TEHRAN –The central Iranian city of Isfahan will be hosting Turkmenistan Cultural Week from November 23 to 26. 

Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili, the Minister of Culture of Turkmenistan Atageldi Şamyradow, Isfahan’s governor-general Seyyed Reza Mortazavi and several cultural figures are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the event, which will be held in the city’s Art Hall on Thursday, IRNA reported. 

With the presence of 40 artists from Turkmenistan, the event will offer a variety of art exhibitions and performances, including visual arts, music and handicrafts, the report added. 

Throughout the event, in addition to traditional Turkmen music performances and handicraft exhibitions, there will also be showcases of art, traditional clothing, Turkmenistan film screenings, and a photography exhibition, the report added. 

As part of this cultural event, a literary session on Iranian-Turkmen poet Makhtum-Qoli Faraghi (Magtymguly Pyragy, 1733-1790), a renowned figure shared between the two countries, will be held at the University of Isfahan, with the presence of poets and writers from Iran and Turkmenistan.

The event has been organized by Iran's Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) in collaboration with Isfahan Municipality, the city’s Culture and Islamic Guidance Department and Art Bureau. 

Back in February, the Iranian Cultural Days was held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, to celebrate the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

Groups of Iranian artists and artisans attended the cultural festival to showcase their latest works in numerous exhibitions.

In addition, several Iranian bands were also in Turkmenistan performing concerts of traditional music.

Several acclaimed Iranian movies were screened during the cultural festival.

As part of the cultural festival, several exhibitions were inaugurated by Iran’s culture minister and his Turkmen counterpart at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ashgabat.

The festival was organized based on an agreement signed by Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and his Turkmen counterpart Serdar Berdimuhamedow, Iranian ambassador to Ashgabat, Gholam-Abbas Arbabkhales announced at the time.  

“We are happy that this great cultural event is being organized eight months after signing the agreement, which recognizes the two countries’ desire to expand cultural relations,” he added. 

He noted that the two countries have a lot in common leading to improve cultural ties and cooperation on political and economic issues in the region.

In the new administration under Ebrahim Raisi, Iran is seeking to boost cultural relations with countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia.  

On October 4, 2022, Culture Minister Esmaeili and his Tajik counterpart, Zulfiya Davlatzoda, signed a memorandum of understanding in Tehran, just one day after opening a Tajik cultural festival at the Abbasabad Cultural Complex in the Iranian capital.

In November, over 50 Iranian painters, calligraphers, storytellers, musicians and artists from other fields organized workshops, exhibitions and performances in an Iranian cultural week in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.       

Earlier in June, Azerbaijani Culture Minister Anar Karimov visited Tehran to discuss the expansion of relations on films, visual arts, literature and other cultural fields with his Iranian counterpart.

Cultural weeks are one of the most important events in cultural and public diplomacy relations between countries, taking place based on cultural agreements between the two countries and with the presence of high-ranking cultural officials.

SAB/