TEHRAN – The Art Bureau honored top literati and visual artists of the year on Saturday evening during the final part of its Islamic Revolution Art Week.

This year, the event selected one figure as the Islamic Revolution Artist of the Year for each category. The previous editions picked only one artist from all categories.

In the satire section, writer Mehrdad Sedqi was honored for his latest book “Coconut Candies”.

In the resistance literature section, Golestan Jafarian was honored for her book “Autumn Arrived”, which is the memoir of Fakhr os-Sadat Musavi, the widow of Ahmad Yusefi, an IRGC commander who led several major reconnaissance operations during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

Writer Hedayatollah Behbudi was also awarded in this category for his two-volume “Dictionary of Political Prisoners in Pahlavi Period”.

Ali-Asghar Ezzati-Pak was selected in the story category. He received the award for his book “A Tenant in Al-Amin Street”, which carries a story about the Syrian war.

Poet Mehdi Jahandar was also honored for his collection “The Apostate”.

In the graphic design category, Masud Nejabati was selected as the Islamic Revolution Artist of the Year.

He received the title for designing several inscriptions for the shrine of Imam Ali (AS) in Najaf.

Miniaturist and sculptor Mina Sadri was picked for a sculpture entitled “Combatant”.

Mohammadreza Doostmohammadi was also awarded for his illustration of General Qassem Soleimani, the former chief of IRGC Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy chief of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, who were assassinated during a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020.

Graphic designer and cartoonist Mohammad-Hossein Nirumand was named the Islamic Revolution Artist of the Year for organizing “It’s Their Own Work”, a poster exhibition held at Abolfazl Aali Gallery in February to criticize the latest unrest in Iran.   

The Islamic Revolution Art Week also honored top artists in theater, cinema, television and music in the first part of its ceremony for honoring the Islamic Revolution Artist of the Year on Friday.

The Islamic Revolution Art Week is organized every year to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of documentarian Morteza Avini.

He was killed by a landmine in 1993 during his last trip to the former Iran-Iraq war zone in southwestern Iran while making a documentary about soldiers who were still listed as missing in action.   

Photo: Graphic designer Masud Nejabati (C) accepts an award for the Islamic Revolution Artist of the Year during the closing ceremony of the Islamic Revolution Art Week in Tehran on April 15, 2023. (Art Bureau)

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