Art exhibitions celebrate the anniversary of the liberation of Khorramshahr
TEHRAN — Two ongoing art exhibitions at the Art Office of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization are celebrating the 40th anniversary of Khorramshahr’s liberation.
One of the exhibits titled “Heavenly City” features a collection of previously unseen paintings on the subject of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War at the Abolfazl Aali Gallery.
The paintings were done by Kazem Chalipa, Morteza Asadi, Gholam-Ali Taheri, Abdolhamid Qadirian, Kamyar Sadeqi and Mohammad Asadi Jozani.
The Art Bureau’s Iranian Photographers Center (IPC) is also hosting an exhibition of photographs depicting scenes from Operation Beit-ul-Muqaddas that Iran conducted in 1982 to liberate Khorramshahr.
Entitled “The Victory Turn”, the exhibition features photos by Mohammad-Hossein Heidari, Amir-Ali Javadian, Saeid Sadeqi, Mohsen Rastani, Mohammad Farnud and an anonymous photographer.
Sadeqi’s black-and-white photograph “Conquest of Khorramshahr,” which depicts Iranian soldiers celebrating the liberation of Khorramshahr at the city’s Friday mosque, sold for 750 million rials (about $18,000) during the 10th Tehran auction in January 2019.
“Heavenly City” will last until June 1, and “The Victory Turn” will continue until June 15.
“This celebration marks the liberation of a corner of our country, for which many people, from children to women, lost their lives,” said IPC Director Ehsan Baqeri, who is also the curator of “ Heavenly City”.
“Part of the collection depicts bitter moments before the conquest of Khorramshahr by the Iraqis,” he noted.
“These photos, some of which are black and white, represent parts of our modern history that can be revisited over and over again to help uncover new facts about the war,” he added.
As part of its celebration of the liberation of Khorramshahr, the Art Office also unveiled the busts of Iranian soldiers Mohammad-Ali Jahanara, Mohsen Vezvai and Behnam Mohammadi, who were martyred in the Battle of Khorramshahr, at locations public in the city on Tuesday.
Khorramshahr, in the southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan, was captured by the Iraqis on October 26, 1980, after a 34-day popular resistance against Iraqi invaders during the first months of the war.
The city was liberated on May 24, 1982, after being completely reduced to rubble by the Iraqis.
Photo: A poster for an exhibition featuring photos with the central theme of the liberation of Khorramshahr.
MMS/YAW
