TEHRAN -- Several Turkish officials attended an exhibition of calligraphy artworks created by sixty artists from Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member countries at the Dolmabahce Palace Museum in Istanbul.

The opening ceremony of the showcase, which was held on August 15, was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arinç and the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) Director Khaled Irn.

Turkey’s President Rajab Tayyib Erdugan also sent flowers on the occasion of the opening the event. ECO Cultural Institute (ECI) director Hojjatollah Ayyubi and several Iranian and Turkish artists were other attendees present.

A total of 100 calligraphy artworks in different styles including nastaliq, sols, taliq and divani are on display at the exhibit, IRCICA Director Khaled Irn mentioned during the opening event.

“We extend our thanks to the ECO Cultural Institute for holding the exhibition in Turkey and will try our best to continue our cooperation with the institute,” he mentioned.

He said that the exhibition is an outcome of agreements signed between the ECO Cultural Institute and IRCICA which become possible by the efforts of Ayyubi as a cultural figure and academic.

“I hope the artworks will go on display at several exhibitions in European countries in the near future,” Irn added.

The showcase was held at the Behzad Museum of Art and History in Dushanbe, Babur Gardens in Kabul, and the Diplomatic Gallery of the ECO Cultural Center in Tehran before the Turkish exhibition.

“The attendance by Turkish people and officials at the exhibit shows that there is cultural cooperation and union between Iranians and Turkish people,” Ayyubi mentioned during the event.

He called the language of art a universal medium that gives people an opportunity to transfer meaning between nations.

 

A collection of 100 calligraphic works by masters of four countries is on display: 46 by Iranian masters, 8 by Afghan artists, 6 by Pakistani artists, and 40 by masters from Turkey.

 

The ECO aims to strengthen the art and cultural roots of ECO member states through holding festivals and exhibits and helping to revive the cultural solidarity of these states.

 

Masters of calligraphy including Gholamhossein Amirkhani and Mohammad Heidari from Iran and Rashid Bat from Pakistan are among the artists whose works are on display at the showcase.

 

The fourth edition of the exhibit will be running until August 23..