On January 8, President Hassan Rouhani appealed for loosened censorship of the arts in an address to six art and cultural guilds. “Art without freedom is meaningless,” he told the gathering of prominent Iranian artists. “Every system has its red lines, but it's absolutely essential for these lines to be transparent and clear, so to avoid arbitrary restrictions,” said Rouhani. Theater, music, poetry, cinema and calligraphy associations had invited the president to speak at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall. The following is a series of @HassanRouhani’s tweets based on his address.
Art without freedom is meaningless. #RouhaniLive
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 8, 2014In post-revolutionary Iranian cinema, women have been brilliant not only as actresses,but as directors& screenwriters pic.twitter.com/RsbCdDjosv
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 8, 2014Heartbroken to see Iranian National Orchestra shut down. Hope to revive it shortly,though it may result in another yellow card (from Majlis)
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 8, 2014We seek your help to fight violence & to isolate extremists & fanatics--another step towards a World Against Violence and Extremism #WAVE
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 8, 2014#UNGA approved our proposal: World Against Violence & Extremism #WAVE. We need to make this a reality in our community, country & the world
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 8, 2014Seems like some have not heard Iranian nation's voice on June 24th yet; take out those cotton balls from ears. #Moderation #Hope #Prudence
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 8, 2014Art should be under the supervision of artists,not the Government--at the gathering of artists tonight at Vahdat Hall pic.twitter.com/Gv4Mrn14Rp
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 8, 2014Every system has its red lines, but it's absolutely essential for these lines to be transparent & clear, so to avoid arbitrary restrictions.
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 8, 2014If we have clear & transparent rules, we can assign many tasks (normally carried out by Gov) to guilds and art organizations, who love #Iran
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 8, 2014