TEHRAN -- The organizers of the Fajr Visual Arts Festival plan to decentralize the event this year.

The first edition of the festival was held in Tehran last year, but Gorgan, Yazd, Semnan, and Ahvaz will also playing host to this year’s festival, Iran’s Office for Visual Arts Director Mahmud Shaluii said during a press conference on Monday.
A wide array of works in sculpture, painting, pottery, cartoon, calligraphy, and photography will be put on display in exhibitions at the Iranian Artists Forum, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Saba Art and Cultural Institute, and Niavaran Cultural Center in Tehran during the festival, which will take place from February 1 until March 3, 2010.
In addition, workshops will also be held in 30 provincial capitals on the sidelines of the festival
Top winners from the previous festival were presented with the opportunity to visit the 53rd International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennial that ran from June 7 to November 22.