The ceremony was held in Shapour Library of Iran Mall, one of the largest malls in the world, located by Chitgar Lake in northwestern Tehran.
The Festival was organized by Iranian National Commission for UNESCO. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the first six days were hosted online by Mashhad, northeastern Iran from January 20 through January 25.
Artists and calligraphers from Azerbaijan, France, Kazakhstan, Spain, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Poland, Iran, South Korea, Japan, China, India, Singapore, Mongolia, Syria, UAE, Turkey, Russia, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Iran had sent more than 1,000 pieces of art, 204 of which were chosen for display in six nights.
In the ceremony in Tehran, the head of Iranian National Commission for UNESCO Hojjatollah Ayyoubi and some other notable figures spoke about the role of art, especially calligraphy, in bringing nations closer to one another.
Ayoubi said in his speech that as one clearly can see, in spite of being from different nations, languages, and ethnicities, the artist all say the same thing in the language of art, which is quite understandable to anyone.
Mayor of Mashdad Mohammad-Reza Kalaee said in his speech that in art, form and content are equally important to convey the intended message and that one without the other cannot exist, adding that if form is needless of translation, it is culturally unbound and therefore, it can help globalization.
He also said that calligraphy has provided such an instrument as best as possible.
It was also said in the ceremony that the names of Iranian figures are to be written on the planes of an Iranian airline.
Some of the participant were also appreciated for their art.
The pieces on display were also screened a video-mapping in Tehran’s Azadi Tower for a couple of consecutive nights.
At the end of the closing ceremony of the Festival, the agreement for cooperation between Iran Mall and Iranian National Commission for UNESCO was signed and “the Archive and Library of Iranian National Commission for UNESCO” was officially inaugurated in Shapour Library of Iran Mall.
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