The press conference titled "Art of Herat: Pride of Afghanistan, Common Heritage of the Region" was held on Sunday, July 12, 2020, at the Institute of Strategic Studies of Afghanistan in Herat province.
At the event, cultural figures and artists of western Afghanistan's Herat province expressed concern over the possible registration of miniature and calligraphy at the UNESCO world heritage list as the cultural heritage of Iran and Turkey and said the two countries should not register these arts for their own. They also stressed that Afghanistan government should take serious measures in this regard.
Davoud Erfan, head of the Afghanistan Institute for Strategic Studies in Herat province, said: "Afghanistan government is the first to take measures for national and global registration of tangible and intangible heritage of the country and second, the countries of the region belonging to the same culture should consider the rights of all regional countries when registering common works globally."
Meanwhile, Nik Mohammad Mostamand Ghori, a calligraphy scholar of Herat province, said: "Afghanistan has valuable artworks in Thuluth, Naskh and Kufi in its historical monuments and the two children of Shahrokh Mirza Teymouri were among the most famous calligraphers of that era. Afghanistan's history is itself proof to the fact that the country also has a long-lasting history in the field of calligraphy, and efforts should be made to register this art as a common heritage of the regional countries."
On the other hand, Towfiq Rahmani, Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Herat University, added that Herat is clearly the cradle of the evolution of miniature art, and as the inheritor of this sublime art, Afghanistan must take action.
Moreover, Azita Ebrahimi, a professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Herat University said: "Unfortunately, Afghanistan has forgotten these two arts and it is time the country pays attention to its cultural assets".
According to a statement by Afghanistan Institute for Strategic Studies in Herat province, a resolution was issued at the press conference stating that no country or modern politics can claim these two arts (miniature and calligraphy) as theirs alone.