Twin cities Iranian Culture Festival
Celebrating iranian-americans’ rich cultural heritage
Upcoming Events
2023/24 MSP Iranian Film Fest
The 2023 MSP Iranian Film Festival has been postponed, and will be presented in partnership with the MSP Film Society, January 5-7 2024 at The Main Cinema - 115 SE …
2023/24 MSP Iranian Film Fest Read More »
Find out more »Minneapolis, 55414
Featured 2023 Iranian Culture Festival Presenters and Performers
- Dan Rein
Dan 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, … - 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 …
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- Niayesh ShababiNiayesh 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 …
- Niccu TafarrodiNiccu Tafarrodi Niccu Tafarrodi is an Iranian artist and a Board Member for the Twin Cities Iranian Culture Collective. Tafarrodi creates dioramas based on her memories and experiences in Iran, to highlight Iranian culture. Tafarrodi started making dioramas after visiting a museum in Chicago and seeing the art form for the first time. “I thought …
- Faraz GhassemiFaraz Ghassemi is a classically-trained pianist and piano teacher from Iran. He started playing piano when he was only four years old and moved to the U.S. in 2013. Ghassemi started his school, Zoom Twin Cities, as a way to teach students to play piano and make connections through music. Ghassemi continues to work as …
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.
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![MEET THE ARTIST: Katayoun Amjadi is an Iranian artist and art teacher at Normandale Community College.
Amjadi has been creating art ever since she held her first crayon. “I thought it was the most fascinating work one can do,” she reflects. Amjadi started as a drafter, working in the architecture field in Iran before she moved to America, where her focus shifted to sculpture and ceramics.
Having lived in Iran for over 20 years, Iranian culture is integrated into all of Amjadi’s art. “My sense of aesthetic was formed because I lived [in Iran] until I was 28,” she shares. Specifically, Amjadi uses metaphors in her art that are inspired by Persian literature. Using symbols in art is common for artists in Iran; she explains that after the revolution, many artists started using symbols to get their messages across and avoid censorship.
Not only is Amjadi inspired by aspects of Iranian culture, but by U.S. culture as well. On an even broader scale, she is inspired by other artists who have lived in different areas across the world and themes of movement, barriers, and borders.
Amjadi’s work at the Iranian Art Exhibition represents women’s movements across countries: the Women Life Freedom Movement in Iran and the abortion rights movement in the U.S. While the movements are happening in different areas of the world, they represent how women are connected globally in the fight for women’s rights.
Her art at the exhibition uses red panties burned in a kiln to mimic the shape of a uterus and hair to represent how many women in Iran have to hide their hair from view. Along with her sculptures, Amjadi included a video focused on her hair. She described hair as a “forbidden femininity” in Iran, but a fascination U.S. From Amjadi’s perspective, her hair has always been an object of desire in some way - the video is her response to this experience.
See Katayoun Amjadi’s art and celebrate local Iranian artists by attending the Iranian Art Exhibition at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The exhibition is open through this Saturday, December 2.
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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.
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