Art And Culture
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6 Foreign Participants Awarded at Sculpture Symposium

6 Foreign Participants Awarded  at Sculpture Symposium
6 Foreign Participants Awarded  at Sculpture Symposium

For the first time, a people’s choice award was introduced in the 7th Tehran International Sculpture Symposium.

In the stone section, Chu Su-Dung from South Korea and Wu Ming-Sheng from Taiwan shared the first place while Mehdi Seifi from Iran and Italian Stefano Grattarola jointly won the second prize. Iranian Shahriar Reezai’s sculpture was also appreciated, Honaronline reported.

“I believe there is no limit in art. Understanding art is a message to global peace so we can build a beautiful world full of peace together,” said Su-Dung after receiving her prize.

In the steel section, Pool Guillen Bezada from Peru won the first prize and Amir Vafai from Iran ranked second. Artworks by Antonina Faikhullina from Russia and Thierry Ferreira from Portugal received appreciation.

Farzin Hedayatzadeh received the award for his sculpture selected by public choice, a new section introduced this year in the competition.

The closing ceremony was held at Tehran’s Art Bureau on October 16.

Like the earlier editions, Tehran’s Milad Tower for three weeks hosted over 14 sculptors from Russia, Belarus, Albania, Portugal, Italy, Serbia, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany and Peru in addition to local sculptors, Honaronline reported.

The Best Photo award was another new category, presented in two sections: professional and amateur photography.

Of the 1200 photo frames submitted to the festival secretariat, Pouyan Javan-Khoshdel was awarded the top prize in amateur photography and Khosrow Ahadzadeh bagged the first prize in the professional section.

Pointing out that the Tehran Symposium is among the top 30 major symposiums in the world, event secretary Seyed Mojtaba Mousavi said this year’s edition was different compared to the previous rounds as both stone and steel were used as sculpting materials. “In fact, combining two separate symposiums, we held one event including both materials.”

The next edition will be in less than a year from now, he said.

 Ancient History

Ahmad Masjed-Jamei, member of Tehran City Council, pointed out that sculpting with stone, wood and iron in Iran dates back to thousands of years. “Just look at Persepolis to realize the long history of sculpting in our country. (Persepolis is an ancient Iranian city, near today’s Shiraz in Fars Province, and ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE - known for its beautiful architecture though little remains.)

He hoped for more support to artists in the field and establishment of a ‘sculpture garden’ by the Tehran Beautification Organization (TBO), so that the artworks would have proper space to be displayed to the public.

Visiting the symposium venue earlier, Ali Moradkhani, art deputy at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, noted that the competition provides an opportunity for Iranian artists to be introduced globally.

He also emphasized the necessity for the ministry to cooperate with the TBO “to install sculptures in urban spaces, so that people make a closer connection with the city through art.”

During the symposium separate workshops were arranged for each material. Over 98 sculptors, 63 local and 35 foreign attended the steel workshop, and 176 artists participated in the stone category.

A 400-page book of articles on the symposium by artists and critics has also been published.

Financialtribune.com