“Over 700 artworks by 511 artists will go on display. Coronavirus restrictions and the pandemic gave the artists more opportunities to create artworks,” the Visual Arts Office director, Hadi Mozaffari said in a press release published on Wednesday.

He added that some of the artworks on the theme of COVID-19 will be showcased in a special section.

He also said that a selection of artworks by top female artists from all the previous editions of the Fajr Festival of Visual Arts has been shown in the virtual exhibit “Shadow of Tooba” to celebrate the birthday of Hazrat Fatima (SA), the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad (S).

A total of 103 artworks by 92 female artists who have been the recipients of Golden Tooba awards from the festival have been displayed in the exhibit, which opened Tuesday.

The selection is available on the website and Instagram page of Iran’s Institute for Development of Contemporary Visual Arts.

The director of the festival Ali-Ashraf Sandoqabadi also said that nine veteran Iranian artists will be honored with lifetime achievement awards this year.
 
The honorees are master of sculpture and ceramics Jafar Najibi, cartoonist Ahmad Abdollahinia, illustrator Saeid Razzaqi, painter Garnic Derhakupian, miniaturist Khashayr Qazizadeh, graphic designer Ahmad Aqaqolizadeh, art researcher Yaqub Ajand, photographer Mohammad-Hossein Heidari and calligrapher Mohammad Salahshur.

A collection of 93 calligraphy works has been selected to compete in the festival this year.

“The works have been selected out of 511 works submitted by 239 calligraphers,” a member of the jury, Mojtaba Malekzadeh, said in a press release published last week.

He noted that most of the works are in the nastaliq style of calligraphy.

He also noted that what will make the final judgment difficult is that all styles of calligraphy must be judged together this year while in previous editions each style was judged in its own category.

“We understand current conditions in the country, and I think in the calligraphy section it would be better if we have more than one honoree,” he remarked.

Member of the cartoon section of the festival Masud Ziai also announced that 49 cartoons will be competing in the cartoon section of the festival this year. 

The collection has been selected out of 266 submissions by 100 artists. 

In a press release published in late December, the organizers had called on Iranian artists who have been honored at international events to participate in the festival. 

“Interested artists who have received international awards at the biennials and festivals in 2019 and 2020 will be attending the new section named ‘World Stars of Iranian Art’,” director of the festival Ali-Ashraf Sandoqabadi had said.

He mentioned that the submitted works will be published in the book of the festival.

He also said that an exhibition of lithographs by curator Ahmad Vakili will also be held on the margins of the festival.

“The winners of the Visual Arts Festival for Youth over the past three years, as well as the winners from the two previous editions of the Fajr Festival of Visual Arts, the fifth Iranian International Calligraphy Biennial and the 11th National Biennial of Contemporary Iranian Ceramic Art, are also attending this year, and their works will also be judged for the final awards,” he concluded.

Source: Tehran Times