Mehrdad Aref-Adib

Nowruz Bazaar – 14 & 15 March • Free Talks – 14 March • Nowruz Family Day – 15 March • Rumi's nighg – 16 March • Maydan Ensemble – 19 March • Iran +100 Book Event – 24 March Plus free exhibitions and much more #LauderdaleHouse #NowruzFestival

Since 1979, violence has defined the Islamic Republic’s rule. The images emerging now feel like Goya’s. Not art, but evidence. A record that will outlive power. arefadib.substack.com/p/the-islamic-…

My Iranian version of ‘We Are Becoming Many’ a print by Egil Storeide, seen a few days ago at the #NordicNoir exhibition @britishmuseum arefadib.substack.com/p/we-are-becom…

A cypress dressed as a Christmas tree. An old stone figure holding flowers.

The internet forgets quickly. Platforms rise, flatten, disappear. But occasionally, it remembers just enough to return something intact. arefadib.substack.com/p/i-did-not-kn…

Who the City Belongs To arefadib.substack.com/p/who-the-city…

Today Ahmad Shamlu would have been one hundred. I am thinking about him from London, a city he also lived in briefly in the late 1970s, editing the Persian language paper Iranshahr while in exile. open.substack.com/pub/arefadib/p…

A photo I took of shole zard spelling “Merry Christmas” in cinnamon once went viral. It made me think about how taste becomes ritual. arefadib.substack.com/p/shole-zard-f…

The first World Cup I remember was 1970, Pelé drifting through the static of our B&W TV in Tehran, turning football into something luminous even without colour. That year two teams captured my imagination #PersepolisFC & @Arsenal arefadib.substack.com/p/my-two-reds

Slide To Heaven youtube.com/watch?v=Vwtt3u…

Found this Qajar puppet photo on the @NatAsianArt website and it was like bumping into old friends. While colourising it, the puppets looked as if they were leaning in for a chat. arefadib.substack.com/p/when-the-pup…

There are songs that travel with you like objects. You do not pack them, but they are always in your suitcase. For me, one of those is Soghati, Hayedeh’s aching song of love, distance and memory. arefadib.substack.com/p/soghati-the-… youtube.com/watch?v=MffSoY…

@omid9 Omid, you should be one of the Qajar Fab Four: Agha Jan Lennon, Mirza Paul McKhaju, Reza Setareh, and George Khorasani. arefadib.substack.com/p/meet-the-qaj…

I am completely non partisan. But always fun to call out bs when it’s in plain sight. Farage accusing the chancellor of "lying to the public" and demanding a "sleaze probe" is one of the funniest. Suddenly a politician who lies all the time is appalled by the idea of politicians lying. The man who promised Brexit was a good idea has reported Rachel Reeves for making "misleading statements". You can't make it up because “full time racist but I never mean it in a bad way” Nigel will always do it for you. Nigel Farage accusing Rachel Reeves of lying is a bit like Fozzie Bear telling Kermit the Frog not to be such a Muppet.

Here are the Qajar Fab Four: Agha Jan Lennon, Mirza Paul McKhaju, Reza Setareh, and George Khorasani. Don’t miss their “Morghe-Sahar Rock” anthem. arefadib.substack.com/p/meet-the-qaj… youtube.com/watch?v=lK06mN…

I love David Byrne’s music. I have loved it since the early 80s, when Talking Heads showed me that pop could think sideways. His recent @nprmusic Tiny Desk Concert reminded me why his work still matters. open.substack.com/pub/arefadib/p…

Some places reward you simply by being exactly what you hoped for. Levers Water is one of those. Standing there, I thought of Rigby painting in 1923, and of our own muddled, joyful climb nearly a century later. arefadib.substack.com/p/chasing-a-wa…

A Red Flicker in the Bowl ... Spring exists to remind us that even what feels lost can learn to begin again. open.substack.com/pub/arefadib/p…

Translating Edward Lear’s limerick, now reborn with a Qajar beard and Iranian flair, as it slips into Persian and stirs up trouble! arefadib.substack.com/p/edward-lear-…

You Say Tomato, I Say Gojeh open.substack.com/pub/arefadib/p…

I renamed my tremor. Science calls it Parkinson’s. I call it Spartacus. If something insists on shaking, it might as well have a dramatic name. @ParkinsonsUK arefadib.substack.com/p/this-is-what…