TEHRAN – Iranian vocalists Shahram Nazeri and Maz’har Khaleqi received lifetime achievement awards on Saturday at the 25th edition of the Galawej International Festival.

The festival, which is an annual literary and intellectual cultural event held in Kurdistan in Sulaimaniyah by the Galawej Intellectual Center, took place from May 25 to 28.

Nazeri was honored after a performance along with tamboura virtuoso Farid Elhami and divan player Saber Nazargahi.

Playwright Ahmad Salar, poet Arghavan Rasul, musician Anvar Gharadaghi and several other artists were also honored at the festival.

Dildar Mohammed won the top prize in the poetry category, while the same prize in the song category went to Dastan Marif Karim.

First prize in the research section was given to Muhsin Abdulrahman, and Dilbrin Abdulfatah Ali won the top prize in the story category.

Khatra Mohammed also received an award for the story “Waiting for Someone to Call Me”.

Over 200 literati and cultural figures from France, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and several other countries attended the festival. 

In a short speech, Galawej president Mala Bakhtiar said that over the past 24 editions, the festival has had the “great honor” of avoiding any censorship and political intervention in the festival’s affairs.

He said that there would not be any creation without freedom, and it could be very dangerous if political parties’ intervene in people’s freedom.   

The Kurdistan Regional Government Minister of Culture and Youth, Mohammad Said Ali, also thanked the organizers of the Galawej International Festival as a center for Kurdish people, which has made contributions to the development of peace and friendship in society.

He also praised the festival for its organizers’ efforts for introducing the Kurdish culture to the world.

As part of the program for the closing ceremony, Iranian poet Mohammad Shams Langerudi recited verses from his poems.

“The Galawej festival, as a literary and artistic activity, was an attempt to eliminate the effects of the difficult situation in which the Southern Kurdistan community in general and the class of writers, intellectuals and artists, in particular, lived through the civil war,” the organizers have said.

Numerous cultural figures have previously praised the Galawej festival.

“After the civil war, the Galawej center was a beautiful hope to restore our community from the darkness of the war and the future glows even brighter,” said writer Azad Barzinji.

“With the beginning of every edition of the festival, our soul glows with the joy of launching the festival that everyone is eager about; the moments shape the value of the festival,” Ako Karimi, an official of the festival, has said.

Photo: Vocalist Shahram Nazeri and musicians Farid Elhami and Saber Nazargahi perform during the 25th Galawej International Festival in Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan Region, on May 28, 2022.

MMS/YAW