Editor's Note:
It was mid-August 2006. As I prepared to leave for Iran, a slew of queries rained on me from the anxious: Why Iran? Clearly not a suitable time to go, what with the U.S. presence in Iraq, and Israel bombing Lebanon, and Iran and Syria being accused for being complicit in support of the Hezbollah. The U.S. or Israel just might bomb Iran. And then, why go to a country where a dress code is imposed on you?
Precisely, I replied, for these very reasons, one is drawn to the country and its history — and by the fact that little is known about Iran’s contemporary culture in the international media besides its excellent repertoire of cinema. What I experienced and learnt unfolds in this special issue.
The 1979 Revolution surfaces in every context, and one realises its significance on Iranians, who have honed a fine balance between public and private spaces. In the land of Ferdowsi and Hafez, Rumi and Khayyam, I found ordinary lives suffused with poetry, warmth and inquiry, and a natural artistic sensibility, be it in conversation with an art connoiseur in Tehran or a carpet weaver in a village near Shiraz.

Bina Sarkar Ellias
Editor