Thursday, November 05, 2009
To Subsidize or Not to Subsidize
The debate over subsidization is getting tense, head of government and speaker of the house, Mr. Ahmadinejad and Dr. Larijani exchanged pleasantries over it. A. wants Majlis to give him full authority and do not bother him with formalities such as budgeting the money. It is getting interesting.
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Dear Ali,
My name is Harrison Apple, and I am part of a project in Pittsburgh, PA, USA called Conflict Kitchen. With the assistance of the Iranian community in Pittsburgh, we will be opening an Iranian takeout restaurant that will stimulate discussion surrounding Persian culture.
CONFLICT KITCHEN is a public project that makes and serves cuisine from countries currently in conflict with the United States. The food is served out of a take-out style storefront, which will continually go out of business every few months and rotate identities to highlight another culture. In addition to serving food, the entire visual display, including the food, the façade of the building, and the food’s packaging, will be used as a means of distributing and communicating information that will lead to a greater awareness of the cultures and conflicts in question.
The first iteration of Conflict Kitchen will be "Kubideh Kitchen", an Iranian take-out restaurant that serves kubideh in freshly baked barbari with onion, mint, and basil. The food will be wrapped with in a poster that states eleven questions (below) that are on the minds of most Americans when asked about Iran. We would like the answers to these questions to come from YOU, Iranians living in Iran, as well as Iranians living in other parts of the world. Your answers will be posted on our blog, and some may appear on the food wrapper.
The uniqueness of this project lies in creating a way to engage in cultures that seem both geographically and psychologically distant. We read all about foreign cultures in newspapers, yet have very little personal experiences with the cultures with which we are in conflict. Food is a seductive way of being introduced to and engaging with an unknown culture and gaining access to a culture’s social customs, practices, and values.
You time and thoughtful answers would be much appreciated. Please pass this email along to others who could also assist us. You can reply to these questions by sending your answers to conflictkitchen@waffleshop.org.
Sincerely,
Harrison Apple
1. What do Iranians think of Israel? Jews? U.S.?
2. What was the Iranian revolution? What was the U.S.'s role?
3. What is the current green revolution/movement? Who are the leaders? What are they trying to achieve?
4. How is it possible that 70% of Iranians are under 30? How does this affect the culture?
5. What's the structure of Iran's government? How do people in Iran feel about their government?
6. What does being Persian mean? How is it different from being Arab? How does Iran differentiate itself from other countries in the region?
7. What's illegal in Iran that is not illegal in the U.S.? Are all laws enforced? What is the role of women in Iran, and how does the daily life of an Iranian woman compare to women in America?
8. What do Iranians think about Americans? What do Americans think of Iranians?
9. Does Iran really have the capability for nuclear weapons? Why would a nuclear-capable Iran be a threat to the United States? Is Iran developing nuclear power for energy or for weapons? Will the U.S. go to war with Iran in the near future?
10.What do Iranians eat on a daily basis? What differentiates Iranian cuisine from that of other countries in the region?
11. How does the rich history of Persian poetry play a role in the everyday life of an Iranian?
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