On the sidelines of a conference organized by the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS) at Keimyung University (KMU) in the South Korean city of Daegu last month, a series of calligraphy works by Iranian artist Reza Safari were displayed.
Safari presented an article on Silk Road art, titled ‘Investigating the effects of Iranian calligraphy on Islamic era epigraphs,’ and also held an exhibition of his works on Nasta’liq (calligraphy), ‘Shekasteh Nasta`liq’ (literally, broken Nasta’liq), Golzar and calligraphy-painting, IRNA reported.
In addition, a workshop was held to further introduce Iranian calligraphy art for conference participants, KMU faculty members and students.
The institute was established in August 1995 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, as an outcome of the UNESCO Silk Roads Expeditions. It was conceived during the Steppe Route Expedition in Central Asia organized within the framework of the UNESCO project ‘Integral Study of the Silk Roads: Roads of Dialogue,’ a major project of the World Decade for Cultural Development (1987-1997).
The main objectives of IICAS are to draw the international community’s attention to Central Asia’s historical and cultural issues and strengthen collaboration between local scholars and their foreign colleagues through a multidisciplinary study of the region.
Azerbaijan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan are members of the institute.
Safari, 48, took calligraphy lessons from veteran artists Seyyed Ahmad Mirkhani and Keikhosro Khoroush when he was a teenager. In 2009, he was certified as art master by the Society of Iranian Calligraphists.
In 2012, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance conferred on him its top certificate. Safari has held numerous group and international exhibitions and judged several calligraphy and art festivals.
