UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO The Shiraz Arts Festival: Cultural Democracy, National Identity, and Revolution in Iranian Performance, 1967-1977 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy In Music By Joshua Jamsheed Charney Committee in charge: Professor Anthony Davis, Co-Chair Professor Jann Pasler, Co-Chair Professor Aleck Karis Professor Babak Rahimi Professor Shahrokh Yadegari 2020 © Joshua Jamsheed Charney, 2020 All rights reserved. The dissertation of Joshua Jamsheed Charney is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Co-chair _____________________________________________________________ Co-Chair University of California San Diego 2020 iii EPIGRAPH Oh my Shiraz, the nonpareil of towns – The lord look after it, and keep it from decay! Hafez iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page…………………………………………………………………… iii Epigraph…………………………………………………………………………. iv Table of Contents………………………………………………………………… v Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………… vii Vita………………………………………………………………………………. viii Abstract of the Dissertation……………………………………………………… ix Introduction……………………………………………………………………… 1 Chapter 1: Festival Overview …………………………………………………… 17 Chapter 2: Cultural Democracy…………………………………………………. 27 Introduction……………………………………………………………… 27 New Freedoms…………………………………………………………… 28 Multicultural Inclusivity…………………………………………………. 35 Supporting Young Artists………………………………………………... 37 Accessibility……………………………………………………………... 39 Intercultural Collaboration………………………………………………. 41 Mohammad B. Ghaffari’s Ta‘ziyeh……………………………………… 52 Conclusion……………………………………………………………….. 59 Chapter 3: Representations of Iranian Identity at the Festival…………………… 61 Introduction………………………………………………………………. 61 Performance Venues……………………………………………………… 63 Traditional Iranian Music………………………………………………… 66 The Young Masters………………………………………………………. 73 Other Traditional Iranian Performance…………………………………… 80 Conclusion………………………………………………………………... 84 Chapter 4: Approaching Revolution……………………………………………… 86 Introduction………………………………………………………………. 86 Invasion from the West…………………………………………………… 88 Government Expenditure and Disorganization…………………………… 104 International Boycott and Domestic Protest……………………………… 106 Censorship and Obscenity………………………………………………… 112 Conclusion………………………………………………………………… 119 v Conclusion………………………………………………………………………… 121 References………………………………………………………………………… 125 vi AKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would never have been possible without the mentorship, knowledge, and inspiration from the following people. I am indebted to Professor Jann Pasler for her insight and feedback on my work. She consistently pushed me to be a better writer and scholar. Professor Anthony Davis has not only been a role model but also a great supporter of all of my academic and artistic endeavors over the last eight years. Professor Shahrokh Yadegari encouraged me to pursue the topic of the Shiraz Arts Festival and provided a critical source for my research. Professor Babak Rahimi inspired me to go the distance by recognizing potential early on in the fourth chapter of this dissertation. Professor Aleck Karis has supplied his unique perspective on my writing and has always been available when I’ve needed his assistance. I must also acknowledge the following people for their selfless and valuable help: Hesam Abedini, Mahasti Afshar, William Beeman, Mohammad B. Ghaffari, Parisa, and Kourosh Taghavi. Lastly, I thank my family. They have collectively been the rudder on my otherwise wavering ship. Thank you to my parents for their support and to my brothers for keeping me grounded. Finally, to Sarah and Farah, you give me the strength to create. I am eternally grateful for your love. vii VITA 2000 – 2004 Bachelor of Arts in English, University of Southern California 2005 – 2007 Master of Fine Arts in Music, California Institute of the Arts 2012 – 2020 Doctor of Philosophy in Music, University of California San Diego viii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Shiraz Arts Festival: Cultural Democracy, National Identity, and Revolution in Iranian Performance, 1967 – 1977 by Joshua Jamsheed Charney Doctor of Philosophy in Music University of California San Diego, 2020 Professor Anthony Davis, Co-Chair Professor Jann Pasler, Co-chair The Shiraz Arts Festival was an annual weeklong summer festival that ran from 1967 to 1977 in and around the city of Shiraz, Iran. Subsidized by the Iranian government and spearheaded by Queen Farah Pahlavi, this international festival presented contemporary, classical, traditional, and avant-garde music, theater, and dance from all over the world. Organized around the goals of raising the cultural standard in Iran, celebrating Iranian traditions, ix and familiarizing Iranians with the latest international artistic developments, this event promoted the sharing of culturally democratic values and the representation of a balanced Iranian national identity. At the same time, because of certain controversies surrounding the Festival, critics and historians have placed it in the context of the 1979 Iranian Revolution where opposition led by the Ayatollah Khomeini replaced the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s monarchical government. This dissertation investigates and details the Festival’s relationship with cultural democracy, Iranian identity, and the revolutionary narrative. The Festival encouraged democratic values by allowing new artistic freedoms, calling for multicultural inclusivity, granting access to the masses, and inspiring intercultural collaborations. Certain performances, such as concerts of traditional Iranian music, exhibited several sides of Iranian identity. Young musicians inserted a modern sound into the tradition, while engaging with both Iran’s ancient pre-Islamic history and Islamic spiritualism. Additionally, the Festival echoed a failing government in its embrace of the Western avant-garde and Western imitation, and in its financial expenditure during a time of intensifying wealth inequality. Furthermore, related controversies were utilized to fit a campaign of dissent. My writing reveals how potentially conflicting ideas and identities aided in creating a unique and unprecedented cultural event. Ultimately, the Festival proved that cultural democracy and Iranian identity were fundamental to Iranian performance and the arts could continue to be a place for reflecting on social issues within a decentralized public space. x Introduction On October 26, 1967, the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his wife, Queen Farah Diba, travelled by horse-drawn coach through the streets of Tehran to the Golestan Palace. On that day, the Shah of Iran was celebrating both his forty-eighth birthday and his coronation. News stations from around the world broadcast the event as the Shah sat on his throne wearing a golden crown in the style of Sassanian kings. In his right hand, he carried a heavily jeweled scepter. The Queen sat beside him in a long white robe and a crown specially designed for the occasion by the French jeweler, Van Cleef & Arpels.1 Though the Shah had assumed the throne in 1941, he thought it improper to formally crown himself until he felt Iran was on the path to progress. By 1967, the Shah’s “White Revolution,” named such because it was bloodless, began to yield discernible results. In the four years since the plan’s inception, Iran saw an increase in the literacy rate, the granting of women’s rights, and steady economic growth. The regime also took it upon itself to establish new cultural programs and improve existing ones. The Shah’s plan for developing Iranian culture involved modernizing the country while maintaining connections to Iran’s ancient pre-Islamic past. The coronation was a symbolic event for Iranian culture in the Pahlavi era. While the Queen modeled a modern French dress and became the first woman ever crowned in Persian monarchy, the Shah declared himself the Shahanshah or King of Kings, a title associated with Cyrus the Great, ruler of the first Persian empire. That evening, the newly crowned King and Queen went to see two one-act operas by contemporary Iranian composers at the Roudaki Hall in central Tehran. The first opera told the 1 Farah Pahlavi, An Enduring Love: My Life with the Shah (New York: Miramax Books, 1987), 151-158. 1 ancient story of Zaal and Roudabeh, two lovers whose relationship resulted in the conception of the greatest warrior in pre-Islamic Persian mythology, Rostam. The second opera, titled “Farmer’s Feast,” portrayed the positive impact of the “White Revolution” on Iranian peasants.2 The evening was not only celebrating the coronation of the King and Queen but also the formal inauguration of the Roudaki Hall.3 The events of the day made a simple statement – a cultural revolution was taking place in Iran. One month before the coronation, Queen Farah traveled to Shiraz to inaugurate the grand opening of the Shiraz-Persepolis Festival of Arts. Initially a brainchild of the Queen, the Shiraz Arts Festival became an annual event featuring live performances of music, theater, and dance, while also presenting visual arts and film. The week-long Festival ran between 1967 and 1977, using venues in and around the southwestern city of Shiraz.4 When the Queen gave her inaugural address in 1967,