Turkish art lovers welcome exhibition of Iranian miniatures
The ‘Iranian Miniatures Exhibition’, supported by ENG Company Union and the Yeditepe Biennial, featuring illuminated manuscript works and miniatures of 20 artists from Mim Alef Gallery in Iran, was welcomed by art lovers at the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Iran’s Consul General in Istanbul Bakhtiar Asadzadeh said that Turkish and Iranian cultures are actually quite similar.
“Culture is one of the most important links between the two societies. As our cultures are similar, our dialogues should also be close,” he added.
The coordinator of the exhibition, Feride Özal thanked those contributing to the exhibition and said, “We are coordinating such a project for the ¿rst time. We will continue to organize similar exhibits. We hope that along with cultural activities, commercial collaborations will also improve between the two countries.”
Historian and academic, Professor İlber Ortaylõ, who was a guest at the opening ceremony, examined the works, dailysabah. com reported.
Noting that the artists had represented classical and modern art and the Iranian and Ottoman world successfully, Ortaylõ elaborated: “I hope such projects will continue. We need to introduce these arts to those who conduct works in modern genres.”
One of the managers of Mim Alef Gallery, Azam Isazadeh, who also displayed some pieces in the exhibition, stated, “Our aim was to take visitors on a journey through Iranian history with our works. Modern art tries to take precedence over our traditional art. We show that traditional art will not be forgotten with this exhibition for Turkish art lovers.”
In the exhibition, Iranian sultan miniatures from the Safavid era, portraits of Imam Ali (PBUH), Persian poet Jalaleddin Rumi and Ottoman sultans along with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are on display.
The exhibition, featuring nearly 150 works by 20 artists focusing on the historical process of Iranian handicrafts, can be visited until June 10.