Iranian artist returns award to Italy over travel visa row

An Iranian artist has returned a prestigious design award to an Italian festival following failure to receive a travel visa to attend the event.

Graphic designer Turaj Saberivand returned the A’ Design Award to the Italian embassy in Iran after he failed to get a visa for Italy to attend the award ceremony of the event, which was held in the Italian city of Milan in May.

The organizers of the A’ Design Award and Competition biennial shipped the award to Saberivand through the mail, but the Iranian actor sent the award back to the Italian Embassy in Tehran “as a sign of protest” against “the disrespectful process” of granting a visa at the embassy.

Saberivand noted that the Italian Embassy in Tehran on its bulletin board has asked visa applicants to register online.

“My frequent references to the embassy’s website to register were in vain and the only practical way to get a visa was to enter into talks with agents who acted as intermediaries between visa applicants and the embassy,” Saberivand added.

He highlighted the mismanagement at the Italian embassy, which resulted in “the illegal and disrespectful phenomenon” that “refutes diplomatic principles.”

Saberivand won the A’ Design Award in the Graphics and Visual Communication Design Category of the festival for a logo that he designed for the 10th edition of the International Brand Conference Corporate Identity in Iran.

AI/AI