TEHRAN -- The Italian curator of Iran’s pavilion at the 56th International Art Exhibition of Venice Biennial, Marco Meneguzzo, said on Monday that the artworks selected for the exhibition are intended to present the diversity of Persian culture.

“What we aimed to show was not works by three or four artists but we meant to introduce the culture of Iran and reveal the dynamic and flourishing state of art in Iran,” Meneguzzo said in a press conference held at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.

Curated by Mazdak Faiznia from Iran and Meneguzzo from Italy, Iran’s pavilion covers an area over 2000 square meters at Calle San Giovanni, Cannaregio, Venice, displaying a variety of artworks by 52 artists.

“We believe we have organized a good exhibit. The biennial acts as an international window and we thought we needed to do a better job of introducing Iran so we decided not to allocate works only to a few Iranian artists,” Meneguzzo said.

The Professor of Arts Pedagogy at the University of Fine Arts of Brera in Milan added, “Art acts as an ambassador in the world and an ambassador has nothing to do but to introduce his country. However, both Mazdak and I had a single goal and that was to introduce Iran, one with an Iranian perspective and one with a foreign outlook.”

Meneguzzo explained that he has learned about the art of Iran over the past years and that he and Mazdak tried to achieve the same goal.

“That is why we chose a great number of artists and we intended for the visitors who venture into Iran’s pavilion to see the vast variety of Iranian artworks, and they could choose which artwork they want to see,” he said.

He also added that he believes the exhibit was appropriate, useful, and practical, having acted as a symbol for the culture of Iran.

For his part, Mazdak Faiznia, the Iranian curator, also elaborated on the achievements of the biennial, explaining that Iran’s pavilion has been situated in a good location for drawing the attention of the visitors during the early hours or even at closing time.

“Iran’s pavilion has attracted over 200 visitors every day since its opening on May 9. The decorations and the choice of Iranian and non-Iranian artists all helped draw more visitors, more curators, more museum managers and more non-Iranian artists to the pavilion,” he described.

He added, “Iran’s catalogue has been published by Silvana Editoriale and it was the only catalogue seen beside the main catalogue of the biennial in Italian bookstores”.

He also said that Iran was the only pavilion that had space dedicated for children to familiarize them with the art and culture of Iran.

Iran’s national pavilion, its largest ever at the prestigious contemporary art event, is home to two big events, the first of which is the Great Game introducing works by 40 artists from India to Iraq.

The Great Game also provides an opportunity to see the collective works of some of the most celebrated Iranian contemporary artists including mirror mosaics by Monir Farmanfarmaian and the calligraphic “Heech” sculptures by Parviz Tanavoli.

The Great Game is followed by the Iranian Highlights exhibit, a choice selection of four Iranian painters, photographers and conceptual artists from across three generations including Mohammad Ehsai, Jamshid Bayrami, Samira Alikhanzadeh and Mahmud Bakhshi Moakher.

The two exhibits are intended to work in harmony, creating a substantial whole united under Iran’s roof.

The 56th International Art Exhibition entitled “All the World’s Futures” will run until November 22, 2015.

Photo: Mohammed Ehsai’s calligraphy work entitled “Love” is among the Iranian works on display at Venice Biennial.

RM/YAW
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