Unlike many Asian countries, Iran gets a reasonable amount of media coverage in the UK and you probably have some awareness of the country's political challenges, nuclear policy and trade sanctions

For me, a British-born Iranian, these stories eclipse positive or alternative stories about Iran as our heritage and contemporary culture are hidden behind a political cloud. I am not saying that the negative stories shouldnt be reported on and I am glad that they are, I would just like to see a different side of Iran presented to UK audiences.

At Asia House, we aim to present events that help people develop an informed understanding of the pan-Asia region. This year, I have developed a Summer School programme focused on Iran to give people the opportunity to explore this historically rich country.  I am looking forward to helping people explore different aspects of my culture (calligraphy, poetry, Norouz celebrations) and hopefully challenging some of the negative associations they may hold about Iran.

The Iranian film industry is helping our country gain some recognition for something more positive. Check out Leila Hatami awarding a prize to Matteo Garrone at the Cannes Film festival two weeks ago and Asghar Farhadi picking up an Oscar . Parviz Jahed, the leading expert on Irans film industry will be leading a film workshop as part of the summer school and I can't wait to learn more about how to interpret the cinematic codes of Iranian film.

I am honoured and incredibly excited that Amin and Parham, members of the acclaimed London based Iranian band, Ajam, will be guiding workshop participants through a session about native peoples music of Iran.  Ajam have just come back from a tour of Beirut, Cairo and Assiut here is a taste of what they do

We will have a blog posts during the Summer School from our students and I am curious to see what they learn during the week.

To book your place on a Summer School workshop, click here