Homage to Momayez at IAF

The Momayez Cultural Artistic Institute will pay homage to Morteza Momayez (1935-2005), the renowned pioneer of graphic design in Iran, at a ceremony on November 25 at the Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) in Tehran, on the occasion of his 11th death anniversary.

The ceremony is scheduled between 6 and 8 pm and will showcase the logos and sketches created by Momayez at the IAF gallery named after him, ISNA reported.

For this year’s event, the Momayez institute has invited Swiss graphic designer Melchior Imboden, 59, to present his works and deliver a speech.

Imboden’s posters will be shown at the IAF galleries of ‘Winter’ and ‘Autumn’, while a selection of works by his students are to be featured at ‘Mirmiran’ gallery.

Iranian Artists Forum is located on Iranshahr Street.

  Exceptionally Talented

American art director, author and journalist Steven Heller, 66, who writes on design and visual culture, said about Momayez in Print Magazine: He “was a Tehran-based graphic designer of posters, covers, logos, and books. And quite a good one. Recently, I was given a catalog of his cover designs and was very impressed.”

“In fact, he was the most honored of a large number of exceptionally talented Iranian designers and typographers. We in the US are sometimes myopic when it comes to non-western design, and although Iran has not been ignored, Momayez, who is also known for his film posters, deserves a bit more recognition.”

  Reputed Designer

Melchior Imboden was born in the Swiss city of Stans. He studied Graphic Design at the Art School of Lucerne and started his own Graphic Studio in 1992.

His main activities are in the fields of poster design, book design and catalogue design for art and photo exhibitions and other cultural institutions.

He has participated in many International Exhibitions, including Essen, Chaumont, Brno, Warsaw, Toyama, Ogaki, Trnava, Colorado, Helsinki, Lahti and Moscow.

His works are published in many different collections. His posters have been awarded several prizes, including the 1994 Gold Medal at the 16th International Poster Biennial in Brno (Czech Republic), 1995 Special Prize at the 11th International Poster Biennial in Helsinki (Finland), 1996 Silver Medal at the 15th International Poster Biennial in Warsaw (Poland) and 1996 First Prize at the world poster-winners competition at the Golden Bee 3 in Moscow.