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In mid-December we went to one of Tehran’s most important exhibitions of the year. The Tehran Museum of Modern Art is holding a retrospective exhibition of the paintings of Sohrab Sepehri from their own collection and a few other collections.

The exhibition started on the ground floor with personal photographs of Sohrab Sepehri. Then in the main gallery we saw his big well known tree trunk paintings and as we moved down through the lower galleries we saw his other works and some personal effects such as his famous hat and brushes as well as his simple bed which were on display.

His simple and profound poetry soothes my soul and his paintings get through to my heart. To me he is a legend and has yet to find his importance among ordinary Iranians as a great artist.
Sohrab Sepehri was born in Kashan and was one of Iran’s leading modernist painters and poets until his death in 1980.

The exhibition will continue until 21st January 2010.

Sohrab Sepehri biography

By Syma Sayyah, Tehran

Farhang Foundation and SoCiArts are proud to announce the second annual Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival. This year, filmmakers from all walks of life, Iranian and non-Iranian, are invited to create a music video (less than 9 minutes) of any genre or style, visualizing an aspect of Iranian arts, history, culture, crafts, geography, cuisine or lifestyle.

Farhang Foundation will be looking for music videos that inspire and spark the audience’s interest in learning more about Iranian art, history and culture.

All entries will be judged for creativity, quality, and originality.

To learn about Farhang Foundation please visit: www.farhang.org

Submission Opening November 1, 2009

Submission Deadline February 1, 2010

Winner Announcement March 1, 2010

Award Presentation March 14, 2010

Winner’s Prizes
First Prize: $10,000 USD
Second Prize: $5,000 USD
Third Prize: $3,000 USD

For festival guidelines, terms and conditions please visit: www.sociarts.com/farhangfilmfest

The 9th Tehran International Cartoon Biennial opened Sunday with a ceremony at the Saba Art and Cultural Institute. The biennial is being held concurrently at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts and the Ahvaz Museum of Contemporary Art from November 22 to December 16.

List of Participants

The ceremony was attended by officials as well as artists including Bahman Abdi, Mohammad-Hossein Nirumand and Kiumars Derambakhsh.

People visit the 9th Tehran International Cartoon Biennial, which opened at the Saba Art and Cultural Institute in Tehran on November 22, 2009.

A total of 4,238 artworks were submitted to the gala’s secretariat out of which 839 works are going on display at the exhibition.

The contest is in five categories. The Cartoon section has a sub-section on the theme of fear and also one that is free theme. The Comic Strip section is free theme and the Caricature section has a sub-section on the theme of political portraits and also one that is free theme.

Turkey, China and Brazil respectively are the most active participants in the event.

Source: Mehr News Agency, Tehran (photos by Raouf Mohseni)