TEHRAN – The 14th Fajr Festival of Visual Arts ended on Friday with the honoring of the top works in ten categories.

Winners received their awards in a closing ceremony held at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall.

The Golden Tooba for best painting was awarded to Paria Malmir, while Hadi Faqihi received the award in the Persian painting (miniature) category.

Ehsan Cheraghi Iranshahi was named the best cartoonist of the festival and Nasrin Shapuri Azari was picked as best sculptor.

The Golden Tooba in the graphic design category was shared by Mohammadreza Chitsaz, Mikail Barati and Sadeq Ili.

Saber Qazi won the award for best photographer and Elaheh Abdollahzadeh was the winner of the new arts section. 

The award in the ceramics category went to Mohammadreza Ravandeh and Maryam Sadat Siadat was named best illustrator.

Mohammad Fateh Natanzi won the best calligrapher award.

Speaking during the closing ceremony, Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili praised the organizers for holding the festival’s exhibitions for the first time across the country.

“One of the advantages of this year’s festival was organizing its provincial exhibits, which represented the government’s cultural justice,” he said.

He asked the organizers to give more attention to this aspect of the festival in the upcoming editions.

“We saw a younger generation of artists beside the veteran artists in this edition of the festival, and if the festival seeks a stronger educational policy we can see a great number of promising young artists in the future,” Esmaeili said. 

He stressed the need for more attention to the art market and called it an absolute necessity for strengthening art diplomacy.

“We have comprehensive plans to develop the country’s art market and will take great steps in this direction in the near future, because we know that we attract a large number of people with the language of art,” he noted.

President Ebrahim Raisi also showed his positive attitude towards art by visiting “Mirror on the Mirror”, an exhibition of the 14th Fajr Festival of Visual Arts organized at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.
 
He also emphasized the necessity for developing the art market to improve artists’ standard of living, and asked the culture ministry to provide the necessary facilities to offer artworks in an appropriate way.

Photo: An artist holds his award during the closing ceremony of the 14th Fajr Festival of Visual Arts at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on March 4, 2022. (Honaronline/Raha Ahmadi)

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