The biennial began when the opening ceremony was canceled due to restrictions due to the outbreak of coronary heart disease, and instead, pictures of the arrangement of the works at the Niavaran Cultural Center were shared live on Instagram. On the same day, Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini, along with Hadi Mozaffari and Hirbod Hemmat Azad, the biennial secretary, visited the exhibition to officially announce the beginning of the 11th biennial of ceramics.
Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini, Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs seeing the works of this period of the biennial of ceramics, said: "Pottery and ceramics with their background in our culture and history show a simple area that has occupied people from the streets and bazaars to mystical and knowledgeable artists."
In this biennial, we see that artists have been able to create exemplary works by recognizing the traditions and values that have been in the applied arts in the past and combining them with the meanings that are their concern today, which shows the bright future we can have in this field of art.
The artistic deputy continued: "If we put the heritage of the past and the power of today together, we will see that pottery and ceramics should also be in the center of attention from a practical and artistic point of view."
Hadi Mozaffari, Director of the Culture Ministry's Visual Arts Office also said in this opening: "I am very happy that today we are witnessing the opening of the Iranian Binal Ceramic, which will be held under the title of self-exploration and after 9 years." I would like to express my special thanks to the Iranian Pottery and Ceramics Association and Hirbod Hemmat Azad, the secretary of this biennial course, who worked for one year and 24 hours a day to make this event fruitful. In the coming days, with the planning that will be done and the observance of health protocols, we hope to be able to see the audience of this exhibition visit it by prolonging the time of the exhibition and the biennial.
Mozaffari continued: "We are all trying to form and revive art and visual biennials as the most specialized art activity in the country, and soon we will see the holding of biennials of sculpture, painting and other arts."
Hirbod Hemmat Azad also stated: "The planning and implementation of this biennial took place under very difficult conditions and economic hardships and problems caused by sanctions and the Coronavirus created difficult conditions for the people, especially our artists, but what the Pottery Artists Association and the executive working group did." The biennial was determined to be biennial to be held at the appointed time, it was a biennial social function that we considered beyond its artistic functions.
He continued: "Creating an atmosphere of hope and enthusiasm among artists and their audiences is the most important achievement of this biennial, which could not be achieved except with the empathy and support of directors and artists."