Persian calligraphy shines at Turkish-Iranian competition

TEHRAN — Iranian calligraphers shined at an Iranian-Turkish joint calligraphy competition held here in Tehran, winning the top cash prizes awarded during a ceremony at the Iranian Artists Forum on Friday.

The Hilya International Calligraphy Award was organized by Tehran’s Emruz Gallery and Istanbul’s Antik Sanat Gallery, Tehran Times reported on Saturday.

Within the Islamic context, Hilya refers to the literary genre which elaborates on the features and merits of Prophet Muhammad (S).

The award-presentation ceremony took place in the presence of Iranian masters of calligraphy Gholamhossein Amirkhani and Ali Shirazi.

Shirazi, who is also the curator of the Emruz Gallery, said at the opening ceremony that the award was first held two years ago in Tehran under the title Yasin.

“These types of awards help highlight the position of Iranian calligraphers in the world. The younger generation forms a trustworthy support for the veterans,” Shirazi added.

Amirkhani who was also among the jury members proposed that the young calligraphers should respect their art and follow their profession.

The lofty objective of the Hilya award is to present a modern Iranian form of calligraphy to the world of Islam, he added.

Later on, the winners selected by the jury Shirazi and Amirkhani as well as Turkish calligraphers Ali Toy and Davut Bektash were honored at the ceremony.

Javad Khuran from Iran and Ahmad Faris from Egypt were announced as the winners of the special jury award with a cash prize of $35,000 each.

The winners are expected to be presented with their prize by Turkish President Abdullah Gul during a ceremony in Turkey.

In the nastaliq section, Iranian Mahmud Rahbaran took home the first cash prize of $20,000. The second prize of $13,000 went to Habib Ramezanpur and the third prize of $13,000 went to Hamid Jafari.

Peyman Sadatnejad, Meysam Soltani, Mostafa Abedini, Ehsan Ahmadi, and Ali Piran were among the ten top winners.

The jury also awarded Ramin Merati and Qasem Samadian for their innovation in calligraphy.

RM/YAW

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via Persian calligraphy shines at Turkish-Iranian competition – Tehran Times.