TEHRAN – President Ebrahim Raisi visited an exhibition of the 14th Fajr Festival of Visual Arts on Thursday.

Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili and a number of the organizers accompanied Raisi on his visit to “Mirror on the Mirror”, an exhibition of the festival underway at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. 

The exhibit is dedicated to showcasing a collection of artworks on the Islamic Revolution.

“An artwork can represent hours of speeches and materials discussed in a book in one single image, sustaining the messages of the speeches and the book for use by several generations,” the president said during a speech made after his visit to the exhibition.

“For people with any language in any era, artwork is expressive and doesn’t need to be interpreted or explained,” he added.

Raisi stressed the need to develop the art market to improve artists’ standard of living, and said that the culture ministry must provide the necessary facilities to offer artworks in an appropriate way.

In order to sustain the presence of art in the public arena, he asked cultural officials to use Iranian embassies across world, organizations, recreational parks and other public centers for showcasing artworks.

He also pointed to the key role that art can play in international diplomacy and asked cultural officials to fully exploit the country’s art potential to boost cultural relations with other nations, especially with neighboring countries.   

In a statement published by the organizers, Fajr Festival of Visual Arts Secretary-General Abbas Mirhashemi expressed his thanks to Raisi for the visit.

“Certainly, Mr. President’s remarks on the art market can remove bureaucratic obstacles to the development of visual arts,” he said.  

“His remarks on art’s important place in regional and international diplomacy represent the government’s strong will to regulate affairs in visual arts,” he added.
 
The 14th Fajr Festival of Visual Arts officially opened at the Saba Art and Cultural Institute in Tehran on February 4.

Several other art centers across the capital are also playing host to exhibitions of the festival running until February 19.  

Photo: President Ebrahim Raisi accompanied by several cultural officials visits an exhibition of 14th Fajr Festival of Visual Arts at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art on February 10, 2022. (President.ir) 

MMS/YAW