TEHRAN – Iran’s leading artists and literati were awarded the first Nezami international prize in Tehran on Thursday, IRNA reported.

The prize was given to calligrapher Keykhosro Khorush, miniaturist Mohammad-Baqer Aqamiri, stage director Behruz Gharibpur, and the family of the late musician Hossein Dehlavi.

Scholars and researchers Mohammad Roshan-Dashti, Mehdi Mohabati, and Abdolmajid Arfaei as well as singers Saeid Shafieiun and Kurosh Asadpur, and musician Hatam Asgari Farahi also received the award.

An honorary award was also given to the prominent Iranian singer Shahram Nazeri.

Organized by the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO, the prize aims to honor studies and works on the Persian poet Nemazi Ganjavi from around the world.

The works and studies must throw the spotlight on the significance and impacts of Nezami on the Persian language, literature, art, and culture.

The prize is scheduled to be presented annually on Nezami Day, which falls on March 12 this year.

Back in February, Iranian National Commission for UNESCO director Hojjatollah Ayyubi announced that different books on Nezami’s works have been translated across the world this year, but none of them have referred to his language and identity origin.

“Due to our negligence, different aspects of Nazemi have not been introduced among the younger generation and this negligence has caused some movements.

He noted that the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO plans to hold the Persian poet in high regard in UNESCO programs more than ever.

“According to numerous documents, the origins of Nezami’s family can be traced back to Tad, a village near the town of Tafresh” Ayyubi noted.

He said that the National Museum of Iran plans a commemorative event for Nezami, which will be followed by another cultural program in Tafresh.

Abdolmahdi Mostakin, the secretary of the prize, also said, “Different massive programs have arranged by the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO to celebrate Nezami’s works, which have inspired numerous literary, dramatic, and artistic works in Iran, the region, and the world over the past 800 years.”

“Due to his creativity and unique innovations in Persian literature and his creative imagination, several countries in the region are trying to connect themselves to the great poet,” he stated.

“Regarding his great cultural potential and his Iranian origin, Nezami can join the neighboring nations to the eternal sources of Islamic Iranian culture and develop Iran’s soft power in the global culture and civilization,” Mostakin noted.

Earlier in January, Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance announced its plan to commemorate Nezami Ganjavi in a weeklong program in March.

The program, which has been set up as a hybrid event with virtual and live meetings, begins on Esfand 21 in the Iranian calendar year (March 12), which is celebrated by Iran as Nezami Day every year.  

Photo: Iranian singer Shahram Nazeri (R) receives his award from Actor Ali Nasirian (L) during the closing ceremony of the first Nezami international prize in Tehran on March 10, 2022.

ABU/MG