Hawzah News Agency –Speaking in a meeting with a group of visual artists at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Wednesday, Ayatollah Dr Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi described the works created by the artists as an expression of their artistic thought, wisdom and vision and said, "A work of art can speak for hours".
Saying that works of art that also have lasting messages cannot be valued, the President added, "A painting sometimes shows both the oppression of the people in the tyrannical regime and the situation of the oppressed people, and at the same time the enlightenment of Imam Khomeini and the resistance of the people as a result of this enlightenment".
Dr Raisi described another important feature of works of art as being linguistic and trans-temporal and stated, "A work of art is expressive for any person in any age with any language, culture and history and does not need to be translated and explained".
Pointing out that the training and transfer of artistic abilities is another important point that artists should pay attention to, the President clarified, "Artists should discover those who have artistic capacities and abilities and help them to crystallise their talents".
Ayatollah Raisi mentioned the prosperity of the art economy as another important issue for the growth of art in society and noted, "It is true that art cannot be priced, but in any case, the artist needs support to continue their activities".
The President continued, "An artist cannot present their work of art anywhere and in any way, and a mechanism must be designed to present works of art as they deserve".
The President called on the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance to design appropriate mechanisms for the prosperity of the art economy by using the opinion of the artists themselves, and added, "It is the duty of the government to create a mechanism to contribute to the prosperity of the economy of art, art and the creation of works of art".
The President described attention to art diplomacy as another important point that was raised in the speeches of the artists in this meeting and specified, "Art is one of the fields that can promote and strengthen the relations between nations, especially neighbouring nations and countries that have cultural commonalities with each other".
In another part of his speech, the President described the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution as an art-loving figure and said, "Since the years before the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he was the centre of attention of young students who liked arts, and his love for art still continues today".