter. Sherzad’s pieces are constructed from layers of paint and ideas, with the final product something that is unrecognizable from his first brush… Read more: Emel Sherzad’s Paintings Bring Peace and Amplify Iranian Culture - Nicky Torkzadeh’s Abstract Art Uplifts Nature’s Beauty and Makes a StatementNicky Torkzadeh is an artist based in North Minneapolis, originally from Iran. As a kid, art was Torkzadeh’s primary interest and as she got older, she enrolled in art classes in Iran. In the U.S., she majored in architecture but later realized she didn’t want to pursue that art form. Instead, she worked in graphic… Read more: Nicky Torkzadeh’s Abstract Art Uplifts Nature’s Beauty and Makes a Statement
- Dan Rein: Playing Iranian Instruments as an American MusicianDan Rein is an American musician who plays traditional Iranian instruments. He has studied classical Iranian music for over 25 years and plays music on a variety of Iranian instruments, including the setar and dutar. He also plays the dubanj, an instrument he created which is a cross between an Iranian dutar and a banjo,… Read more: Dan Rein: Playing Iranian Instruments as an American Musician
- Roya Nazari: Creating Powerful Art About Women’s Rights in America and IranRoya Nazari is a local artist, originally from Iran, and a student in the Masters of Fine Arts program at the University of Minnesota. Her art is often meant to ignite conversation about social issues like mental health, the environment, and women’s rights. She shared that the Women Life Freedom movement in Iran inspires some of… Read more: Roya Nazari: Creating Powerful Art About Women’s Rights in America and Iran
- Niayesh Shababi Takes a New Approach to Iranian MusicNiayesh Shababi is a guitarist and composer. A current music education major, Shababi aspires to be a performer and continue composing music. He has been playing and studying classical music for 10 years. However, his freelance work fuses styles like contemporary music, jazz, electronic dance music (EDM), and Persian music, putting a modern spin on… Read more: Niayesh Shababi Takes a New Approach to Iranian Music
Who We Are
The Twin Cities Iranian Culture Collective is a non-religious, non-political, non-partisan 501c3 tax-exempt organization. All are welcome.
What We Do
We organize concerts, festivals and other events that are open to the entire Twin Cities community. Check our events calendar.
Get involved!
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram! Contact us for volunteer opportunities. And make a donation to support our work.
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The 2023 Twin Cities Iranian Culture Collective programs are made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.