Established 1961 13 Lifestyle Features Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Iranian luthier Fatemeh Moussavi gives a oud to master player and instructor Iranian luthier Fatemeh Moussavi helps master player and instructor Hamid Iranian luthier Fatemeh Moussavi builds a oud at her Hamid Khansari at her workshop in the capital Tehran. — AFP photos Khansari pick an instrument at her oud-making workshop. workshop.

he Oriental lute is making a come- Persian-language manual on the instru- Tback in Iran after decades in the ment, Yahyanejad points out. Nariman, shadows as musicians reconnect who died in 2015, had been drawn to the with an instrument integral to Arab and “warmth” of its sound, at a time when the Turkish musical tradition in a fragmented Arab oud did not even figure on Iran’s region. Known as the oud in Arabic, it is musical periscope. In the absence of any commonly called the barbat in Persian, teachers back then, Nariman taught him- although some would argue the instru- self and wrote off letters to Egyptians he ments differ slightly. “The number of (oud) had heard playing the instrument on the students has increased considerably over radio. He received a reply from one of the the past 15 years or so; before a known biggest names in Arab music, Mohamed teacher would have had a dozen students Abdelwahab. whereas today they’ll be about 50,” said Majid Yahyanejad, a 35-year-old oud Instrument to ‘reconcile’ teacher in Tehran. Many years later, Mohammad Firouzi, Nouchine Pasdar, a 40-year-old musi- a student of Nariman, recorded several cian in the Iranian capital, made the same pieces of music with the undisputed observation. She started teaching the maestro of Persian song, Mohammad- stringed instrument “about 23 years ago” Oud master Nouchine Pasdar, 40, poses for a Reza Shajarian, who died in October. after graduating from professional arts picture during an interview in the Iranian Among them were masterpieces such as school, known as honarestan in Persian. capital Tehran. “Aseman-e Eshgh” in 1991, “Aram-e Jan”, Iranian luthier Fatemeh Moussavi builds a oud at her workshop. “At the time, most of my students were 1998, and “Ghoghaye Eshghbazan”, in old, really old. Now they’re more on the takes up a whole chapter of the 2007. Pasdar remembers the first time Turkey, bringing down prices. It was a group Gardoun in 2016, followed the next young side,” Pasdar said. “We only knew “Shahnameh” (Book of Kings), written in music teachers showed her an oud, trig- time of liberalization under the reformist year by Yurdal Tokcan from Turkey. the oud as played in Egypt and Iraq. We the 10th century. Iran and Syria are lob- gering a hunt for the instrument in central Mohammad Khatami who served as pres- Tunisian Dhafer Youssef has woven knew nothing of the oud in Turkey. But bying for the manufacture and playing of Tehran’s Baharestan Square, a paradise ident between 1997 and 2005. The arts Persian poems into his repertoire and giv- today we know it’s also played in Syria, the oud to be added to UNESCO’s for musicians. scene benefitted from this period in the en several concerts with Iranian musi- Kuwait and Jordan.” “intangible heritage” list. She said she found only two, both Islamic republic, where the Shiite clergy cians figuring in his international orches- The barbat had fallen out of Iran’s clas- made in Egypt, and too bulky for a bud- prioritises study of the Holy Quran and tra. In a Middle East tormented for Internet friends sical and traditional repertoires, with (oth- ding musician. Fatemeh Moussavi, who religious jurisprudence. decades by war and conflict, Yahyanejad Yahyanejad noticed young Iranian oud er) stringed instruments such as the setar, crafts ouds in a small Tehran studio, says For Hamid Khansari, who has written harbors hope that musical interaction will players were “taking more interest in tar, santur and kamancheh given prefer- very few artisans manufactured the instru- an introduction to the oud, the bow- forge bonds of friendship across religions, Arabic and Turkish culture... and Turkish, ence. But in the second half of the 20th ments and they were pricey back in the shaped instrument is “a blessing” that ethnicities and cultures. “This instrument Arab and Iranian musicians are becom- century, a man named Mansour Nariman day. Things didn’t change much until the “expands the possibilities of creation”. could finally help reconcile peoples of the ing friends on the internet”. The barbat introduced oud instruction at the early 2000s, when thousands of ouds Lebanon’s Charbel Rouhana played the region.”— AFP has been around for centuries and it honarestan and published the first landed in Iran, mostly from Syria and instrument on stage in Tehran with Iranian

Iranian master player and instructor Hamid Khansari tests a new instrument at luthier Fatemeh Moussavi’s (unseen) oud-making workshop. Nouchine Pasdar, plays the oud during an interview in the Iranian capital Tehran.

lot more motion of air,” and exhaled air ment authorities on 232,164 cases of with me,” he said. “I cannot run very far rises, particularly in warmer weather. But, COVID caught in the country until March in warmer weather while wearing it. Then Do we need he stressed, low risk doesn’t mean no 24, 2021. if I stop to chat with other people I can risk. Just like you’re bound to inhale In total, 262 involved outdoor trans- put it on. If I go walking with friends, I some smoke outdoors if you’re close to a mission, representing just 0.1 percent of wear one.” masks outdoors? smoker, there is a small chance of catch- the total. It’s possible even that estimate ing COVID if you spend a prolonged time is high, since the government agency Politicized issue in close proximity to a carrier outdoors. relied on unverified reports that said out- Mask wearing became a politicized Experts weigh in door activities were involved-such as issue in the United States early on in the What are the odds of infection? construction or sport-and these might not pandemic, with some conservatives, There have now been a number of have accounted for the individuals spurred by former president Donald studies that have attempted to quantify involved congregating indoors too. Trump, viewing them as an affront to t’s a familiar sight in some US cities the risk of outdoor Covid spread. Last Donald Milton, a professor at the their personal freedom. Liberals were n alleged stalker of pop superstar Ilike Washington, New York and San October, Chinese researchers published University of Maryland and one of the generally more likely to take the virus Taylor Swift was arrested after she Francisco: people walking on the a paper in the journal Indoor Air that pioneers in the field of aerosol science, seriously, and also saw masks outdoors A suffered a break-in at her New York street, riding bikes or sitting in parks with compiled information on 7,324 cases and advises people to avoid crowds out- as a way to signal solidarity with their apartment, police said Monday. Hanks their masks on even when they’re far included information about where the doors, particularly if shouting is involved community in a time of crisis. But Amesh Johnson, 52, was charged with criminal away from others. Certain states, like virus was caught. Only one documented and the air is stagnant. But he doesn’t Adalja, a public health expert at Johns trespassing after police responded to an Maine, have kept in place outdoor mask outbreak occurred outdoors, in a village think you need your mask on at all times. Hopkins University, said it was now time emergency call on Saturday, reporting mandates for hiking trails and beaches. in Shangqiu, Henan-where a 27-year-old “When I go jogging in my neighbor- to dial back outdoor mask mandates and that someone was breaking into Swift’s So where does the evidence lie? And is man became infected after having a con- hood, where the houses are separated adopt a more nuanced approach better home in the Tribeca neighborhood of there any harm in public health meas- versation outdoors with a carrier in by 10 meters (32 feet) or more and there aligned with the science. “Because Manhattan. Johnson was released on his ures that go beyond the science, or if January 2020. More recently, the Irish are only a few people out walking dogs masks have become so infused with poli- own recognizance following an arraign- people behave more cautiously than Times sought information from govern- or kids playing in yards, I carry a mask tics, they have become something where ment in Manhattan criminal court Sunday they need? people go around and ‘mask shame’ oth- night. According to the New York Daily er individuals, and I think that’s counter- News, Johnson had shown up at Swift’s Outdoors are much safer productive,” he said. building to ring the doorbell at least five Scientists have learned a lot about “We want people, who are unvaccinat- times over the past six months. COVID-19 since the pandemic began. In ed especially, to wear masks when terms of how it’s transmitted, we now they’re in indoor situations when they know surfaces aren’t a major vector, and cannot social distance.” What’s more, heightened disinfection efforts are a mis- measures that create the impression that placed use of time and resources. the outdoors are risky tend to drive peo- Second, the top experts now believe the ple indoors, which is much more danger- disease is primarily airborne. That means ous, he added. Some experts argue that it’s mostly spread through fine respiratory the value of outdoor mask mandates is particles that remain suspended in the air keeping the messaging simple enough for some time-as opposed to larger for the public to understand-but Adalja droplets from coughing and sneezing disagrees. “I think that doesn’t do any- Swift Taylor that fall quickly to the ground. thing but breach the trust between public The 31-year-old Swift-who is back on This in turn makes outdoors much health authorities and the public,” he top of the charts following the release of safer than indoors, said Jose-Luis said, adding that non-experts are capa- her re-recording of her hit “Fearless” Jimenez, a leading aerosol scientist at ble of reading medical journals and real- album-has been a victim of stalking at her the University of Colorado Boulder. izing when the official messaging various properties for years. In June 2019 “Indoors are much more dangerous diverges from the evidence. — AFP an Iowa man was arrested after traveling because the walls and the ceiling and the to Rhode Island, where she owns a floor trap the air,” particularly if there’s home, with burglary tools including an alu- low ventilation, he told AFP. “Outdoors A pedestrian walks past a wall mural depicting a person wearing a protective mask in minum baseball bat and plans to “visit” are much less risky because there is a Mumbai yesterday. — AFP Swift. —AFP