Any other business

  Kalam polo , rice with cabbage, is aromatic Persian comfort food for winter weekends. It's a typical Iranian main-course rice dish, assembled and finished in one pot. This version, with meatballs, is associated with Shiraz. The recipe is for eight. In the morning (or at least four hours before you cook the rice), you set it to soak. I've always measured rice in what recipes used to call an 'after-dinner coffee cup', so put eight of those, or just over 500 grams in all, in a big bowl, and wash the rice first in hot water, then cold, till the water runs clear. Add a fistful of sea salt - not a pinch, a fistful - cover the rice with fresh cold water and leave it to soak till you're ready to cook it. Make some little meatballs using about 400 grams of meat (not too lean or the meatballs will be dry), two onions chopped fine, herbs (e.g. coriander), maybe some turmeric if you like, and salt and pepper. Whatever: you can use your own usual meatball recipe, and just roll...

I already explained, in a post about Iranian artist Mamali Shafahi's Heirloom Velvet project , that while Mamali continues to work with Ali Eslami on his five-part VR project, nerd_funk , he's also producing sculptural pieces influenced by his father's paintings.  In his latest exhibition, Night of Judgement/Daddy Kills People , at Parallel Circuit in Tehran, the new works are suddenly on an altogether bigger scale. As well as reliefs, there are gorilla 'totems' and large-scale free-standing sculptures, including a fountain and a rotating 'scorpion' throne. As usual, the works are fully installed, with a fluorescent grid design on walls and floors and coloured and UV lighting, and for the opening a live performance brought together a flautist, a sportsman and a flock of baby goats. Installations of this kind will soon be used to house Mamali and Ali's nerd-funk experiences, creating an immersive environment linked to the content of each VR chapter, thu...