Museum of Artistic and Cultural Figures or Museum of Hemen is, in fact, the house of a famous Kurd poet namely Mohammad Amin Sheikh ol-Islami, best-known as Hemen (a Kurdish name that means calm and sedate). This museum is a house in which Hayman lived during his last years of life.
It was restored in 1391 SH and opened in 1392 SH with the purpose of exhibiting the remaining materials of Mahabad figures. Mohammad Amin Sheikh ol-Islami did many social and literary works in the region. He held a publication in Kurdish language and named it after Salah ad-Din ibn Ayyub in Urmia. He also left many poems in Kurdish and become a famous figure among the Kurd-speaker people.
The Museum of Artistic and Cultural Figures includes different parts like the exhibition hall, treasury, archive of documents and conference hall. The museum keeps many important items such as manuscripts, objects and souvenirs related to the famous figures of the city, the most important of which are: 1- Mohammad Qazi, he was born in 1292 in Mahabad. He is a highlighted Kurd-speaker translator in Iran. Many valuable translations remained of him, interesting among them are Don Quixote, Madame Bovary, Topoli, The Prince and the Pauper, Zorba the Greek, The Little Prince and many more. Mohammad Qazi is famous as Zorba the Iran among the scholars; 2- Mohammad Amin Sheikh ol-Islami al-Makri (Hayman), interesting among this Kurd poet’s works are Tarik va Roshan (meaning Dark and Light), Naleye Judaie (meaning whining about the separation), Shahzade and Geda (meaning The Prince and the Pauper) and many more; 3- Abd al-Rahman Sharafkandi, he was also born in Mahabad. He is a poet, writer, translator, scholar and photographer, and he wrote under the pseudonym of Hazhar. Among his highlighted works the translation of Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine from Arabic into Farsi, translation of Omar Khayyam’s Rubáiyát from Farsi into Kurdish, translation of Holy Quran into Kurdish as well as many of Dr.
Ali Shariati’s books into Kurdish can be referred; 4- Khaled Hesami, he was born in Bukan and is among the great Kurd poets and writers; he wrote under the pseudonym of Heydi. His collection of poems has been published in a book entitled Karavan; 5- Mohammad Mameli, born in Mahabad, is one of the most famous poets and singers of this region.
