Initiated by Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Mazaheri, President of the ECO Cultural Institute, the preliminary session to deliberate upon the establishment of the ECO House of Narrators was held in July 2019, with the message of the President of this international organization.
Speaking at the meeting, attended by a group of diplomats, artists, narrators and scholars at the Diplomatic Library of ECO Cultural Institute, Dr. Tayebeh Mohammad, the secretary of the ECO House of Narrators, presented a brief report on the process of the establishment of the House as well as the goals and objectives of the meeting and said: "ECO Cultural Institute, in collaboration with the Ambassadors of Peace and Friendship Group, and assisted by the prominent scholars of Shahnameh reading and narration in ECO region decided to safeguard this great heritage."
Following the presentation of secretary of the ECO House of Narrators, the message of Dr. Mazaheri, the president of the ECO Cultural Institute, was conveyed to the audience. Part of this message read: "A community thrives when it preserves its culture and traditions and passes it on to the next generation. The people of ECO region are rich in culture and art. Culture is a collection of literary and artistic assets that a person is responsible to preserve in a given society."
Another part of Dr. Mazaheri's message emphasized the special role of narration in the field of public diplomacy and added: "Recognition of the luminaries of art and literature athrough organizing commemoration ceremonies, conferences and expert panesl on the subject of literature and narration, holding photography and painting exhibitions on the theme of Shahnameh or literary discourse lessons were planned in line with the objectives of the Institute."
It is worth mentioning that the documentary film " Shah Tahmasebi Shahnameh " made by Pejman Mazaheri Pour was screened. Moreover, Master Khabbaz, Director of Ferdowsi House of Shooshtar; Behdari, Director of Ferdowsi Foundation of Khouzestan; Dr. Hajari, Dr. Khatibi, Dr. Salehi, Dr. Qadamali Sarami, Master Moharrammi and Ms. Dr. Mohammadi Rafi deliberated upon the meeting's subject and presented their views. Moreover, the stamp and posters of the ECO House of Narrators were unveiled on the sidelines of the meeting.
Concluding the meeting, the participants paid visit to the exhibition of printed photos of Aligholi Khoi and miniature paintings of Master Moharrammi, along with selected images of the 1st Shahnameh Photo Festival, which was mounted in collaboration with Shahnameh Studies Club at the Diplomat Gallery of ECO Cultural Institute.