Five Iranian masters of miniature listed as living human treasures

Following the global registration of the Persian art of miniature on the UNESCO, five Iranian masters of miniature have been listed as the living human treasures of Iran.

According to Seyyed Abdol Majid Sharifzadeh, the director of the Iranian Traditional Arts Research Institute, Mahmoud Farshchian, Majid Mehrgan, Mahin Afshanpour, and Ardashir Mojarrad Takestani, as well as Mohammad Bagher Aghamiri have been listed as Iran’s legendary artists in the field of miniature.  

Iranian miniature, a traditional style of painting, has recently won the votes of the UNESCO Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee and was inscribed in 2020 on the representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The miniature is a type of two-dimensional artwork that involves the design and creation of small paintings on books, papier-mâché, rugs, textiles, walls, ceramics, and other items using raw materials such as gold, silver, and various organic substances, UNESCO website reported.

Historically, the miniature was exemplified by book painting in which the text was supported visually, but the element has evolved and can also be observed in architecture and as an adornment in public spaces, it adds.

Read more:

Persian art of miniature registered at UNESCO

MM/FM