Tehran gallery honors Abbas Kiarostami with bronze statue

Tehran’s Boom Art Gallery has honored the late-great Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami with a bronze statue.

Installed in the outdoor premises of the gallery, the statue is made by painter and sculptor Alireza Asanlou.

Talking about his work, Asanlou, 43, said “When I received the offer, I appreciated the occasion, because one can expect to produce fine and quality works in cooperation with private foundations.”

Asanlou has already made sculptures of several distinguished Iranian cultural figures, including poet, scholar, journalist and historian Malek-o-Shoara Bahar, actor Ezzatollah Entezami, calligrapher Gholam-Hossein Amirkhani, graphic designer Morteza Momayyez, master of Iranian classical music and tar virtuoso Jalil Shahnaz, scientist and author Fazlollah Reza, and meteorologist Mohammad-Hassan Ganji.

Boom Art Gallery has a record of working with its artistic advisor, Kiarostami, by holding several of his photo exhibitions, including ‘Snow White’, ‘Roads’, ‘Moonlight’, ‘Doors without Keys’ and ‘Doors and Memories’.

Kiarostami has won many awards including the Palme d'Or he snatched at the Cannes Festival in 1997 for his film ‘Taste of Cherry’.

The late writer-director has been widely hailed as a pioneer of the Iranian New Wave.

He is mostly known as a screenwriter, film editor, art director and producer as well as a poet, photographer, painter, illustrator, and graphic designer.

The veteran Iranian filmmaker who passed away on July 4, 2016, following a heart attack at the age of 76, was also honored at this year’s Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles.

MG/MF