The event was organized at the Museum of Contemporary Art to also celebrate the best of art market. This successful, well established and greatly respected event on the sideline of the Tehran Press Exhibition 2017, aimed to provide networking opportunities at the highest level. The guests had the opportunity to take a look at the latest art exhibition by Tony Cragg as well.
Some 89 foreign reporters representing 55 media outlets such as Euronews, CAN, NBC, Xinhua, France 24, and Los Angeles Times participated. Also in attendance were Deputy Culture Minister Ali Moradkhani and many other cultural officials.
Speaking at the event, the deputy culture minister praised Honaronline for hosting the program and for promoting art. He said the government strives for the same goal in its ongoing art diplomacy.
The official talked about the art exhibition of Tony Cragg and said the Museum of Contemporary Art has in the past organized four more international events. “These important events included inviting international A-listers in theater to Tehran, hosting a joint performance by the Italian Ravenna orchestra in Tehran, and organizing a performance for the Iranian National Orchestra in Italy.
Also speaking, Honaronline Managing Director Mahdi Afzali said, “There are many artists in Tehran, equal to the total number of those living in the Middle East. The number of our women artists can rival those in Europe. Every day, they create dozens of magnificent art works. Regrettably, this distinctive quality in Iranian culture is yet to be reflected accordingly by mainstream media. Their efforts mostly go unnoticed.”
He added, “Honaronline seeks to become a source for publishing international content as well. For this, the agency publishes content in the Arabic and English languages as well.”
In conclusion, Afzali said, “Honaronline is a new artist run space. It began work back in 2011. However, we were full of energy and enthusiasm. We set for ourselves higher goals and in such a short period of time managed to become a credible source for many artists and fans. Today, I would like to announce that Honaronline is willing to ink cooperation agreements with other news agencies the world over, with a clear purpose and agenda. This includes agreements on representing major international media in Tehran and Iran, focused on the art market.”
Media representatives from the US, Britain, Austria, Azerbaijan, Spain, Germany, Brazil, China, Turkey, Syria, Singapore, Russia, Japan, Iraq, France, Palestine, Qatar, Lebanon, Mexico, Malaysia, Poland and Luxemburg attended the event.