MohammedMathieu at 12:17, 25 May 2026

2026-05-25T12:17:54Z

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{{Short description|Iranian artist and filmmaker}}
{{About|the Iranian painter, playwright and director|other people|Hossein Nouri (disambiguation){{!}}Hossein Nouri}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hossein Nuri
| native_name = {{lang|fa|حسین نوری}}
| image = Hossein Nuri 2014.jpg
| caption = Nuri in 2014
| birth_name = Gholam Hossein Nuri Nekah
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1954|07|01}}
| birth_place = [[Mashhad]], [[Khorasan]], [[Pahlavi Iran|Iran]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = [[Painter]], [[playwright]], [[filmmaker]]
| other_names =
| disappeared_status =
| family =
| spouse = [[Nadia Maftouni]]
| children = 2
| networth =
| agent =
| website = {{URL|www.NuriGallery.com}}
}}

'''Hossein Nuri''' (also spelled '''Hosein Noori''' or '''Hussein Nouri''') ({{langx|fa|حسین نوری}}, born 1 July 1954) is an Iranian [[Painting|painter]], [[playwright]] and [[film director]]. One of Nuri's pre-eminent characteristics is that despite his physical limitations he has gained professional acclaim in three fields of painting, theater, and cinema.

==Early life==
'''Hossein Nuri''' was born on the first of July 1954 in [[Mashhad]], [[Iran]]. He lost his father at the age of three and, despite all the difficulties, his mother raised him along with his brother who was a year older than him.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tebyan.net/newindex.aspx?pid=4570|title=گزارشی از نمایشگاه نقاشی آقای حسین نوری و گفتگو با همسر ایشان}}</ref> He showed his talent in painting in specialized painting classes at elementary school.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yanous.com/pratique/culture/culture041022.html|title=La peinture selon Nuri|date=22 October 2004 }}</ref> After finishing elementary school in [[Mashhad]], he gained a scholarship to continue studies at Farah Industrial Boarding School in [[Tehran]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tebyan.net/newindex.aspx?pid=4570|title=گزارشی از نمایشگاه نقاشی آقای حسین نوری و گفتگو با همسر ایشان}}</ref>

==Torture and disability==
Farah Industrial Boarding School was closely monitored by [[SAVAK]], Iran's pre-revolution secret service. In 1972, Nuri wrote a play which was a political satire criticizing the system and defending human rights. Minutes after the play was staged, it was interrupted by military forces present at the school. Nuri was tortured severely by SAVAK, lost the ability to move his hands and legs, and his internal health started to deteriorate. He was sent to a hospital while he was still imprisoned by SAVAK. Finally as a result of severe damage to Nuri's body, SAVAK released him and he came back to his family who were then residing at [[Torbat-e Jam]]. Nuri continued painting by holding the brush with his mouth and uses a wheelchair.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yanous.com/pratique/culture/culture041022.html|title=La peinture selon Nuri|date=22 October 2004 }}</ref>

==Marriage==
After the revolution, Nuri again decided to write plays and staged them in different cities. In a speech he made for the students of [[Sharif University of Technology]], [[Nadia Maftouni]], who was a student of [[Applied physics]], fell in love with Nuri and proposed to him. Nuri accepted and she left her studies to live with Nuri in [[Torbat-e Jam]]. They have two sons; Abolfazl Nuri and Mahmoud Nuri. Later, they moved to [[Mashhad]], and afterwards to [[Tehran]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/details/257233|title=وقتی در زندگی عشق حرف آخر را می‌زند|date=25 April 2014 }}</ref>

==Painting style==
In 2004, Nuri introduced his new style of painting in an exhibition he held in Paris. It was based on the painter's intention to create a certain design out of an abstract process. The outcome was a combination of improvisation and calculated design. French painters suggested the name "Reflection" (Réflexion) for the style, which Nuri approved. Nuri does this process with materials such as oil-color and acrylic on large canvas and particularly the large scale of his works is one of his contributions to abstract painting.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.honarnews.com/vdcg3t9q.ak93z4prra.html|title=هنر بازتاب ظاهر و باطن است}}</ref> The use of bright colors and recurrence of butterflies are other characteristics of his style. Many of Nuri's works in the ''Reflection'' style are diptychs in which one side reflects the other. During four decades, Nuri has displayed his paintings in more than a hundred individual exhibitions in multiple cities of Iran and in capitals of France, China, Germany, Algeria, Lebanon, and Austria.<ref>https://www.isna.ir/news/8405-07354</ref>

==Theatrical career==
[[File:Hossein Nuri Theater.jpg|thumb|Maestro Hossein Nuri Theater]]
Nuri's theatrical career was revived after the revolution and it wasn't ever secondary to his painting career. In the 80s and 90s He wrote and staged several award-winning plays including ''The Purgatory Stop'' (1981), ''The Crimson Cloak'' (1982), ''The Last Festival'' (1983), ''The Circus'' (1985), ''Companion'' (1990), ''Beloved'' (1991), ''Intuition'' (1994), and ''The Seeker'' (1996).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mehrnews.com/news/4703921/%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%AD%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%86-%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%AF|title=Hossein Nuri's Theaterical Career|date=27 August 2019 }}</ref> As an established character in Iranian theater history, a theater in city of [[Mashhad]], which is one of Iran's theatrical poles, was named after him as ''[[Ustad]] Hossein Nuri Theater''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theater.ir/fa/125115/%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%B3%D9%88%DB%8C-%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%87-%D9%87%D9%86%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%AE%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B1%D8%B6%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87-%C2%AB%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%AD%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%86-%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C%C2%BB-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D8%B4%D8%AF|title=Maestro Hossein Nuri Theater Opened in Mashhad|date=September 2019 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Theatrical Awards and Accolades for Hossein Nuri
!Year
!Event
!Award/Accolade
!Title
|-
| 1984
| [[Fajr International Theater Festival|Fajr II International Theater Festival]]
|Best Play
| ''Crimson Cloak''
|-
| 1992
| [[Fajr International Theater Festival|Fajr X International Theater Festival]]
|Best Play
| ''Beloved''
|-
| 1993
| [[Fajr International Theater Festival|Fajr XI International Theater Festival]]
|Commended Play
| ''The Circus''
|-
| 1994
| Defense I International Playwrights Festival
|Commended Play
| ''Intuition''
|-
| 1996
| [[Fajr International Theater Festival|Fajr XIV International Theater Festival]]
|Commended Play
| ''Intuition''
|-
| 2001
| Defense Theater Festival 2001
|Best Play
| ''Companion''
|-
| 2002
| Defense Theater Festival 2002
|Best Play
| ''The Seeker''
|-
| 2003
| [[Dialogue Among Civilizations|Dialogue Among Civilizations center]]
|Special Recognition
| For Lifetime Achievements
|-
| 2004
| [[Fajr International Theater Festival|Fajr XXIII International Theater Festival]]
|Special Recognition
| For Lifetime Achievements
|-
| 2009
| [[Fajr International Theater Festival|Fajr XXVII International Theater Festival]]
|Special Recognition
| For Lifetime Achievements
|-
| 2020
| Opening of a theater (building) in his name: ''Maestro Hossein Nuri Theater''
|
|
|-
| 2024
| [[Fajr International Theater Festival|Fajr XLII International Theater Festival]]
|Equivalent PhD Degree in Playwriting<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.irna.ir/news/85361315 | title=اهدای نشان درجه یک هنری به ۸ هنرمند | date=21 January 2024 }}</ref>
|
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable unsortable"
|+Main Stage Projects with Nuri's Involvement
|-
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Playwright
! scope="col" | Director
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Venue
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference}}
|-
|1981
|''Monastery of the Magi''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| Red Crescent Theater
|
|-
|1982
|''The Purgatory Stop''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| [[City Theater of Tehran]]
|
|-
|1983
|''The Crimson Cloak''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|[[Vahdat Hall]]
|<ref>[[Islamic Republican (newspaper)|Islamic Republican Daily]] (December 29, 1983) p. 9</ref>
|-
|1985
| ''Rattlesnake''
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| [[City Theater of Tehran]]
| <ref>[[Kayhan]] (October 30, 1985), p. 6</ref>
|-
|1985
|''The Last Festival''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| Molavi Theater
| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://theater.ir/fa/artists/629|title=Nuri's ''The Last Festival'' Directed By Fanaian as ''Unveiling''|date=10 August 2010 }}</ref>
|-
|1991
|''Companion''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
| [[City Theater of Tehran]]
| <ref>[[Ettela'at]] (October 15, 1991), p. 5</ref>
|-
|1992
|''Beloved''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| Molavi Theater
| <ref>[[Ettela'at|Ettela'at Weekly]] (January 15, 1992), no. 2557 p. 23</ref>
|-
|1992
|''Borrowed Land''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| Molavi Theater
|<ref>[[Islamic Republican (newspaper)|Islamic Republican Daily]] (June 7, 1992) p. 14</ref>
|-
|1993
|''The Circus''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| Molavi Theater
|<ref>[[Hamshahri]] (September 9, 1993) p. 10</ref>
|-
|1995
|''Witnesses''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| [[City Theater of Tehran]]
| <ref>[[Iran (newspaper)|Iran Daily]] (July 25, 1995) p. 12</ref>
|-
|2002
|''The Seeker''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| Molavi Theater
| <ref>[[Jam-e Jam (newspaper)|Jam-e Jam]] (December 24, 2001) p. 8</ref>
|}

==Television and cinema==
Nuri directed several documentaries and television programs in the 80s and 90s. In early 2000s he directed some of his plays for television including ''The Last Festival'', ''The Circus'', ''Beloved'', ''Intuition'', and ''The Seeker''. He was co-writer of the [[Saint Mary (film)|Saint Mary project]] of which a movie version was primarily released in theaters in 2000 and later the extended TV version was televised on multiple global networks and became a hit.<ref name="www1.jamejamonline.ir">{{cite web|url=http://www1.jamejamonline.ir/newstext.aspx?newsnum=100004206398|title=Behind the Scenes of Nuri's Directing|accessdate=3 April 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418055034/http://www1.jamejamonline.ir/newstext.aspx?newsnum=100004206398|archivedate=18 April 2015}}</ref>

In 2019 Nuri wrote and directed the feature film ''[[My Arms Flew]]'' which was based on some actual events in his life. The film was screened and awarded in festivals and events in Iran, India, Germany, Italy, US, and Canada. After the screening of the film at [[Simon Fraser University]] of Canada, [[Patricia Gruben]] said: "I saw many things the second time that I had not understood on first viewing. The way it works with narrative is fascinating. I very much liked the visual construction of [[mise en abyme|mise-en-abyme]], where an image is inside another image, as with the dirt-bike footage and the cats in the window, and the paintings themselves. Also the dialectic between anger and spiritual beauty — the anger expressed in those violent paintings and suggested in the struggle to get off the floor, and in the brief cruelty of the cat against her kitten. And yet the ethereal beauty of the paintings, and of both Hossein and Nadia's faces, transcends that violence. It's really a wonderful film, and beautifully shot."<ref name="https://www.entekhab.ir/">{{cite web|url=https://www.entekhab.ir/fa/news/474778/|title=Nuri's My Arm's Flew Screened at SFU}}</ref><ref name="https://www.khabaronline.ir/">{{cite web|url=https://www.khabaronline.ir/news/1256322/|title=My Arm's Flew Screening and Analysis Session in Canada|date=4 May 2019 }}</ref>

Nuri has been a juror in multiple theater and film festivals. He was a jury member in the first edition of ''Cinema and Women Film Festival'' in Iran in 1995.<ref>[[Resalat (newspaper)|Resalat]] (November 14, 1995) p. 10</ref> After his film's success, Nuri has served as a jury member in various editions of ''[[Jaipur International Film Festival]]'' and ''New Delhi International Film Festival''.<ref>https://www.irna.ir/news/83612681/%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%AC%D8%B4%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%AC%DB%8C%D9%BE%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%B4%D8%AF</ref> He was a juror in ''Resistance International Film Festival'' in 2020<ref>https://www.isna.ir/news/99082718926/%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C-%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%84%D9%85-%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%88-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AC%D8%B4%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%84%D9%85-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%85%D8%AA</ref> and a program director in ''[[Red Rock Film Festival]]'' in 2024.<ref>https://suindependent.com/red-rock-film-festival-returns-in-september/</ref>

==Virgin Mary painting==
[[File:Virgin Mary Painting by Hossein Nuri.jpg|thumb|Hossein Nuri in front of the Danish embassy in Tehran]]
In February 2006 during the protests against [[Jyllands-Posten]] cartoons of [[Muhammad|Prophet Muhammad]], Nuri brought his aesthetic depiction of [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]] in front of the Danish embassy in Tehran and expressed his protest in a peaceful way "to respond to ugliness with beauty" as he put it. The incident was instantly reflected locally and globally. The day after, it was on the front page of four Iranian newspapers, [[Jam-e Jam (newspaper)|Jame Jam]], [[Tehran Times]], [[Sarmayeh]], and Asrar.<ref>[[Jam-e Jam (newspaper)|Jam-e Jam]] (February 14, 2006) p. 1</ref><ref>[[Tehran Times]] (February 14, 2006) p. 1</ref><ref>[[Sarmayeh]] (February 14, 2006) p. 1</ref><ref>Asrar (February 14, 2006) p. 1</ref> [[Reuters]] and [[Demirören News Agency|DHA]] were present at the scene, and [[CNN]] covered it in an extended report.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZWFuNakzuA|title=CNN: Artist Bring Artwork to a Protest in Tehran|website=[[YouTube]] |date=11 August 2024 }}</ref> Besides the primary impact, it engendered further comments by scholars and activists in the following years. Linda Sartor of [[Saint Mary's College of California]] referred to the incident in her book about her journey to East Asia.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3uB1oAEACAAJ&q=Turning+Fear+Into+Power|title=Turning Fear Into Power: One Woman's Journey Confronting the War on Terror|isbn=978-0-9913196-0-2 |last1=Sartor |first1=Linda |date=March 2014 |publisher=Psychosynthesis Press }}</ref> Ian Linden, Professor of Religious Studies at [[SOAS]] who teaches on Christian-Muslim relations said: "When there was a demonstration in front of the Danish Embassy in protest against the cartoons negatively caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad, an artist, who had lost the use of both arms, had managed while holding the paint brush in his teeth, to create a beautiful painting of Mary. He displayed the image and asked a question: This is our faith. What is yours?" <ref>{{cite book |last=Hearden |first=Maura |date=2014 |title=Mary, for the Love and Glory of God: Essays on Mary and Ecumenism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Bgijv1aQQ4C |location=VA |publisher=AuthorHouse |page=116 |isbn=978-1-4567566-7-3 |accessdate=November 6, 2018}}</ref> Geraldine Smyth of [[Trinity College Dublin]] said: "I think it's a very strong political statement to confront the ugliness with the beauty. It also conveys another face of Islam that has not to do with violence and burning embassies. There are other ways of answering violence and I think this more powerful way, because it disarms people."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aparat.com/v/s99hd0z|title=Scholars of Islam and Christianity Comment on Nuri's ''Saint Mary'' Painting}}</ref>

==Recognition==
[[Slavoj Žižek]] mentioned Nuri in the final part of an academic talk with [[Nadia Maftouni]]. As he was close to tears he said: "And incidentally, I know this will appear very low, but I mean it so sincerely... It made me cry when I read about this. Listen Nadia! Sincerely all the best to your husband."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tSw2OvRN0g|title=Slavoj Žižek on Hossein Nuri|website=[[YouTube]] |date=18 July 2021 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [[Persian Art]]
* [[Cinema of Iran]]
* [[List of Iranian artists]]
* [[List of Iranian film directors]]
* [[Islamic Art]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|7591414}}
*[[:fa:حسین نوری|Hossein Nuri in Persian Bharatpedia]]

{{Commons category}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuri, Hossein}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Iranian contemporary painters]]
[[Category:People from Mashhad]]
[[Category:Iranian theatre directors]]
[[Category:Iranian documentary filmmakers]]
[[Category:Iranian film directors]]
[[Category:Iranian screenwriters]]
[[Category:People from Tehran]]
[[Category:Persian-language film directors]]

Hossein Nuri - Revision history

MohammedMathieu at 12:17, 25 May 2026