TEHRAN – The 1st Kish International Sculpture Symposium opened on Sunday with hopes for turning the southern Iranian island in the Persian Gulf into a center for sculpture.
Situated 19 kilometers south of the mainland, Kish Island is playing host to a number of sculptors from Italy, Bulgaria, Taiwan, Germany, Portugal, Belarus, Spain, Costa Rica, Serbia, Georgia, Hungary and Austria.
Five Iranian artists are also participating in the symposium, which runs until March 1.
U.S.-based Georgian artist Batu Siharulidze, mostly known for his abstract figurative sculptures, and Iranian sculptors Saeid Shahlapur and Seyyed Mohammad Beheshti are the members of the jury panel for the symposium, which has been organized with the help of the Kish Free Zone Organization (KFZO).
The secretary of the symposium, Seyyed Mojtaba Musavi, said that art and culture have been highly regarded by KFZO managers in their new policies.
Musavi also expressed his hope that the event will continue annually with an aim to embellish the island’s urban settings and environment, and added that the sculptures created during this event will be installed in urban areas across Kish.
Musavi evaluated the symposium as a professional event and said that only five of those 77 designs submitted by Iranian sculptors were qualified to compete in the event.
Shahriar Rezaii, Hamid Reza Sadeqzadeh, Hedayat Sahraii, Safura Fadaii and Mohammad Mardi are the Iranian artists competing in the symposium.
MA/YAW
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