Long live life: meeting the walnut tree
(on the occasion of the installation of the Vasta Qadir statue, a symbol of life, in Sardasht Peace Square)
Mohsen Renani
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Last week, in the village of Rashharmeh, I met a walnut tree. The burns caused by the chemical gases of the 7th of July 1366 bombing were still visible on half of his body. But it was still full of walnuts. An agricultural expert said it is at least five hundred years old. I brought some of his walnuts with me. The walnut tree, Vesta Qader’s brother’s aunt, Vesta Qader’s old hut, Rashhormeh village, Sardasht, Zab river, oak forests, and Sardasht grape fields, all of them were whispering in my ear: Long live life.
On July 7, 1397, when I introduced the story of Vesta Qader’s tragic life for the first time in a note entitled “Vesta Qader or the Wandering Soul of the Nation”, many expressed their gratitude and some expressed their readiness for any help to keep the memory alive. This is a symbol of the resistance of the human spirit. I didn’t think that Vesta would be able to become a symbolic figure among Kurdish compatriots and a nationally known figure in such a short period of time. See my note here:
https://t.me/Renani_Mohsen/275
Now that I am writing this note, a statue of him has been installed in Sardasht Peace Square; A film was made about his sufferings (Walnut Tree); A documentary film of interviews with him is being finalized; The movie “It’s called Life” is being made about Zian, the lost daughter of Vesta Qadir; An interested person is looking for Jian Jan, the missing daughter of Vesta Qader; The writing of the book “Hello to Life” has started based on his true biography; And the initial decisions to turn Vesta Qadir’s rural cottage into a “Peace and Life” museum have been taken by local authorities.
At the invitation of civil activists and local authorities of Sardasht, on Friday, October 18, 2019, which was the anniversary of the first bombing of Sardasht in 1359, I was present in Sardasht to commemorate the martyrs of the last bombing of Sardasht (on July 7, 1366), the Vesta Qader statue, which is titled “Salam On life: Vesta Kadir is a symbol of human resilience” to be unveiled in Sardasht Peace Square. Listen to my words during the unveiling of the statue in the audio file below. I said there that the Japanese were able to say hello to the world from the heart of the destruction of the war and create a new Japan.
The name of Peace Square was chosen for this square by the local authorities on the same day of its unveiling. The statue is also made by the famous Iranian sculptor and painter Ustad Hadi Zia Al-Dini, who created it in honor of Vesta Qadir. You have to see closely to understand the art, emotion and skill used in making this statue. At the end of this text, in photo number one, look at Vesta Ghader’s eyes to see what I mean. I asked professor Zia al-Dini, who could not attend the ceremony, to write something to be read at the unveiling ceremony. Write to us how he felt when he was able to create this living statue from mud and mud. See his answer in picture number 2 and 3. See the rest of the works of Hadi Zia Aldini in this link:
https://t.me/Hadi_Ziaoddini/309
After the unveiling of the statue, we went to Rashharmeh village and heard Vesta Qadir’s plight again from Mam Hamzeh, her brother. then to visit the walnut tree,
Read and see the rest of the notes and photos of the trip in the instant view link below:
https://telegra.ph/-10-16-125
Listen to the audio file of my speech at the unveiling ceremony of the statue below:
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This post is written by monese_ghamgosar