TEHRAN -- “The Shiraz School has been an influential one without which the art and literature of Iran would have remained incomplete,” said scholar Bahman Namvar-Motlaq at the opening address of the Shiraz School Conference.

The Shiraz School Conference opened here at Tehran’s Aseman Art and Culture Center on Wednesday.
Secretary of the conference Namvar-Motlaq talked about the unique art of Iran over the past centuries and said, “Unfortunately, Persian art has not found its rightful position as yet because of a lack of comprehensive research in this field.
“Iran’s Academy of Art established several groups to work on the unwritten part of Iran’s history of art. The groups are conducting research on different schools of art in Iran,” he remarked.
He continued, “In the first decade, the academy decided to carry out a project in which different schools would be studied. The project began with the Herat school and continued with the schools of Tabriz and Isfahan. And now we are studying the Shiraz School, and in the next two years we will work on the Qajar School.”
Namvar-Motlaq went on to say, “Out of 250 works published by the academy, 100 books cover issues about the different schools and in the future, we hope to be able to compile an encyclopedia on Persian art.
“The variety of cultures and cultural figures brought artists and poets from different parts of the country to Shiraz and established the Shiraz School,” he explained.
He also remarked, “When this conference is over, we will have gained more knowledge about the Shiraz School.”
The 5-day event will continue at the Hafez Hall of Shiraz on December 6 with a speech by the director of the Cultural Committee of the Iranian Parliament, Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel.
Hojjatoleslam Qasem Kakaii, the head of the wisdom and philosophy team of the Shiraz Conference gave a short talk and expressed his appreciation that the Academy of Art has provided the facilities to recognize Iran’s art and literature.
Afterwards, he pointed to the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries when the school was established and stated, “Some call those years a period of retreat from wisdom and thought, but it was the time when the Shiraz School was formed. The city of Shiraz is called Iran’s home of knowledge and the guardian of Persian culture and literature.
“The presence of great thinkers in Shiraz turned this city to the center of wisdom, and that is why many came to Shiraz to acquire wisdom.
“Therefore, those years in Shiraz were not only years of recession but a time that made Shiraz different from other cities. And since this city had the foundation of literature and science, it was able to influence deeply the emperors of the Timurid era,” he explained.
Scholar Habibollah Ayatollahi head of the miniature team of the Shiraz School Conference expressed his thanks to the head of Iran’s Academy of Art Mir-Hossein Musavi and said that it is was Musavi who saved and vitalized the Persian art that was sinking into oblivion.
“The conferences that the academy have held so far, have reintroduced Persian art to the different parts of the country and even overseas,” he added.
Ayatollahi expressed hopes that the officials would help meet both financials and spiritual goals of the academy and increase assistance so it could continue its activities.