Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, there are many kiosks in and around the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, and they are still a relatively common sight in Greece.

In the Western hemisphere and in English-speaking countries, a kiosk is also a booth with an open window on one side. Some vendors operate from kiosks (see mall kiosk), selling small, inexpensive consumables such as newspapers, magazines, lighters, street maps, cigarettes, and confections.

An information kiosk (or information booth) dispenses free information in the form of maps, pamphlets, and other literature, and/or advice offered by an attendant.

An electronic kiosk (or computer kiosk or interactive kiosk) houses a computer terminal that often employs custom kiosk software designed to function flawlessly while preventing users from accessing system functions. Indeed, kiosk mode describes such a mode of software operation. Computerized kiosks may store data locally, or retrieve it from a computer network. Some computer kiosks provide a free, informational public service, while others serve a commercial purpose (see mall kiosk). Touchscreens, trackballs, computer keyboards, and pushbuttons are all typical input devices for interactive computer kiosk. Touchscreen kiosks are commercially used as industrial appliances, reducing lines, eliminating paper, improving efficiency and service. Their uses are unlimited from refrigerators to airports, health clubs, movie theaters and libraries.

Mohsen Namjoo, (Persian: محسن نامجو‎), is an Iranian musician, singer-songwriter. born in 1976 in Torbat-e Jam, a small town in northeastern Iran. His unique style of music is influenced by Blues and Rock as well as Iranian folk music. The lyrics of his songs are also odd combination of Persian classical poems, his own lyrics, and contemporary poems; and uses the words freely with irony and sarcasm to carry the music and make a free style of singing.

The New York Times called Namjoo "Iran's Bob Dylan".

Namjoo was born in Iran in a Muslim family. When he was one year old, his family moved to Mashhad where he lived until the age of 18. His father, Mohammad Hossein Namjoo, died when he was 12. His family encouraged him to start attending music classes in classical Persian vocal music.

In 1994 he studied Music at University of Tehran in addition to taking some theater classes. In 1997, Namjoo quit the music program explaining that he found their teaching methods and material a repetition of what he has learned before and as a result would not benefit him. Namjoo also studied Iranian folk music. He is also familiar with Western musical styles, particularly blues and rock.

Sergei Parajanov (Armenian: Սարգիս Հովսեփի Փարաջանյան, Sargis or Sarkis Hofsepi Paradzhanian; Georgian: სერგეი (სერგო) ფარაჯანოვი, Sergei (Sergo) Paradzhanov; Russian: Серге́й Ио́сифович Параджа́нов, Sergei Yosifovich Paradzhanov; Ukrainian: Сергій Йосипович Параджанов, Serhii Yosypovych Paradzhanov; also spelled Paradzhanov or Paradjanov January 9, 1924 — July 20, 1990) was a Soviet Armenian film director and artist, who significantly contributed to Ukrainian, Armenian and Georgian cinema.

He invented his own cinematic style, which was totally out of step with the guiding principles of socialist realism (the only sanctioned art style in the USSR). This, combined with his controversial lifestyle and behaviour, led Soviet cinema authorities to repeatedly persecute and imprison him and suppress his films.

Although he started professional film-making in 1954, Parajanov later disowned all of his pre-1964 works as "garbage". After directing Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (renamed Wild Horses of Fire for most foreign distributions) Parajanov had become something of an international celebrity and simultaneously a target of attacks from the system. Nearly all of his film projects and plans from 1965–1973 were banned, scrapped or closed by the Soviet film administration, both local (in Kiev and Yerevan) and federal (infamous Goskino), almost without discussion until he was finally arrested in late 1973 on trumped-up charges of rape, homosexuality and bribery. Parajanov was imprisoned until 1977, despite a plethora of pleas for pardon from various esteemed artists.