The 8th Tehran Sculpture Biennial, December 15th, with the display of more than 90 artworks, begins in Vahdat Hall and Roudaki area.
In this inauguration, which was accompanied by the limited presence of a number of artists due to the observance of health protocols, Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini, Deputy Minister of Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, expressed his thoughts to reporters about holding this biennial "One of the main policies of the General Directorate of Visual Arts has been to provide opportunities for the activities of specialized art associations, and one of the most important events held by these associations was specialized biennials".
This biennial was held in consultation with the Director-General of Visual Arts and several meetings with associations. Hosseini continued "Our goal was to hold or plan between 2 to 4 specialized events every year. This year, some of these events could not be held due to the special circumstances created by Corona."
He said about the features of the eighth biennial of sculpture "Holding these artistic events shows that art is still active and alive.I think there are some worthy points in this biennial'.The first is the coexistence of young people and adults, and the second point is the attention to the identity and cultural elements of our dear country which can be seen in the works, and this issue exists in idea generation, in the use of materials and in summarizing. These works are narrative, and each is shaped by a process in the artist's mind, not merely to present work to the Sculpture Biennial. This is one of the most admirable features of the biennial".
Visual Arts Office director Hadi Mozaffari also present at the ceremony said that the pandemic and several other factors caused the transfer of the biennial from the Book Garden in the Abbasabad district in late February to the Vahdat Hall in December.
“However, we did our best to hold the festival in collaboration with the sculptors and the Association of Iranian Sculptors,” he said.
There have been some changes in this year’s edition, he said, adding, “The biennial is not a competitive event this year because there was a belief that those who attend the biennial have been selected from the best and their artworks will be judged by the public later.
Also one of the main strategies of the biennial this year is adding a number of curatorial teams to carry out different projects.
Sahar Salkhi, Hasti Gudarzi, Hamed Dehqan, and Bijan Gholnchepur are among the collaborating curators.
Deputy Culture Minister for Art Affairs Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini, the head of Visual Arts Office, Hadi Mozaffari, and Managing Director of the Roudaki Foundation Mahdi Afzali attended the opening ceremony.
The biennial will be running until February 9.