Ecstasy and the Persian Spirit is that inescapably rare evening during which ancient art is presented in a manner so immediate, so poignant, that you cannot help but feel the power that resonates and remains even after many millennia. Tonight, poets Majid Naficy (1970s Iranian political activist and bard of the Venice homeless), Bernard Radfar (the author, not to be confused with the other Bernard Radfar, an arms dealer) and award-winning translator Niloufar Talebi read from contemporary and classical poems in both Persian and in the 3,000-year-old language of Aramaic (with English translations). These readings, accompanied by traditional Persian music, are a vital window into a world that is, at best, forgotten and, at worst, actively vilified for one artless political reason or other. Part of the Fowler Museum's ongoing exhibition Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews (on view through March 10). Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Wstwd.; Tues., Jan. 22, 7:30 p.m.; free. (310) 443-7000, hammer.ucla.edu.

Tue., Jan. 22, 7:30 p.m., 2013

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