Norouz-e-Naft
made for Norouz program asked by Szenenwechsel – a series of events that accompany diversity development in Berlin’s cultural sector. – on 19th March 2017
introduction:
Norouz-e Naft combines Norouz, the celebration of the New Year, with Rouz-e Naft, the Day of Oil. Norouz (literally “new day”) celebrates a transition, a change, a turn in the balance of power.
It marks the spring equinox in several countries in western Asia. What is less known to us is the Day of Oil, that refers to an important historic event: When Iran’s Prime Minister Mossadegh nationalised oil on the day before Norouz in 1951 and, in doing so, revoked access from the british company „Anglo Persian Oil-Company“, the United Kingdom made all efforts to counter this legal step, also in order to prevent setting Iran as an example for other decolonial movements. Two years following this dispute resulted in a coup d’état initiated by the British: Mossadegh was toppled and the last Shah was empowered in his position. And with this, a new chapter in Iran’s history began, one whose aftereffects can still be felt today.