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OMARIANA Bulletin of the Dutch Omar Khayyám Society OMARIANA Bulletin of the Dutch Omar Khayyám Society Volume 10, nr. 1, Summer 2010 Issued once or twice a year [email protected] Celebrating the Rubaiyat in 2009 Review and assessment he year 2009 marked the 150th anniversary of the publication of Edward FitzGerald's first edition of his Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. The year also T saw the 200th birthday of Edward FitzGerald himself. This coincidence of anniversaries encouraged a number of Rubaiyat enthusiasts in different countries to stimulate a renewal of interest in FitzGerald and the Rubaiyat, by creating events of various kinds that would make 2009 a real Year of the Rubaiyat. This note reviews the volume, edited by Professor Erik Gray, main Rubaiyat related provided a useful updating of the state of events that took place FitzGerald and Rubaiyat studies mainly either during or from the point of view of English litera- shortly after the year, ture. In November of the same year, the and makes some assessment of what they first commemorative exhibition was have achieved. A full listing of all the opened in Phoenix, Arizona, when the events known to the authors can be seen Phoenix Art Museum presented the origi- on their Rubaiyat website1. Inevitably nal artwork of Elihu Vedder's famous il- there were good ideas for celebrations that lustrated Rubaiyat published in 1884. fell by the wayside. However, some 50 different events took place and their range The programme of exhibitions took off was wide, falling into the following main from the beginning of 2009 with five dif- categories: exhibitions; lectures and con- ferent exhibitions opening in January and ferences, broadcasts on radio and TV; February, three in the United Sates, one in verse recitals and music performances; the Nether- creation of new plays, paintings and other lands and one artworks. Several new editions of the in the UK. Rubaiyat were published during the year, They were and there was coverage in national news- followed by papers and other media. The interest in the eight more Year of the Rubaiyat was international, but openings in with a particular focus on the UK, the the course of Netherlands and the United States, re- the year, in- Saba Ensemble at the British Library flecting the active interest of various cluding a final people in these countries. There was also one at the British Library in London, some activity in Iran, with two specific whose exhibition began in December and events to celebrate the anniversaries. continued to February 2010. The exhibi- These were the unveiling in May 2009 of a tions varied greatly in both their size and bust of Edward FitzGerald near Omar emphasis, which added to the interest and Khayyam's tomb in Nishapur, and a spe- variety of the programme. There were first cial exhibition of calligraphy based on editions and illustrated versions of the verses by Khayyam and FitzGerald shown Rubaiyat and much more. In the Nether- in Tehran in December 2009. lands, the Museum Meermanno in the Hague showed a large number of early and The first celebratory events actually fine printed editions of the Rubaiyat, as started before 2009 began. West Virginia well as a highly decorated and illustrated University Press in the United States pub- manuscript version by William Morris and lished an Anniversary Issue of their jour- Edward Burne-Jones, borrowed from the nal Victorian Poetry in Spring 2008. This British Library. The Bernard Quaritch 1 exhibition in London focused specifically Netherlands and then in Cambridge, Eng- on the book dealer's historic links with land, to discuss Omar Khayyam, Edward FitzGerald's Rubaiyat, while exhibitions FitzGerald and the Rubaiyat. The ex- in Suffolk and Cambridge also put a par- change of views by international scholars ticular stress on FitzGerald, his life and approaching the subject from different letters. In contrast the US exhibitions, and complementary standpoints, was notable the major display in the Harry enormously valuable, and friendships Ransom Center in Austin Texas, pre- were made and reinforced in the many sented some discussions that took place. There will be fascinating a lasting contribution from the conference material on in the form of publications of collections the wider of the papers presented. impact of the Rubaiyat in Another event linked to the July confer- American ence was the organisation of a major mu- From the Deventer exhibition society in the sical performance of Rubaiyat related early 20th cen- compositions in the Netherlands by the tury, while the exhibition in Deventer in Netherlands Chamber Choir, which was the Netherlands contained much little subsequently broadcast on Netherlands known information about the many Dutch Radio. The conference itself was partly translations of the Rubaiyat and their recorded by the BBC Persian Service and background. some extracts from the programme were included in a film entitled The Genius of A number of additional celebratory Omar Khayyam which has been shown events, such as lectures, readings and per- both on BBC World News and on BBC formances, took place in different venues Four Television. The film, presented by to coincide with the exhibitions. The Sadeq Saba, brings together Western and Harry Ransom Center had a programme Iranian views on Khayyam, FitzGerald of Rubaiyat related films and in April and the Rubaiyat. It includes footage of 2009 there was a special evening of music the unveiling of the bust of FitzGerald at for the Rubaiyat, including some new Nishapur. compositions. The whole gamut of music for the Rubaiyat was reviewed in an eve- The BBC marked the anniversary year of ning in October at the Ancient India & the Rubaiyat in a number of other pro- Iran Trust in Cambridge, with perform- grammes. Professor Daniel Karlin and ances from CD's of works from the late Professor Tony Briggs, who were respec- 19th century up to the present day. There tively editors of two of the new editions was also a special birthday party for Ed- of FitzGerald's Rubaiyat published early ward FitzGerald on March 31st 2009 in in 2009, took part in a discussion on the Cambridge at the University Library, with Radio 4 arts programme Front Row, and readings from the Rubaiyat in Persian and there was a full reading of the Rubaiyat English, and from other FitzGerald works, on Radio 4's Poetry Please during the including some letters. summer. The poem was read in its en- tirety at least twice more at public events, Various lectures on different aspects of first in Ipswich in June, and then in Feb- FitzGerald and the Rubaiyat were organ- ruary 2010 at the British Library in Lon- ised independently, including two in Fitz- don. This last reading, which was com- Gerald's home town of Woodbridge, Suf- bined with two lectures and a series of folk. The major Persian readings from Khayyam's work academic event of with Persian music, provided a powerful the Year of the climax at the effective end of the Year of Rubaiyat was a the Rubaiyat. conference organ- ised jointly by One further aspect of the celebration in Leiden Univer- 2009 which should not be neglected is the sity and Cam- Conference party creation of new art works to mark the bridge Univer- at FitzGerald’s grave anniversaries. We have referred above to sity's Faculty of the new bust of Edward FitzGerald in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Fac- Nishapur, and new musical compositions. ulty of English and Victorian Study At the end of the year, a new limited edi- Group. During a week in July 2009, some tion of the Rubaiyat was published by the 50 leading academic and independent Folio Society with specially created illus- researchers gathered, first in Leiden in the trations and fine bindings; it was on dis- 2 play at the British Library exhibition. An more general discussion. Thousands, per- art competition themed on the Rubaiyat at haps tens of thousands of people have, the Machynlleth based Museum of Mod- through visiting the exhibitions, or hear- ern Art in Wales stimulated more than ing lectures, readings and broadcasts, be- 200 entries of a high quality, including come aware of the heritage that the Per- around 30 from the under 18's. The paint- sian poet/astronomer and the Victorian ings and drawings were on show at the English man of letters have left us. There museum for several months. Meanwhile, will be permanent records of the anniver- new plays drawing on the story of Fitz- sary year in the form of publications, cata- Gerald and logues and artworks. But, even more, we the Rubai- believe that new people will be inspired to yat, written read, study and learn more about the fa- and di- mous poem. From the opposite ends of rected by the academic scale, the Leiden- Rani Drew, Cambridge conference and the Cam- were put on bridgeshire schools project have shown in Cam- that there is real ongoing interest in the Dancers at bridge in Rubaiyat and its relevance to the modern Cambridgeshire schools July and De- world. We hope to see fruitful results of cember. In another involvement by young this interest in the years ahead. people, three Cambridgeshire schools took the Rubaiyat as a theme for various We should like to pay tribute to the many artistic and discussion projects during the people and organisation who worked so academic year 2008-09. The results of the hard to create the celebratory events in projects were summarised in a booklet, the Year of the Rubaiyat in 2009. Those and presented at an art exhibition and involved are far too many in number to evening of performances, which was at- mention by name but their efforts deserve tended by participants at the July Cam- acknowledgement.
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