Two sculptures by a young Iranian artist have been put on display as public installations in two cities: Nara, located in the Kansai region of Japan and Dubai in the UAE.
The two works of art, which resemble both a perfectly carved diamond and a tree cone, are inspired by the geometrical shape of a Sassanid Crystal bowl integrated into the form of a Lotus flower blossom. "Both my works will be returned to Iran after the exhibition period is over," artist Sahand Hesamian told Mehr News Agency.
The first work called 'khalvat' (literally privacy), is a sculpture 7 by 3 meters in size, and made of 15 pieces which were assembled on the spot in Dubai. It is placed in front of the newly established Opera House.
The artist says he was chosen for the project through the Third Line Art Gallery in Dubai.
"I have been cooperating with the gallery for a while now, and was commissioned to create the art pieces," said Hesamian, who has been selected to enter the Future Generation Art Prize in Ukraine.
The second sculpture is part of a cultural project held annually in Japan, South Korea and China in turn, in a city selected as the cultural hub in each country. The sculpture consists of two parts in the form of a Lotus blossom and is called "Forough" (literally 'light ray' or 'brilliance'). Both parts are made of steel, and are 2 by 0.8 meters and 2 by 0.45 meters in size.
The annual project accepts works in the fields of visual arts, theater, music and so forth. It is held this year in the Japanese city of Nara, which is one of the oldest capitals of that country. Eight artists from Iran, China, India, Turkey, Syria and Japan were selected to design a work in harmony with one of the suggested temples in that city.
Cultural Bonding
"Japan was looking to find and revive a cultural bond between the countries along the ancient Silk Road, and began this project and contacted artists about nine months ago," said Hesamian, 39.
"That is why my work has a particular cultural significance, it resembles a Sassanid Crystal bowl which is now preserved in an art museum in Japan, and is also consistent with the temple designs in that city," he stressed.
Both sculptures will be on display until the end of October. Born in 1977 in Tehran, with a BA in Sculpture from Tehran University, Hesamian was the winner of the 1st Tehran Steel Sculpture Symposium. He came in 3rd at the 1st Tehran International Sculpture Symposium, and 1st at the Fajr-e Noor Exhibition in Iran.
He was also the winner of the best sculpture maquette (a small scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture) design for Milad Telecommunication Tower. As one of the finalists for the Magic Persian Contemporary Art Prize, he won the Municipality Prize of the 4th Contemporary Iranian Sculpture Biennial.
