TEHRAN – Winners of different categories at the 15th Fajr Festival of Visual Arts were announced on Friday during a special ceremony at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall.

They received their awards from Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili and his colleagues.

The Golden Tooba in miniature painting was awarded to Zeinab Shahi, while Ruhollah Parvin, Zeinab Rajabi and Jila Shiri received honorable mentions.

Azar Omid was honored in the painting category and Sajjad Gomar and Alireza Hosseini were awarded honorable mentions.

Abbas Mohammadju was selected as best artist in the cartoon and caricature section. Hossein Rahimkhani and Salar Eshratkhah were praised with honorable mentions.

The award for best artist in the illustration category was given to Majid Zakeri, and Elham Zamani and Rasul Mirdamadi won honorable mentions.

Mojtaba Shakeri was named best sculptor. Ahmad Ranjbar-Rafi, Amir-Hossein Mirqeisari and Zahra Shahamatpur were awarded honorable mentions.

The award for best calligrapher went to Hamed Faqihi and honorable mentions were awarded to Mohammad Bazyar, Rahman Gholami and Amir Danesh Maraghi.

Mohammad Tork was named best graphic designer and Ali Pishdar and Mohammad Taqimanesh received honorable mentions.

The Golden Tooba for best photographer went to Amin Berenjkar, while Amir Enayati and Saeid Qasemi won honorable mentions.

In the Peaks section, the best calligrapher award was given to Mostafa Abedi, while Ruhollah Javani was selected as best photographer.

Mohammad-Ali Rajabi was named best cartoonist and miniaturist Reza Badrossama won an honorable mention. Mohammad-Saber Sheikhrezai was selected as best graphic designer.

This section is dedicated to artworks on themes of science, culture, devotion, luminaries and Iranian attractions.

This year, the organizers also added a new section named “Jihad of Clarification”, which is dedicated to artworks helping illuminate the difficult issues in Iran’s Islamic system and revolution.

Photographer Ehsan Baqer won the award in this section and his colleague Saeid Qasemi received an honorable mention.

About 450 artworks in painting, illustration, cartoon, photography, calligraphy, graphic design, sculpture and miniature were on view during the festival at the Saba Art and Cultural Institute in Tehran.

In addition, 274 works in different media were showcased in the Peaks section.

Photo: Winners hold their awards during the closing ceremony of the 15th Fajr Festival of Visual Arts at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on February 24, 2023. (ISNA/Majid Khahi)

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