Seyyed Mohammad Mojtaba Hosseini, the Artistic Deputy of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance visited “Thread & Pattern”, the Iranian Contemporary Needlework Exhibition
Accompanied by Ebad Reza Islami Kolaee, the Head of
Niavaran Cultural Center, Mr. Hosseini mentioned that Textiles, Clothes, Weaves
and their decorations are one of the main subjects in
the history of Iranian Culture. He said: “There is not one city in Iran that
according to its race and climate does not have the variety in patterns, colors
and decorative designs in their textiles. The wide range of figures and
patterns prove this art’s wide spread in Iran. Unfortunately, many branches of
this art have been left unnoticed. Although, the fact that many intelligent
artists have tried to revive this valuable heritage and recreate them on the
basis of research perceptions, is precious. Revival of the traditional
embroidery and the creativity in design builds specific capacity in the realm
of Fashion and Clothing Design and connects todays
costumes to the past original traditions.
He continued: “Using creativity while maintaining the
originality, we shall combine the arts retrieved from
identity and traditions with designing and introduce it to the new generation
correctly
so that the talented youths would give it the chance of try.”
The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Culture and
Islamic Guidance added: “The inspirational capacity of Iranian original art could
be very effective in leading and directing different people of the world’s
taste of style. Introducing this art to the world other than recognition of the
culture and the real feature of Iran, opens a new market in front of the
artists. Therefore, the Economy of Art in general and the Iranian arts economy is similar to
Resistive Economy. The Endogenous, extroverted and value based economy that is
trained by human force in the country, with the effort of all divisions
especially the private sector, can cause persistent phenomenon.”
Answering a question about the registration of the
Iranian artworks by neighbor countries, Mr. Hosseini pointed out Turkey’s request
to register the case of “Islamic Calligraphy” in UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.
He noted: “The peak of our artistic era was the time that our arts were in the
center of focus in receiving special attention which caused artistic growth and
improvement. We are to blame if our cultural heritage is being owned by others.
I prepared the same case of calligraphy according to the UNESCO standards and
presented it to the Cultural Heritage authorities eleven years ago!”
At the end of his speech, Hosseini explained that our
responsibility increases to define and indicate different aspects of an inherited
artwork or cultural personality when that heritage is registered in another
country’s name. He said: “For example, Rumi, is a phenomenon and originates
from Iranian Islamic culture. Although he
lived in Turkey for years and was buried there, he does not become Turkish. Or
if a country registers Hafiz as their poet, he does not become a native born of
that country. Who would believe that Hafiz does not belong to Persia, affected
by Iranian culture? Therefore, the attachment of
art and artists to their homeland and native culture is not damaged by
registration, but the duty of the task of formal registration and introduction
of the art and artists should be seriously considered.
G. R.