To mark the International Day of Peace, UNESCO Cluster Office in Tehran held a celebration with a unique symphony of light program at Azadi (freedom) Tower, one of the city’s iconic landmarks, for six days September 16-21.
The annual International Day of Peace is observed around the world on September 21. “Peace Day provides a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to peace above all differences, and to contribute to building a culture of peace, which is at the heart of UNESCO’s mission,” the director and representative of UNESCO’s Tehran office, Esther Kuisch Laroche said in a speech at Azadi Tower on Sept. 20.
She underscored the role of education, sciences, culture and arts as important instruments for bringing people closer together and building a culture of peace and stressed that music and the arts have a unique way of transcending boundaries and connecting people around the world.
Video Mapping
According to the website of the UN office in Tehran, a video mapping show directed by Iranian artist Amir Reza Salari, called “Thirty Birds of Peace Light Symphony”, was projected on the tower, located at Azadi square, west of Tehran.
Video mapping, also known as projection mapping and spatial augmented reality, is a projection technology used to turn objects into a display surface for video projection. It is an interdisciplinary field, combining architecture, cinema, music and graphics.
The light symphony was on the issue of peace and used symbolic images of the world art about freedom from before the birth of Christ to the contemporary era. The projection was accompanied by music and Iran’s acclaimed voice artist Manouchehr Anvar read a text on it in Persian and English.
The event that was organized by the UNESCO office, Roudaki Foundation, Iranian National Commission for UNESCO and Day Sun Cultural Institute focused on this year’s global theme “Together for Peace: Respect, Safety and Dignity for All”.
Iconic Tower
Azadi Tower is a landmark of modern Tehran. The imposing structure forges a link between modern Islamic architecture and the Sassanid style. A three-dimensional sculpture, there are several fountains around the base of the tower and a museum underground.
Built in 1971, it was named “Shahyad” (king’s memorial) but was changed to Azadi after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The-50 meter tower is constructed with white marble and includes 8000 blocks of stone.
The first light installation in Iran was organized at Azadi Tower by German artist Philipp Geist in October 2015 and Salari projected his first video mapping on the College of Fine Arts building at Tehran University in November 2015.
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