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Manage No, Sortation, Country, Writer ,Date, Copyright Manage No EE00000110 Country Iran ICH Domain Oral traditions and representations Performing Arts Traditional craft skills Address All cities and villages and especially the central areas of Iran
| Description | Literally the word Ta’azyeh means “mourning”, and figuratively it refers to a kind of ritual and religious theatre based on religious events, historical and mythical stories, and Iranian folk tales, and there are four basic elements in it: poem, music, song and motion. Ta’azyeh is a type of theatre with many different characters, each of which having its own features, differences, colors, clothes, tools and requirements. It is performed in the form of symbols, conventions, codes and signs which are known by Iranian spectators, and on a stage which is placed in the centre without any lighting and decoration. The place where a Ta’azyeh is performed is called Tekyeh. Apart from some feel-good Ta’azyehs, the main subject of most of them is the conflict between “good” and “evil” and the source of Ta’azyeh scripts has often been the event of Karbala where the third Imam of Shiites, Imam Hussein, and his family were killed after a strong resistance in a battle between seventy two members of the “good” and twenty thousand members of the “evil” army in the Moharram month of the year 60 in the lunar Hegira calendar (a Muslim system of dividing the year of 354 days into 12 months and starting to count the years from the Hegira i.e. the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in AD 622). It is lunar because it is based on the movement of moon around the earth. This calendar is used in Arab countries. There is also a solar type of Hegira calendar based on the movement of earth around the sun which is officially used in Iran). Therefore, this theatre is performed in Moharram more than other months of the year in Tekyehs, streets, and in the garden of houses. Performing Ta’azyeh has a prominent role in the Iranian vulgar culture, literature and art. The concept and the performance style of Ta’azyeh leads to the maintenance of spiritual values, altruism and friendship. It motivates the religious emotions of the masses, purifies the soul, inspires the audience to ethics and a sense of resistance against oppression, and creates cooperation and sympathy among the performers and the spectators. Taazyieh preserves the old traditions, the national culture and the mythology of Iran, and plays a major role in preserving other types of art as well. Its effect on the audience is so great that many of the proverbs of ordinary people are taken from this type of theatre. Moreover, because of its flexibility, it has been able to adjust itself with different cultures of Iranian tribes; therefore, Ta’azyeh has become the common language of different tribes and has been prominent in creating “unity” among them and helping them communicate and share creativities. Ta’azyeh performers are divided into two main groups: agreeing performers (the Good forces) and disagreeing performers (the Evil forces). Agreeing characters wear green, white and blue costumes as a symbol of goodness and peace and sing Iranian folk songs. Disagreeing characters on the other hand wear red, orange and bright colors as a symbol of cruelty and brutality and speak aggressively in a declamatory style. Music is used in two forms: with songs and with musical instruments. Moeen-ol-boka, the director of Ta’azyeh, who has complete knowledge of music, poetry and all the techniques of Ta’azyeh, is actively present on the stage. Women are less involved in Taazyieh and the roles of women are also played by men drawing a veil over their faces. Each Ta’azyeh script has its own subject and requires its own special tools, costumes, conventions, symbols and music. Observing the rules of performance, the audience also cooperates in some scenes by chorusing the song or the poem. There are even some people who have taken vows of food (taking a vow to give food to people, especially poor people is very common in Iran) who serve the spectators during the play and fulfill their vows. Business people and official fraternities and small public groups called “religious groups”, the number of which reaches three thousand, attempt to perform Ta’azyeh in many areas and provide the tools and costumes, and also decorate the area where Ta’azyeh is going to be performed. In general, all the script writers, actors, spectators, and sponsors of this ritual play are from the people in the street who have different jobs during the year and perform this theatre only to reap otherworldly rewards. Taazyieh has also caused many skills to develop. For instance: calligraphy artists by writing Ta’azyeh scripts, musicians by holding classes of singing and playing instruments, painters by painting the events on large curtains, “curtain narrators” by narrating the stories painted on the curtains with a good voice for people, poets by composing new poems for the dirges in the intervals of Ta’azyeh, industrial workshops by making different tools and instruments used in Ta’azyeh, tailoring and handicraft workshops by making different costumes and masks and accessories for Ta’azyeh, cultural institutes by making films of Ta’azyeh and making them readily accessible to the public, documentarists by making documentaries about Ta’azyeh and preparing them to be shown on TV, each help develop a special skill through Ta’azyeh. |
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| Social and cultural significance | Ta’azyeh is an intangible national heritage of Iranians which includes parts of Iranian culture and art such as literature, religious and traditional opinions, and social beliefs, and knowing it by other countries can lead to a better cultural relation and dialogue of civilizations; as in the past many researchers and foreign orientalists (since AD 1800) have introduced this art to the world and pointed to its positive capabilities. It is worth mentioning that this type of theatre was warmly welcomed by the world in the Forty Fifth Avignon International Theatre Festival (1991) which shows the significance and the value of this ritual play. Also, in Iran, theatre artists are trying to create a “national theatre” using the constituent elements of Ta’azyeh. Iran is a land of various tribes and cultures and languages and Ta’azyeh, which is the result of the experiences of Iranians in using allegories and symbols in order to express their ideas and philosophies, has been able to adopt a sense of folklore and become an axis of unity and solidarity among the tribes. It has become a common language and created the opportunity for the tribes to communicate and share their creativities, and therefore has provided a beautiful image of the variety of cultures and symbols. |
| Transmission method | Ta’azyeh is taught by word of mouth and from tutors to pupils. Since the very childhood the pupils are trained by seasoned professionals (some of whom have been Ta’azyeh performers for generations and played this theatre in their family). These training sessions are held during the year and in the houses of people or in the Tekyehs and include the knowledge of different symbols, conventions, gestures, singing, martial skills and horse-riding, music and all the other techniques of Ta’azyeh. All these have helped enormously to preserve this national Iranian art, while there are university subjects as “Ta’azyeh, the Iranian play” in art universities of Iran and it is also taught to students at schools. 1. The existing religious groups, the number of which reaches three thousand, hold Ta’azyeh ceremonies every year in a public self-directed attempt and with the financial support of the members of the group who are from the very people in the street. 2. Business people, members of fraternities and the sponsors of Ta’azyeh hold Ta’azyeh ceremonies every year according to a traditional trend; these supports are mostly during Moharram and other ritual occasions and have helped to preserve and develop Ta’azyeh, to equip old Tekyehs and to make new ones. Also people who are well off seek to hold Ta’azyeh ceremonies themselves. Some of these sponsors who have been significant for both making Tekyehs and performing Ta’azyeh include: Mr. Muhammad Khatami who made the “Ghurjan” Tekyeh in “Khansar”, Mr. Yazdan who made the “Baraghan” Tekyeh in “Karaj”, Mr. Hussein Saljoughi who made the “Hazrat-e-abolfazl” Tekyeh in “Kerman”, Mr. Hejazi who made the “Seyyed-o-shohada” Tekyeh in “Isfahan”. 3. Apart from various ceremonies the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance has managed to hold more than 210 Ta’azyeh ceremonies and has made great attempts to develop this art by allocating a fund to the Taazye of other cities of Iran, publishing Ta’azyeh scripts, recording the performances on film, and providing coverage for the Ta’azyeh actors who are over 60 years old. 4. The Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, which has sought to register Ta’azyeh in the National List of the country, has also given great help to the Iranian and foreign researchers by publishing reference books about Taaziyeh and allocating some parts of anthropology museums to this art. 5. The state television has been useful in preserving this art by broadcasting Ta’azyeh on different TV channels. 6. The Ministry of Education is trying to make the new generations more familiar with this old ritual theatre by putting some lessons about Ta’azyeh in course books, and the Ministry of Sciences, Research and Technology is also attempting so by allocating some university credits to it under the title of “Ta’azyeh, the Iranian Play” 7. The Iranian Ta’azyeh Association, which is one of the most prominent NGOs of Ta’azyeh, is actively helping this art by holding classes and performances, and also finding and completing locations of performance in the country. 8. The Dramatic Arts Association (Non-govermental) plays a considerable role by holding seminars and festivals. |
| Community | Ta’aziye is played by the Iranian Muslims all over this country. The main practitioners of this area include: The Dramatic Arts Center of the Culture and Guidance Ministry, The Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicraft Organization, The Dramatic Arts Association Theatre Forum, The Ritual Traditional Theatre Office Religious Circles, Ta’aziye Performing Groups, The Iranians Ta’aziye Association And individuals such as: Mohammad Hosein Naserbakht, Seyyed Azim Musavi, Jaber Anasori, Laleh Taghian, Davoud Fathali Beigi, and Ardeshir Saleh Pour. |
| Type of UNESCO List | Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity |
| Incribed year in UNESCO List | 2010 |
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Ta'ziye
Literally the word Ta’azyeh means “mourning”, and figuratively it refers to a kind of ritual and religious theatre based on religious events, historical and mythical stories, and Iranian folk tales, and there are four basic elements in it: poem, music, song and motion. Ta’azyeh is a type of theatre with many different characters, each of which having its own features, differences, colors, clothes, tools and requirements. It is performed in the form of symbols, conventions, codes and signs which are known by Iranian spectators, and on a stage which is placed in the centre without any lighting and decoration. The place where a Ta’azyeh is performed is called Tekyeh. Apart from some feel-good Ta’azyehs, the main subject of most of them is the conflict between “good” and “evil” and the source of Ta’azyeh scripts has often been the event of Karbala where the third Imam of Shiites, Imam Hussein, and his family were killed after a strong resistance in a battle between seventy two members of the “good” and twenty thousand members of the “evil” army in the Moharram month of the year 60 in the lunar Hegira calendar.
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Literally the word Ta’azyeh means “mourning”, and figuratively it refers to a kind of ritual and religious theatre based on religious events, historical and mythical stories, and Iranian folk tales, and there are four basic elements in it: poem, music, song and motion. Ta’azyeh is a type of theatre with many different characters, each of which having its own features, differences, colors, clothes, tools and requirements. It is performed in the form of symbols, conventions, codes and signs which are known by Iranian spectators, and on a stage which is placed in the centre without any lighting and decoration. The place where a Ta’azyeh is performed is called Tekyeh. Apart from some feel-good Ta’azyehs, the main subject of most of them is the conflict between “good” and “evil” and the source of Ta’azyeh scripts has often been the event of Karbala where the third Imam of Shiites, Imam Hussein, and his family were killed after a strong resistance in a battle between seventy two members of the “good” and twenty thousand members of the “evil” army in the Moharram month of the year 60 in the lunar Hegira calendar.
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Literally the word Ta’azyeh means “mourning”, and figuratively it refers to a kind of ritual and religious theatre based on religious events, historical and mythical stories, and Iranian folk tales, and there are four basic elements in it: poem, music, song and motion. Ta’azyeh is a type of theatre with many different characters, each of which having its own features, differences, colors, clothes, tools and requirements. It is performed in the form of symbols, conventions, codes and signs which are known by Iranian spectators, and on a stage which is placed in the centre without any lighting and decoration. The place where a Ta’azyeh is performed is called Tekyeh. Apart from some feel-good Ta’azyehs, the main subject of most of them is the conflict between “good” and “evil” and the source of Ta’azyeh scripts has often been the event of Karbala where the third Imam of Shiites, Imam Hussein, and his family were killed after a strong resistance in a battle between seventy two members of the “good” and twenty thousand members of the “evil” army in the Moharram month of the year 60 in the lunar Hegira calendar.
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