Iranian, Russian artists awarded at ‘Patterns of Friendship’ festival
The winners of the first joint painting festival between Iranian and Russian artists, titled ‘Patterns of Friendship,’ were awarded in a ceremony at the Academy of Watercolor and Fine Arts of Sergey Andriyaka in Moscow on
Wednesday.
The festival, organized by the Iranian Embassy’s Cultural Center and the Moscow academy, featured 100 works by Iranian artists and 100 works by Russian artists, as well as 40 works by prominent artists. The exhibition was held in the presence of Kazem Jalali, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and some cultural figures and artists from both countries, IRNA wrote.
According to the Cultural Attaché of the Iranian Embassy in Russia, Masoud Ahmadvand, more than 600 works were submitted to the festival’s secretariat in Tehran and Moscow.
Ahmadvand said the exhibition of the selected works will remain open in Moscow for a month, and then they will be displayed in the cities of St. Petersburg and Kazan for a month. The works will then be sent to Iran and will be displayed for art lovers in the cities of Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz for a month.
The head of the Moscow the Academy of Watercolor and Fine Arts of Sergey Andriyaka, Vyacheslav Zhivakov, said the festival was a new beginning to strengthen the ties between the people of the two great countries of Russia and Iran.
“Before, we hosted exhibitions of artists’ works that introduced the audience to the history and culture of Russia, but today we have this honor and it is our pleasure that in this academy we see and observe the works of Iranian painters,” Zhivakov
said.
The paintings displayed in the exhibition showed that Iran and Russia have outstanding painters, Zhivakov added. The festival’s winners were also awarded cash and non-cash prizes, including trips to Iran and Russia.
The top prize winners were Fatemeh Ashtiani from Iran, who painted a scene of St. Petersburg, and Svetlana Zubareva from Russia, who painted a scene of the shrine of Lady Masoumeh (PBUH). Both winners received a 2,000-euro prize.
Other winners included Pourya Zarshenas and Masoud Asadi-Karam from Iran, who won a one-week tour of Moscow, and Olga Mikhaseva who won a one-week tour of Iran.
The festival was also addressed by the Iranian ambassador, who presented a special award to Maria Zhenkova, a Russian artist who painted a portrait of Ebrahim Raisi, the late Iranian president.
The Council of Muftis of Russia also honored an Iranian artist who painted a scene of the Moscow Mosque, and presented a gift to the artist from Ravil Gainutdin, the Grand Mufti of Russia.