Female painters scoop up awards at Damonfar biennial

TEHRAN,Oct.21(MNA) – Female artists won all the awards at the closing ceremony of the Fourth Damonfar Painting Biennial at Tehran’s Mellat Cinema Complex on Friday. Zahra Tabatabaii won first prize, which is a trip to Germany to attend courses at the Faber-Castell Creative Academy. Second and third prizes, both in cash, were presented to Hanieh Sadri and Nasim Taqipur. A painting by Solmaz Nabati was also selected as visitors’ favorite artwork. The Damonfar Company, which is the Iranian representative of France’s Pebeo and Canson, Germany’s Faber-Castell, and the Saman Bank are the main organizers of the biennial, which is dedicated to artists under 25. Damonfar Managing Director Seifollah Puya-Rad, biennial secretary Farah Osuli, the jury members and several artists attended the closing ceremony. The closing ceremony went on with the screening of a video showing Faber-Castell CEO Kont Anton Wolfgang von Faber-Castell while he read his message to the audience. He called Iranian art grand and magnificent, and expressed his happiness over holding the fourth edition of the biennial. The organizers also honored veteran gallery owner Lili Golestan for her lifetime achievements and a short documentary directed by Alireza Ameri about Golestan was screened at the ceremony. One hundred works by 70 artists were put on display during the biennial at the Mellat Cinema Complex from October 5 to 19. The festival was held in all fields of the visual arts during its first edition. Afterwards, its organizers decided to hold it biennially with a focus on painting.