The First Grand Prize of Iran Contemporary Painting, which was postponed for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, was held at Tehran’s Art Bureau on December 10.
Head of Association of Iranian Painters Amir Rad said that although this first edition was dedicated to painting, in future the event will support other majors of visual arts as well.
Rad added that the event was organized two years ago, but coronavirus pandemic postponed it.
The 9th edition of Iran’s National Painting Biennial was also canceled amid the fifth wave of the coronavirus infections in the country, Rad noted.
Iranian painter Maryam Esfandi received the top award of the First Grand Prize of Iran Contemporary Painting.
Leila Gudarzi and Elham Purkhani also won honorable mentions, each receiving 150 million rials in cash.
An exhibition showcasing a selection of submissions to the event is underway at the Bahar and Tabestan galleries of the forum and will run until Monday.
The ceremony went on with the Mani and Mana Awards, which are presented by the association every year.
This year’s Mani Awards went to Jamshid Haqiqatshenas and Shahnaz Zehtab.
The Mana Award was given to Farshid Maleki, an artist from the second generation of Iranian modernists. He began his art career with abstract paintings and then put his focus on expressionism and surrealism.