I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Please add general comments to the guestbook below. To comment on specific dioramas, use the comment section of that diorama. Search here for specific dioramas.

Dr. Niccu Tafarrodi

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200 responses to “Guestbook”

  1. Mahhin Noori Avatar
    Mahhin Noori

    Niccu jan, I enjoyed and was proud of all the hard work you put into these art work, you are so amazing and your work is beyond the imajination of any human being to creat such organize and beautiful work. I also would like to have an option of looking at these picture to be able to make it a little bigger if that would be posible. I admire your talent and so proud of you as an Iranian women.
    Mahin Noori

  2. Libby Bauman Avatar
    Libby Bauman

    Amazing doesn’t begin to describe these beautiful dioramas. This site is instructional as well as beautiful to look at. I truly believe the dioramas need to be exhibited in a museum where many, many people can come to appreciate them and learn.

  3. Afsaneh Pouresmail Avatar
    Afsaneh Pouresmail

    Dear Nicu,
    It is hard to imagine how much time and effort you put in the exhibition in such a detail and elegance. It is amazing!!! Your idea of showing the different part of Iranian life and culture in miniature is unique at least within Iranian community. It is a great service especially to our younger generation who need to know about our culture. As an Iranian, I appreciate your hard work and admire your passion and dedication.

  4. Michael Emami Avatar
    Michael Emami

    Dear Niccu,

    You have a great vision and dedication to bring to life part of your native culture and heritage by displaying it on pedestal meticulously for others to enjoy and learn. I know for the fact how much effort you have invested in this project and because of that you have my admiration.

    Job Well Done!

    Michael Emami

  5. Sara Lien Avatar
    Sara Lien

    Niccu’s gift to her culture and to the people she shares it with is her incredible ability to infuse her own passion into every single piece in her collection. The amount of time and energy she spends creating her dioramas, as well as how wholeheartedly she gives herself to the work, speaks to her devotion to this cherished place. She generously shares her wisdom with others and Minnesota is so fortunate to have her caring heart and important work here. Thanks for sharing it with us!

  6. Nayer Avatar
    Nayer

    Dearest Niccu,

    Going through such a fantastic art-work, full of details, and your art in recreating memories from childhood, made me to have happy moments and to be proud of you once more. This art-work is the story of your love for Iran. love, Nayer

  7. Marjan Avatar
    Marjan

    salam khaale joon. You are a creative person and what you have done, shows your love for Iran and Art.

    Marjan

  8. neptune Avatar
    neptune

    Dear Niccu , you have recreated all those beauties and memories that I always enjoy to remember.Thanks for your strong struggle to present such a beautiful diorama.

  9. Maryam Nejad Avatar
    Maryam Nejad

    This is a true work of art and very educational as well. I learned many new things about my birth land.
    You are amazing and make me so proud. Wait until people see the actual diorama.

  10. Tyler Mandry Avatar
    Tyler Mandry

    First, I want to thank you for visiting and sharing your experiences with us at the University of Minnesota. I found your presentation, as well as, this website to be eye-opening. I was unaware that men in Iran are not expected to raise their children and instead leave the women to raise the children alone. I found your insight into this issue in “The Struggle” section of your website to be very interesting. In my opinion, this aspect of Iranian culture seems like one that is very detrimental to women’s advancement in Iranian society. It would seem that the burden of raising children alone would keep women from making career or professional advancement in Iranian society. To me, this seems like a major obstacle Iranian women face in their fight for equality. Thank you so much for your time and your priceless insight into Iranian culture.

  11. Sarah G. Avatar
    Sarah G.

    I’m am very impressed by the professionalism of this website. I like how you have lots of clear and concise information about the different parts in the dioramas. It is nice that you have links to other websites, for instance to an art museum where you can see the parts of the dioramas in other works of art. These dioramas are so intricate and beautiful. I can see how they give you hope and motivation. Thank you for sharing this with us.

  12. Natalie Whalen Avatar
    Natalie Whalen

    This is a very interesting and educational website! Your work is very incredible. There is a lot of attention to detail and everything is very precise. It was very interesting seeing one of the dioramas in person! It really impressed me to see it up close like that and then to hear all of the stories that you had to share with us. Thank you very much for that! I feel that I now have a little bit more insight about the subject.

  13. Andy Lakanen Avatar
    Andy Lakanen

    I become increasingly impressed the longer I look at the pages of this website. I envy your patience in being able to do something like this, which I’m sure took dedication. I would find it difficult to find materials that didn’t make me feel like I was settling for something less than perfect. Maybe you, like many artists, feel like your work is never complete. Your attention to detail is astonishing! Also, I find your stories of class struggle very interesting. You seem to have an extensively comprehensive view of the issues occurring throughout your homeland.

  14. Yinan Wang Avatar
    Yinan Wang

    It is amazing!!! I never think of that life can be presented in this way! I am so impressed. No matter what event, all of them are stated in detail. Even I am looking at pictures, but it seems I am in the story, I am in the real world. That surprise myself. And for the stories, they are all classic, like wedding, like some celebrations. I’ll keep visiting your website, and really looking forward more interesting stories.

  15. Katie Leitner Avatar
    Katie Leitner

    This website is so eye opening to me! Not only the artwork amazing, but you seem like an exceptional woman in the fact that you do many different thing with your life. Doing this artwork has brought back many memories for people and created happiness, but creating the books about AID and cancer prevention is phenomenal. There needs to be more people like you in the world to help others out!

  16. Kayleen Jacobson Avatar
    Kayleen Jacobson

    I have noticed a theme of separation between males and females in your recounting of weddings and the winter solstice. While I can’t say i am surprised by this, it seems like you have more to say about it. It is a curious topic for me as I do not know and fully understand these relationships outside of the Western world [and at times within it]. I would love to learn more about your perspective on this through your work. Thanks for sharing something so personal!

  17. Im, Hyngkeun Avatar
    Im, Hyngkeun

    These arts are so elaborated and kind of cute!! these traditional arts to brought me there in Persia! Especially, mosque is very impressive, it very delicate and beautiful. I really like to introduce this website to my friends !!!

  18. Youa Yang Avatar
    Youa Yang

    In your special occasions Ramadan, you said that in America, you could never again experience the beauty and delicacy of the Sofreh setting and you wish the younger Iranian generations could experience their own traditional style. I’m wondering if you can create these models of you nostalgic pass then what is preventing you from creating a real life model for the younger generation? I feel that it is the people in my life that made events significantly meaningful so couldn’t you recreate something similar for the younger generation to experience like you did? If your Ramadan experience is not the same, what is your family’s current Ramadan setting like? I would like to see your view of westernization and is it possible for two culture to blend?

  19. Kaitlin Setzke Avatar
    Kaitlin Setzke

    Thank you SO much for sharing your work with us! I can only imagine how long it would take you to put together such refine, detailed, exquisite dioramas. I thoroughly enjoyed looking through each piece especially because they were made solely from your memory. Your dioramas of your homeland were very engaging. I was fascinated that you were able to recreate these experiences through such a unique, extraordinary way.

  20. Amy Pennington Avatar
    Amy Pennington

    Every diorama that you have created and shared on this website are so fascinating and intriguing. The amount of detail and precision you place on each diorama is so interesting and impressive! You do a really good job of showing how life was really like and I love that you create settings of typical everyday occurrences like the household, market, etc. Your dioramas on the class struggle really gave me such a good picture of the struggles that the women were put through and how hardworking they needed to be in order to survive and take care of their children. Such powerful pieces of art, well done!

  21. Pa Shoua Vang Avatar
    Pa Shoua Vang

    Wow, I am really amazed by your work. Everything is so detailed and beautifully made. I am surprised at a lot of the materials that you manage to find and use. A lot of the materials seemed like they might have been hard to work with but you manage to make it work. The ceilings of the mosque were really intriguing and eye catching. The glass stained windows impressed me as well. You are truly an artist. I love the art that you have made and I’m glad that they hold memories and meanings dear to you. I hope to learn more about your story when you come to speak for my class at the University of Minnesota this Monday.

  22. Stephanie Melby Avatar
    Stephanie Melby

    The artwork on this site is so unique and life-like! I enjoyed all of the different scenarios and the differences in Westernized and traditional rooms. I like that the artwork has meaning and is from childhood memories. I have read about Persian carpet weaving prior to visiting this site and I learned much more through the depictions here. The carpet weaving is one of my favorite sections. Thank you for sharing your artwork!

  23. Steph Brandt Avatar
    Steph Brandt

    These dioramas you created are incredible! I would love to hear more about how you were able to make the intricate designs in the glass and on the ceiling of the mosque. I also appreciated the stories that you told along with the dioramas. When you talked about the parents bedroom I had to laugh remembering my own curiosity regarding that room as a child. The bathroom comparison was also really interesting as it showed how something so simple can be accomplished so differently. It was eye-opening to view the multiple scenes used to capture the upper class household, while the worker’s home only needed one.

  24. Hanna Shaffer Avatar
    Hanna Shaffer

    I’m an architecture student at the University of Minnesota and I find your architecture home models absolutely fantastic! I love all the details and colors. It’s interesting to see how different the Persian style is compared to the American style.

  25. Chris Erickson Avatar
    Chris Erickson

    This site is outstanding! The educational value is immense, and the dioramas teach so much about culture and daily life that books would have a hard time doing. Congratulations Zahra, it looks fantastic!