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  • Art gallery displaying paintings by Ismaili artists at the Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center on Navroz
    Nazim Karim | 21 March 2018 | USA

    A special Navroz for the USA

    Art gallery displaying paintings by Ismaili artists at the Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center on Navroz The.Ismaili USA
  • A family creates tile art featuring traditional elements of Islamic art from the Aga Khan Museum publication, "Astounding ABC" at the Navroz event.
    Nazim Karim | 21 March 2018 | USA

    A special Navroz for the USA

    A family creates tile art featuring traditional elements of Islamic art from the Aga Khan Museum publication, "Astounding ABC" at the Navroz event. Naushad Virani
  • A young girl displays her geometric shape tile artwork, featuring traditional elements of Islamic art from the Aga Khan Museum publication, "Astounding ABC".
    Nazim Karim | 21 March 2018 | USA

    A special Navroz for the USA

    A young girl displays her geometric shape tile artwork, featuring traditional elements of Islamic art from the Aga Khan Museum publication, "Astounding ABC". Naushad Virani
  • A young child plays with items on the Haft-Seen table display at the Children's Museum in Atlanta.
    Nazim Karim | 21 March 2018 | USA

    A special Navroz for the USA

    A young child plays with items on the Haft-Seen table display at the Children's Museum in Atlanta. Naushad Virani
  • Children dancing and singing to seasonal and traditional Navroz spring songs at the Meet the Holidays series, an initiative focused on developing an appreciation of diversity in young children.
    Nazim Karim | 21 March 2018 | USA

    A special Navroz for the USA

    Children dancing and singing to seasonal and traditional Navroz spring songs at the Meet the Holidays series, an initiative focused on developing an appreciation of diversity in young children. Naushad Virani
  • Ismaili volunteers, Farishta Saba, Zohra Nayani, Farheen Hasham, and Amber Kaisani lead a traditional Pamiri dance with silk scarves.
    Nazim Karim | 21 March 2018 | USA

    A special Navroz for the USA

    Ismaili volunteers, Farishta Saba, Zohra Nayani, Farheen Hasham, and Amber Kaisani lead a traditional Pamiri dance with silk scarves. Naushad Virani
  • Children at the Navroz event are amazed by Ambrin Khutchi’s henna art.
    Nazim Karim | 21 March 2018 | USA

    A special Navroz for the USA

    Children at the Navroz event are amazed by Ambrin Khutchi’s henna art. Naushad Virani
  • Museum-goers enjoy dancing to springtime nursery rhymes with Faisal Nayani, Afshan Lakhani, Zohra Nayani, and Asif Lakhani.
    Nazim Karim | 21 March 2018 | USA

    A special Navroz for the USA

    Museum-goers enjoy dancing to springtime nursery rhymes with Faisal Nayani, Afshan Lakhani, Zohra Nayani, and Asif Lakhani. Naushad Virani
  • Museum’s Outreach Educator, Nissa Kara and her daughter Ariana Ali pose for a picture at the Haft-seen table decorated with painting by Shalina Chranya from AKM book, Astounding ABC.
    Nazim Karim | 21 March 2018 | USA

    A special Navroz for the USA

    Museum’s Outreach Educator, Nissa Kara and her daughter Ariana Ali pose for a picture at the Haft-seen table decorated with painting by Shalina Chranya from AKM book, Astounding ABC. Naushad Virani

For centuries, Navroz (Nowruz) has been celebrated as a festival marking the arrival of spring, with its promise of a fresh start in both nature, and in our lives. For Shia Muslims, March 21 signifies plentiful harvests, spiritual rejuvenation, a time of festivities, and a celebration of the bounty provided to us as we look forward to the future with optimism.

On this Navroz, Mawlana Hazar Imam is in the United States on his Diamond Jubilee visit, conducting Mulaqats with the Jamat in Houston, having met last week in Atlanta with the Jamat from other regions.

The significance of this particular calendar day is underscored by Hazar Imam’s presence in the USA. While all customary festivities for an Imamat visit and Navroz are being delayed until after his departure, the Jamat continues to be exuberant at his presence in the country, and for the opportunity for a Mulaqat.

The announcement today of the Aga Khan Music Awards is another major cultural initiative by Hazar Imam. The awards will offer $500,000 in prizes, and recognize exceptional creativity, promise, and enterprise in music performance, creation, education, preservation and revitalization in societies with a significant Muslim presence.

“The Aga Khan Music Awards will aspire to fill a unique cultural role,” said Hazar Imam, as the Music Awards will be unique in their focus on devotional music and poetry, of indigenous classical music, traditional folk music, and tradition-inspired contemporary music that has flourished in cultures shaped by Islam.

Mawlana Hazar Imam and Prince Amyn will co-chair The Music Awards steering committee, and the first Music Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in Lisbon, Portugal, from March 29-31, 2019.

Cultural activities in the United States included the Ismaili Council for the Southeast partnering with the Children's Museum of Atlanta for the fifth year, to host the Museum's annual Navroz celebration, part of its Meet the Holidays series. The annual program presents traditions of various cultures to encourage an appreciation of diversity in young children, through stories, arts and crafts, music, dance, and play. On display at the art studio were prints of paintings from the Aga Khan Museum, and books from the Museum, such as Astounding ABC and Two Crafty Jackals.

The Ismaili Council for the Southwestern US has, in prior years, partnered with the Children’s Museum of Houston to host Navroz celebrations and activities, as well as with the Fort Bend Children’s Discovery Center in Sugar Land. Activities have included egg decorating, creating hyacinth bouquets, and a display of a Haft Seen table to introduce children to foods representing good health, unity and prosperity, in the Shia tradition.

The UN's General Assembly recognized the International Day of Nowruz in 2010, a festival celebrated for over 3,000 years, and is registered on the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This Navroz will also become a part of each family's personal heritage, to be recounted for generations to come.