TEHRAN -- Painter Parviz Kalantari was honored for his lifetime achievements at the Damonfar Visual Arts Festival closing ceremony.

The winners of this edition were also announced during the ceremony which was held at the gallery of the Mellat Cinematic Complex.
At the ceremony, scholar Iraj Parsinejad gave a brief lecture on different aspects of Kalantari’s characters. Former Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art curator Alireza Sami-Azar presented Kalantari the Honorary Diploma of the festival to.
The Damonfar Managing Director Seifollah Puya-Rad also spoke on the holding of the event, saying that the increase in the number of participants and improvement in the quality of artworks encouraged the officials of the festival.
“We have seen very powerful works of art that are increasingly popular and global in scope as long as we continue to support private art in this manner. I would hope that other institutes take part in artistic events similar to this one held by Damonfar,” he added.
In the painting section, the festival’s first prize went to Nafiseh Omran. Marzieh Baqeri received second prize and Mehdi Babaii and Saghar Daniri shared the third prize of the gala.
The first prize of the drawing section went to Mohsen Hesari. Milad Nemati received the second prize of the section and the third prize went to Razmin Nabizadeh.
Elaheh Nazari received the People’s Choice Award from this edition and twelve artists were also honored at the ceremony.
Dedicated to artists under 25 years of age, this year’s biennial displayed paintings, poster designs, and illustrations at the gallery until October 22.
The Damonfar Company is the Iranian representative of France’s Pebeo and Germany’s Faber-Castell, two companies that manufacture art materials.
Photo: Painter Parviz Kalantari (L) holds a lifetime achievement award he received from Damonfar Managing Director Seifollah Puya-Rad (C) during the closing ceremony of the Damonfar Visual Arts Festival at the Mellat Cinematic Complex on October 22, 2010. Former Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art curator Alireza Sami-Azar is also seen in the photo.