TEHRAN -- The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMCA) is playing host to the fifth edition of the Asma-ul-Husna (beautiful names of Allah) Poster Exhibition.

The exhibit displaying typography posters themed on the names of Allah was inaugurated Saturday at the museum with several cultural figures attending the opening ceremony.
A collection of 200 works submitted to the competitive and non-competitive sections of the event have been put on show, in addition to a selection by the masters of calligraphy Jalil Rasuli and Nasrollah Afjeii.
Chairman of the Majlis Cultural Commission, Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs Mohammad-Hossein Imani-Khoshkhu, and TMCA director Mahmud Shaluii attended the ceremony which coincided with the first day of Ramadan in Iran.
Haddad-Adel made the opening speech and said that the art of calligraphy has constituted the best home for the Asma-ul-Husna throughout the history of Islam.
“Asma-ul-Husna is a wide domain allowing artists to express their appreciation towards Allah in different forms of art. When looking at Islamic architecture, we see that the best designs and motifs on the buildings are those based on the names of Allah.”
Haddad-Adel also wished success to all artists who are making use of their talents to promote peace and friendship.
Shaluii spoke next, saying that the Iranian Artists Forum had hosted previous editions of the exhibit and a collection of the fourth edition has also been displayed in the cities of Ankara, Istanbul and also in Zagreb.
“Items from the fourth exhibit were also loaned to Ahvaz Museum of Contemporary Art marking the occasion of its first year of operation. That collection has now been put on display in Tehran,” he remarked.
Swiss jury member Rene Wanner made a short speech, referring to his previous trip to Iran which was also undertaken to attend a poster competition in Tehran and said, “After my stay in Iran, I have been paying more attention to religious posters and I think that poster designs in Switzerland are very simple, while the works here enjoy modern typography of a high quality.”
The ceremony continued with tributes paid to calligraphy masters Rasuli and Afjeii and the jury’s choice of winners were handed awards.
Iran’s Ali Javaher took the jury grand prize, Sabina Oberhausen and Rita Totagali from Switzerland shared first award, Ali Silan from Turkey won second award, and third award went to Omid Namolhabib from Iran.
The exhibit will run on until September 19 at the museum located on North Kargar St., next to Laleh Park.
Photo: Women visit the Asma-ul-Husna Poster Exhibition, which opened at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art on August 22, 2009. (Mehr/Ra’uf Mohseni)