Italian illustration festival chooses 13 Iranians as finalists

The sixth edition of 'The Colors of the Sacred', international illustration exhibition to be held in Italy, Padova, Museo Diocesano, from January 20 to May 13, 2012 chose 83 illustrators as its finalists, including 13 Iranians. The 6th Italian illustration festival of 'I colori del sacro' (The Colors of the Sacred) announced its winners among which the names of 13 Iranian illustrators are outstanding. Italy with 31 illustrators and Iran with 13 illustrators respectively won the first and second positions among the winning countries, the Iranian book news agency reported. Participant illustrators are asked to draw with colors the voice of the wind, the rhythm of the breath, the relief of the blow, the call of the Spirit and, in a more symbolic value, the strength of inspiration, the sweetness of music, the power of word. According to the website of The Colors of the Sacred, the fundamental exhibition's aim is bringing to light through art the sacred that both believers and not believers have in common. 13 Iranian illustrators are among the finalists of this illustration festival. Farideh Khalatbari, manager of Shabaviz Publications, informed the Iranian book news agency of the company's participation in this international exhibition and said, "This year the sixth edition of the festival of I Colori Del Sacro is held and like the previous editions, it focuses on religious and ritual motifs. 'water', 'fire', 'earth' and 'dust' were the subjects of previous rounds of the festival, and this time the illustrators were asked to illustrate 'air' from various religious and ritual viewpoints." "The exhibition follows a research-based approach and one emphasized axis of the festival is the four elements of life in line with religious, ritual and mythological aspects. Islam's point of view as well as Iranian rituals are also among the subjects of interest to the festival," Khalatbari explained. She continued, "Except for the first round of the festival when we had no idea of it, we had a successful presence in later editions of the festival. For instance, Sahar Khorasani and Azadeh Madani, selected illustrators of the previous years, have also been successful in the 2012 festival." The names of 83 illustrators from 21 countries are selected by the sixth edition of "The Colors of the Sacred". Italy with 31 illustrators and Iran with 13 illustrators respectively won the first and second positions among winning countries. Germany with 6, Argentina with 5, and Japan with 4 illustrators are ranked below Italy and Iran. After them are Spain and Slovenia each with 3 illustrators; Australia, Czechoslovakia, France and Mexico each with 2 illustrators; and the US, Portugal, Taiwan, Turkey, Denmark, Romania, Croatia, Korea, Poland, and Lithuania each with one illustrator have reached the winners shortlist.