TEHRAN -- Winners of the 4th edition of the Fajr International Festival of Visual Arts were announced during a ceremony held at Vahdat Hall on Sunday.

 

Participants competed in different categories of painting, sculpture, pottery and earthenware, miniature, calligraphy, and graphic designs, while the three sections of photography, poster and cartoon were held internationally during the one-month long event.

 

Attended by Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs Hamid Shahabadi and Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMCA) director Mahmud Shaluii, the ceremony began by paying tribute to several veterans and masters of art.

 

Works by veterans was put on display at TMCA, while the competitive section of photography and earthenware was held at Niavaran Cultural Center.

 

Saba Art and Cultural Institute displayed works from the competitive sections of painting, calligraphy, miniature and poster. Illustration, cartoon, and sculpture sections were also held in Tehran’s Imam Ali (AS) Religious Arts Museum.

 

The new special section of the festival featuring top artworks with the central theme of Islamic Awakening was also arranged at the Palestine Museum of Contemporary Art.

 

Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hosseini had earlier emphasized that the top winner of Islamic Awakening would receive a collection of 50 Bahar Azadi gold coins worth about $40,000.

 

However, this award was not presented to a winner, since it was claimed that no artwork worth the prize was recognized by the jury. 

 

The ceremony continued with unveiling the book of the 4th edition containing the displayed artworks followed by announcing the winners.

 

Atefeh Malekju won the first prize in the illustration section but no first-prize winner was announced for the painting.

 

In the earthenware section, eight top artists were awarded but no ranking was announced in this section; the same occurred in the poster section where only several artists were honored.

 

The first prize in the sculpture section went to Atena Akhavan and the first prize in the photography section was given to Ayyub Rashidi.

 

Parisa Rahmani was awarded the first prize winner of the miniature section, and Mehdi Irani received the first prize of the gol-o-morgh (a unique style of Persian painting featuring bird and floral motifs in different colors).

 

In the illumination section, no ranking was announced and Maryam Labbani, Nasrin Aqamiri and Mehrdad Rastin shared the first prize.

 

Ali Fakhari got the first prize in the shekasteh nastaliq style of calligraphy.

 

Ali Irani and Saber Safaii shared the first prize of the sols and naskh styles of calligraphy. In the modern style of calligraphy, no first winner was announced and several calligraphers were honored.

 

In the cartoon section, Majid Irani got the first prize of the free section, and in the portrait section with no ranking, Arash Forughi and Nasrin Sheikhi were honored.

 

RM/YAW

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