Tehran is hosting a Turkish arts exhibition, organized by the ECO Cultural Institute in a joint effort with Yunus Emre Cultural Center.
Titled 'Traditional Turkish-Islamic Arts and Photos', the exhibit opened on November 3 with a number of Turkish and Iranian cultural officials in attendance.
Addressing the event, Iftikhar Hussain Arif, ECO Cultural Institute president said the event features a comprehensive collection of artworks marking the outstanding status of Turkish arts.
"To keep the Turkish centuries-old tradition of Islamic arts alive, ECO Cultural Institute, in cooperation with Yunus Emre Cultural Center, aims to honor distinguished Turkish artists who have made significant contributions to restore and promote the cultural-artistic heritage of the country and to make it known in the international arena."
Barish Saygin, the Turkish cultural counselor in Tehran, also said that images from landscapes, tourist sites along with artworks such as miniature, illumination and calligraphy have been put on display at the event. The photos have been taken by Iranian and Turkish artists.
"Iran is an important neighbor of Turkey. We aim to familiarize the Iranians with the culture and arts of different parts of Turkey as well as its fascinating landscapes."
Saygin noted that the ECO Cultural Institute has provided an opportunity for Turkey to introduce its cultural sites to the institute's ten-member states.
Referring to the similarity between miniature and calligraphy works of Iranian and Turkish artists, the official said, "This is natural, since the two neighboring states have had extensive ties throughout history, and share religious, cultural and even linguistic commonalities."
Meanwhile, Hafez Jabbari, ECO's executive director, also said that 60 tableaux have been selected for the show out of 400 entries submitted to the event.
"This is a multipurpose exhibition featuring Turkey's nature, historical monuments along with ethnic culture and the country's new affairs in conjunction with its background," he said.
The official noted that Iran is one of the foremost countries in Islamic arts, and said, "During the reign of he Ottoman Empire, Islamic arts such as miniature, illumination and calligraphy were transferred to Turkey via Iran. And, they were transformed as per the Turkish norms to become slightly different from their Iranian origin."
"Following the changes in Turkish alphabet under Ataturk, Turkey's bonds with Islamic arts were cut off. As a result, arts such as illumination and calligraphy were wiped out."
"In the past decade, Turkey has tried to revive its Islamic arts. And, the ECO institute extends supports in this regard," he said. Yunus Emre Cultural Center, on behalf of the Turkish Embassy, aims to help promote Turkish language, culture and arts in Iran. Thus, it holds expositions and educational programs here.
It is named after the 13th century Turkish poet and Sufi mystic from Anatolia. Emre played an exceptional role in the enhancement of Turkish culture, literature and philosophy, and exerted immense influence on Turkish history. Traditional Turkish-Islamic Arts and Photos Exhibit will run through November 7 at ECO Cultural Institute located at #10, Naz St., Movahed Danesh (Aghdasieh) Ave.