The beginning of the 14th Fajr Visual Arts Festival

Fars News Agency, Art and Media Group: The opening ceremony of the 14th Fajr Visual Arts Festival was held on Friday, February 6, in the presence of a group of artists and officials at the Saba Cultural and Artistic Institute.

Mahmoud Salari, Artistic Deputy of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the 14th Fajr Visual Arts Festival, said about the festival: “There are 10 disciplines in the Fajr Visual Arts Festival, each with its own judges and selectors, so the Visual Arts Festival It is one of the most extensive festivals in the country in terms of professors and participants.

Regarding the importance of the visual arts, he said: “We need the visual arts in cinema, theater and music, so this festival is also very important for the country’s art collection and is a sport of athletics and gymnastics for other sports.”

Referring to the differences between this period of the festival and previous years, Salari added: “A 40% increase in the number of works and participants is one of the differences between this period of the festival and previous periods.” This year, we are also holding the Fajr Visual Arts Festival in 30 provinces of the country, and this is a new event that did not happen in previous years. In addition, the side sections of the festival, such as “Mirror in the Mirror”, “Sacrifice and Sacrifice” and showing the works of masters collected from the treasures and exposed to the public, are the highlights of this period of the Fajr Festival of Visual Arts.

Mohammad Hossein Niroumand, artistic advisor to the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, said about the Fajr Festival of Visual Arts: “I have been involved in work since the first period of the Fajr Festival of Visual Arts, and at that time the vacancy of a festival for visual arts was completely felt.” The festival has had its ups and downs in these 14 seasons, and this is natural, because one cannot expect artists to always produce great works during a year, and therefore the quality of works may be lower during some seasons of the festival.

Niroumand continued: “The importance of this festival is that its news is reflected in various media so that this event becomes a national current.” In this way, young people are involved in the story and families come to the exhibition and are encouraged to art. We need to heat the visual arts oven at least once a year, and perhaps the most important task of this festival is to highlight the visual arts of the country. This visibility is very necessary for art because when art is seen, its importance becomes clear.

Niroumand said that this period of the festival was key when the government changed, adding: “This makes it very difficult, but in my opinion, despite all the changes, the friends in different festivals really tried and regardless of what usually happens in transfers.” They tried to hold dignified events.

Referring to the atmosphere of the Fajr Festival of Visual Arts, he said: “Extraordinary work has been done in designing the atmosphere of the festival.” Audiences need to come and see what a good capacity there is to be able to change the dull office spaces. This exhibition can be an educational aspect for departments and ministries across the country to see how the space can be transformed with these Iranian themes. Now the person who is in this space is happy and this is very important. This exhibition is a template and our administrative system should use this template and reproduce it.

Niroumand added: “I hope that there will be intelligence that these works will not end in exhibitions and museums, but in the lives of people, offices and workplaces.” Unlike in the past, when art was in our lives and even in our utensils there were calligraphy and painting, today art has taken the form of a museum, but we must provide the ground for art to enter people’s lives again. From such activities in space design to visual works in the form of paintings, sculptures, etc., there must be in the living space of people, and if this happens, what we want from culture and art will be created in our lives.

The 14th Fajr Festival of Visual Arts will host art lovers until February 20 at the Saba Cultural and Artistic Institute, located on Valiasr Street, at the intersection of Taleghani Street.