Hong Kong and Iranian calligraphic art on show in the first culture exchange between the two places
- Part of the Hong Kong Culture Festival, the exhibition is a rare opportunity to see Iranian art in Hong Kong, together with pieces by local artists
- One of the highlights is Allahyar Najafi’s ‘Reconstructing Khayaam with Rubik’s Cubes’ (2021), a radical work comprising 143 of the puzzle devices
Can art ever ignore contemporary politics? Yes, say the organisers of a new exhibition of calligraphic art from Iran and Hong Kong, especially when the art is based on thousands of years of cultural tradition.
It hasn’t been the most auspicious lead-up to the show, titled “Calligraphic Art: Interaction between Hong Kong and Iranian Artists Exhibition”.
“The Hong Kong Culture Festival is a neutral and non-political platform that [has aimed] to facilitate international cultural exchange since its establishment in 2015,” says Angela Choi, a spokesperson of the festival.
“This exhibition is the first [such] collaboration between Iran and Hong Kong. We have no concern with the timing of the exhibition as the event is purely a celebration of China and Iran’s calligraphic art, which in the latter’s case has since the beginning served as a way to express cultural identity.”
It is indeed a rare opportunity to see Iranian art in Hong Kong, and the showing of contemporary Iranian pieces together with new or recent works by Hong Kong ink artists fits the festival’s mission to introduce unfamiliar cultures to Hong Kong audiences and promote artistic exchanges.