12th Islamic Revolution Art Week kicks off with nationwide street performances

12th Islamic Revolution Art Week kicks off with nationwide street performances

TEHRAN- The 12th edition of the Islamic Revolution Art Week officially commenced nationwide on Thursday, marking the martyrdom anniversary of Seyyed Morteza Avini.

Organized by the Art Bureau of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization, the week-long event features a diverse array of street theater, poetry nights, and art exhibitions across Tehran and several other provinces.

This year’s festivities are defined by a shift toward public spaces, aiming to foster a direct dialogue between artists and the citizenry through identity-driven and national themes.

A series of field performances and multidisciplinary art pieces are scheduled to take place at nine key locations across the capital, as well as in three other provinces.

Coinciding with the start of the week, the official poster for the 12th edition, designed by renowned artist Saber Sheikh Rezai, was unveiled. The artwork reflects the current regional atmosphere and the spirit of the resistance.

This edition’s poster reimagines the "Entezar" (Waiting) statue—a recurring motif of the event—transforming it from an introspective form into a dynamic symbol of action and epic struggle.

"In this design, the statue’s previous posture has evolved; a clenched fist rises toward the sky," Sheikh Rezai explained. "This is a deliberate metaphor for the clenched fist of our beloved Leader at the moment of his martyrdom—a symbol now shared by revolutionaries worldwide. It connects the concept of 'Waiting' with active struggle and fervor."

The background of the poster, featuring a bright sky and a rising sun, serves as a harbinger of hope and the dawn of a new era in contemporary developments.

Islamic Revolution Art Week is held annually across Iran to celebrate the intersection of faith, art, and commitment, while showcasing the evolution of revolutionary aesthetics in the modern age. The art week is organized by the Art Bureau of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization every year to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of documentarian Morteza Avini.

Art exhibitions and workshops, and theatrical musical performances are being organized during this week.

Avini was martyred by a landmine in 1993 during his last trip to the former Iran-Iraq war zone in southwestern Iran while making the documentary “A City in the Sky” about the fall of Khorramshahr and the liberation of the southwestern Iranian city during the Iran-Iraq war.

He became famous for “The Narration of Triumph” and was called “the master of martyred writers” by his colleagues and war veterans due to the fervent narrations he wrote for his documentaries.

Avini has been commemorated by various Iranian personalities and organizations on different occasions.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei participated in his funeral procession that began on Tehran’s Qarani Street at the Revayate Fath (Narration of Triumph) Cultural Institute, which was established by the Leader’s order in 1991 to produce films on the Sacred Defense.

The Cinéma Vérité festival, Iran’s major international event for documentary films, also honors films on the war and resistance every year with Avini Awards in a special section.

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source: tehrantimes.com