Art plays an undeniably important role in the society, and is of significance both in the individual and the social fabric, head of the Council for Development and Promotion of Human Sciences Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said, at the first conference on the development of art in the university system, held at Tehran’s Iranian Artists Forum (IAF).
Haddad-Adel, who is also director of the Persian Language and Literature Academy, noted that people’s lives “are not complete unless integrated with art.” On a larger scale, “no country or government can do without art,” ISNA quoted him as saying.
Pointing to the close relation between art and artists’ ideology, he said, “What artists create is the result of their interaction with the world.” Iranians have been in close contact with Islamic art for 1,400 years, and “our heritage is intertwined with our lives; we can feel its presence around us.”
Islamic art encompasses visual arts produced from the 7th century by people who lived in regions inhabited and influenced by Islamic populations and culture. It covers a vast expanse and various peoples, and includes fields as varied as architecture, calligraphy, painting, glass, ceramics, and textiles, among others.
Unity and Harmony
Although Islamic art has been displayed in different forms in Islamic countries, it is in essence one language represented in different dialects. “But there is unity and harmony in all Islamic art; same common features can be found between Islamic paintings and architecture for instance,” Haddad-Adel said.
The council makes research efforts to develop Iranian-Islamic approaches toward human sciences, instead of the current trend of “blind imitation of the western world.”
“In the art field, we need to develop an Iranian-Islamic philosophy to help train artists. To reach this goal, it is essential to expand the scope of our research,” he stressed.
Inadequate
Majid Sarsangi, IAF president, rued the shortcomings of the education system in art fields, and said, “Both academics and artists complain about the inadequate system. The system needs to undergo fundamental change to perform better in the area of education and research as well as artists’ training.”
Lack of qualified professors, appointing faculty with no background in writing books on art, and undertaking few research activities, are among the problems, he said.
“We have been unable to nurture the spirit of our students in a way that each can achieve a level of success in the artistic community and serve as a role model for their peers,” he said, hoping to resolve the problems through implementing of plans by the relevant organizations.
