Abdulreza Sohrabi: We will give a special award to the best media and journalist of the year in visual arts

According to Fars news agency, Abdulreza Sohrabi, director general of visual arts of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, met and talked with the media before noon today (Sunday, March 21, 1401).

During this meeting, which was held in the meeting hall of the deputy art affairs building and in the presence of Jafar Vahedi, head of the Contemporary Visual Arts Development Institute, Seyyed Mostafa Zaravandian, artistic vice president, and Katayoun Azdi, vice president of the visual arts center’s plan and program, Sohrabi congratulated Hazrat Sahib al-Zaman on his birthday. Aj) added: I hope the world will taste the true taste of justice in the light of his appearance and presence.

He further stated: Media is one of the most important pillars of our activity at the Center for Visual Arts, and during the 10 months that have passed since my presence in the current position, we have always tried to strengthen the process of synergy between the center and the media. Providing constructive criticism from the media is constructive and helps managers to perform better in their management field.

Sohrabi further gave good news to the journalists and said: Next year, for the first time, we will give a special award to the best media and journalist of the year for visual arts, the details of which will be announced in the future.

Referring to the process of holding art biennials this year, he said: We define biennials based on existing capacities. This year, in spite of the existing conditions, we held the biennial painting and I must say that many efforts were made to organize this event so that there would not be the slightest disturbance in the process of its implementation and things would go according to routine, which fortunately happened. In the next year, we will have two more biennials and it is necessary for you, the media, to demand this from us. Now we have the necessary preparations to hold biennials, but the necessary conditions and financial resources must be provided.

In another part of his speech, the Director General of Visual Arts, in response to one of the reporters about the non-holding of the Tehran auction and the suspicion of canceling its license, explained: The non-holding of the Tehran auction was not the case that the permit for this event was not issued. One of the media had put forward this proposition, which was not correct. There was a legal problem in Tehran’s auction application and we told them to correct it so that the necessary permission would be granted, but this was not done. Therefore, we did not issue the auction license, because no application was submitted to us.

While emphasizing the importance of the rotation of the art economy wheel, he said: The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and Mr. Minister personally emphasize the importance of the prosperity of the art economy. Such an approach is also on the agenda of the visual arts center and we follow all our programs in this direction. One of the circulation platforms of art economy is holding art auctions. So far, two auctions have been added to the list of next year’s auctions. Also, the council for buying visual works has been created in the visual arts center so that we can buy as many artists’ works as possible.

Sohrabi continued: We are going to apply an amendment in the instructions of the galleries so that the gallery manager can hold an auction in addition to running a gallery. A cultural institution should not necessarily hold an auction, the director of the gallery should be able to submit his request for holding an auction according to the existing framework and standards.

In another part of his speech, he said about the state of the Museum of Contemporary Art and its reconstruction: I was given a brief report about the process of the museum’s reconstruction. I don’t want to criticize the activities carried out in the previous periods, but I believe that the restoration process of the museum has not gone as it should. including the installation of the fire extinguishing system, which is one of the most serious remaining tasks. A plan was presented about ceramicizing the floor of the museum, which Mr. Salari and I opposed, because ceramics are not suitable for the structure of the museum. Next, we returned the carpets to the museum.

In response to a question about how to hold the Iranian Youth Visual Arts Festival, he said: We are looking for a creative measure to hold the Iranian Youth Visual Arts Festival and we ask the media to criticize the current situation and provide suitable solutions. Our goal is to hold creative art events, and I hope that with your company, dear members of the media, a good brainstorming will occur in the field of advancing the designed goals.

In another part of his speech, Sohrabi presented a statistical report on the performance of the visual arts center this year and said: this year, a total of 387 permits have been issued to hold exhibitions in different galleries. Also, 8 licenses have been allocated for the establishment of galleries and 58 licenses for extending the activity of galleries.

He added: So far this year, 46 cases of art certificates have been issued, 2,384 cases of issuance of permits for the entry and exit of works of art, 31 reviewed applications for holding festivals, 10 approved permits for holding festivals, 329 cases of membership of artists in the Art Credit Fund, 1,448 cases of renewal of membership. Artists in the art credit fund, 5 cases of introducing artists to the art credit fund to receive pensions, 3 cases of introducing artists to receive grants, 417 cases of introducing artists for insurance and 133 cases of introducing artists to receive loans.

In the final part of his statement, the director general of visual arts appreciated and thanked the media and media members for covering the news of visual arts events this year.

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