Arbaeen Int’l Awards honors winners

The 6th edition of the Arbaeen International Awards has honored the winners of its different categories in Tehran.

The winners received their awards during a ceremony at the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO).

A number of Iranian officials, including Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed-Abbas Salehi, the ICRO director Abouzar Ebrahimi-Torkaman, and National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) director Ashraf Boroujerdi, attended the awarding ceremony.

The event hosted works in the categories of film, photo, travelogue, and cyberspace by artists from nine countries including Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, England, Pakistan, and Canada.

In the photo category, the first prize went to Hassan al-Najjar from Iraq, the second prize was given to Osama Obeid from Lebanon, and Ali Aabak from Iran won the third prize.

Seyyed Vahid Oliaee from Canada won the first prize in the film category, while Mohammad Haji-Maqsoudi from Iran and Kazem Yousefi from Afghanistan received the second and third prizes, respectively.

Masoud Heidari from Iran, Hessam Hadi from Iraq, and Mohammad-Mehdi Nemati from Iran won the first to third prizes, respectively, in the professional film section.

In the travelogue category, Zainab Kobra Azad from Pakistan stood at the first place, while Abdallah Bah from Guinea and Fatemeh Ehsani from Afghanistan received the second and third prizes, respectively.

Nouri Sardar from the UK won the first prize in the cyberspace category, while Amina Inloes from the US gained the second spot and Zawar Syed Tawtheeq Haider from Pakistan came in third place.

The ceremony continued with unveiling the books of the previous five editions and a postage stamp in remembrance of the sixth edition.

The award has been established to promote artistic productions on the Arbaeen gathering, which is annually held by Shia Muslims in Iraq.

Observing the day of Arbaeen at the holy shrines of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Imam of the Shia, and his brother, Hazrat Abbas (AS), millions of Iranians and Shia Muslims from other countries take a journey to the Iraqi city of Karbala.

Arbaeen ceremony is held some 40 days after mourning for the martyrdom of the Imam and his companions on the Day of Ashura.

MG/AG