Art And Culture
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Contemporary Visions by Italy, Iran Artists

A feature painting by Firouzeh Akhlaqi
A feature painting by Firouzeh Akhlaqi

Works by seven Iranian and seven Italian artists are on display at an exhibition at the museum of Certosa di San Giacomo, a historical monastery on the scenic island of Capri in Italy.

The ‘Memory and Object’ exhibition opened September 10 and will run through October 31. It is organized under the auspices of Art Center in Tehran, Garuzzo Institute for Visual Arts in Turin and Polo Museale della Campania in Naples.

Italian art critic and independent curator Alessandro Demma has curated the exhibit. It is the fourth edition of ‘Contemporary Visions’ international series so far held in consecutive years and the first with Iranian artists, Honaronline reported.

Memory and Object features works by Firouzeh Akhlaqi, Mohamad Hadi Fadavi, Shahram Karimi, Ali Reza Karimpour, Ali Reza Saadatmand, Sahar Salehi and Amir Bakhtiar Sanjabi from Iran. Italian artists are Filippo Centenari, Fabrizio Cotognini, Pamela Diamante, Pierpaolo Lista, Giovanni Termini, Ciro Vitale and an artist known as ‘After All.’

  Dialogue Among Nations

The event is aimed at promoting cultural interaction between the two countries. “Art is the most important language for dialogue between nations,” said Vahid Malek, manager of Art Center who attended the exhibit.

“Hospitality, sociability, compassion and appreciation of familial values are among the common traits between the two countries … It also is a coincidence  that green, white and red  are the color trio of their national flags. That’s why the Iranian calligrapher Ali Reza Saadatmand has put on display his tripartite work which is in these three colors.”

Malek quoted former Italian ambassador to Tehran Alberto Bradanini as saying: “Italy is like a European Iran; and Iran is like a Middle Eastern Europe.”

President of Garuzzo Institute for Visual Arts spoke of the challenges in organizing the event, “but the challenges were removed after we met Mr. Vahid Malek who, like us, is an enthusiast of art and international cooperation. The exhibition is indeed an example of collaboration between the private sector and government, local and national institutions and two countries wanting to cooperate in culture and art.”

Iranian ambassador in Italy, Jahanbakhsh Mozafari was among those who spoke at the opening ceremony. “The ties established between the two countries have been the oldest and most stable Iran has had with any state.

In recent years we have had valuable interaction between artists and cultural figures from the two sides, including seminars, joint projects and cultural initiatives.”

Italian deputy minister of culture, Antimo Cesaro, attended the exhibit and expressed interest in the calligraphy paintings by Iranian artists. “How fortunate it is that Iranians re-manifest their old art in a contemporary form.”

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