April 1st, 2020 by phchow | Comments Off on IGNITE Book Club & Nowruz Display
Due to conditions with the COVID-19 outbreak, the IGNITE Book club: Annahid Dashtgard in conversation with Shirin Eshghi proceeded as scheduled on March 12 but without a public audience. The conversation was captured in order for anyone interested to hear Dashtgard speak about her book, Breaking the Ocean: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Reconciliation.
You can view this conversation HERE.
Organized by the UBC Equity & Inclusion Office, IGNITE Book Club is designed with and for racialized faculty to allow for the exploration and discussion of memoirs written by renowned racialized authors. Check out more information HERE.
L to R: Sadaf Ahmadbeigi, Annahid Dashtgard, Shirin Eshghi Furuzawa
The talk was meant to be followed by a reception with performances to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Although the performances were also cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns, Sadaf Ahmadbeigi, our ARL Mosaic Intern, was still able to mount a display featuring a haft-seen spread to celebrate Nowruz. The Haft-Seen (Seven “S”s) is an arrangement of seven symbolic items whose names start with the 15th letter in the Persian alphabet that correspond to S in English. As you see in our display, these items are as follow:
Sabzeh (سبزه) – wheat, barley, mung bean, or lentil sprouts grown in a dish which symbolizes rebirth and growth
Samanu (سمنو) – wheat germ sweet pudding, symbolizing power and strength
Senjed (سنجد) – Persian olive, symbolizing love
Serkeh (سرکه) – vinegar symbolizing patience
Seeb (سیب) – apple, symbolizing beauty
Seer (سیر) – garlic, symbolizing health
Somāq (سماق) – sumac, symbolizing sunrise
The spread is traditionally set up with a mirror as a symbol for self-reflection, coloured eggs, symbolizing fertility, candles to bring light to our lives, and books, especially poetry books symbolizing wisdom and tradition.
Nowruz celebrations start at the exact moment of spring equinox, and conclude 13 days afterwards. Today marks the final day of the New Year celebrations, and it is customary to throw away the Sabzeh, the sprout that we have grown over the past two weeks. It has special significance this year in the context of Covid-19, as the belief is that the Sabzeh will have collected all the sickness, pain, and suffering of the past and of what may still lie ahead. Throwing the Sabzeh away reflects a wish to start afresh.
Posted in Displays, Events, Featured, Library display, Library event, Nowruz | Comments Off on IGNITE Book Club & Nowruz Display
March 10th, 2020 by phchow | Comments Off on IGNITE Book Club & Nowruz Celebration at Asian Library – CANCELLED
UPDATE on March 12: After much consultation and careful consideration, UBC Equity and Inclusion Office decided to cancel today’s IGNITE book club event. The cancellation of the event is a responsible decision in order to protect all our diverse communities. This is also following the safety precautions recommended by our provincial health authorities to best protect the health of the population with concerns around COVID-19 in large group settings.
The Equity and Inclusion Office is still planning a conservation between Annahid Dashtgard and Shirin Eshghi Furuzawa, which will be recorded. They will be sharing the recording online when it’s ready.
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Asian Centre 1871 West Mall
5:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Asian Library Upper Floor
Join us for IGNITE, an ongoing series of engagements with racialized authors at UBC’s Vancouver campus. Annahid Dashtgard, author of Breaking the Ocean: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Reconciliation, will share insights into her works and finding joy amidst her experience of living as a racialized individual, author, and academic. Hosted by Shirin Eshghi, Head of UBC Asian Library.
6:15 PM to 7:30 PM
Reception with Persian Refreshments – Asian Centre Foyer
Performances – Asian Centre Auditorium
Nowruz, which literally means “a new day”, is the Persian New Year, celebrated for over 3,000 years by diverse communities in Western Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin, the Balkans, and South Asia. Celebrated on the first day of Farvardin (The first month of Persian Calendars), Nowruz marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. It usually occurs around March 21, depending on where it is observed. The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year, and families gather together to celebrate the earth being reborn. The celebration usually starts Charshanbe Suri (Festive Wednesday) and ends with Sizdah Be Dar (Out With The Thirteen) which is on the thirteenth Farvardin. For Nowruz, people display a spread called Haft-Sin (Seven “S”s) which is an arrangement of seven symbolic items whose names start with the 15th letter in the Persian alphabet.
Free and open to all. Please register HERE.
Posted in Events, Festivals, Library event, Nowruz, Persian language | Comments Off on IGNITE Book Club & Nowruz Celebration at Asian Library – CANCELLED
