Iran calligraphy art selected for UNESCO Register

Iran's calligraphy art has been selected for inscription on UNESCO’s Register of Good Safeguarding Practices.

The National Program to Safeguard the Traditional Art of Calligraphy in Iran was selected as an inscription on UNESCO’s Register of Good Safeguarding Practices during the annual meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, held online from 13 to 18 December. 

According to UNESCO's website, "The Register of Good Safeguarding Practices allows States Parties, communities and other stakeholders to share successful safeguarding experiences and examples of how they surmounted challenges faced in the transmission of their living heritage, its practice and knowledge to the future generation."

"These methods and approaches should be useful as lessons and models that can be adapted to other circumstances, including those in developing countries," it adds.

The nomination file for the program reads, "With the advent of technology, the tradition of Iranian calligraphy gradually declined. The safeguarding of the Iranian calligraphic tradition thus became a major concern in the 1980s, and a national program was developed for this purpose by NGOs in collaboration with the government. This program aimed to expand informal and formal public training in calligraphy, publish books and pamphlets, hold art exhibitions, and develop academic curricula while promoting appropriate use of the calligraphic tradition in line with modern living conditions.

Iranian calligraphy is an important national art in Iran and part and parcel of the intangible cultural heritage of the country.

AG/AG