Art in the light of Islamic Revolution (3)

The art of revolution can be examined from two aspects, namely the visual or outward features and the content and inward features. Today, we will touch upon these two features.

Throughout the history of Iran, there has been a close bond between art and spiritual rituals derived from religion. Religion has been one of the main constituents of art and art has been the most powerful element for expressing human wisdom and manifestation of the most beautiful religious concepts and symbols.

Since the Islamic Revolution is originated in the Islamic worldview, the link between art and the Islamic worldview flourished and expanded after the victory of the revolution. In those days, artists presented many spiritual concepts and popular epics in the arenas of the revolution and sacred defence in a symbolic way in the form of colour, design and discourse. This has been evident in the visual arts. These artistic works have been a great source of designs for the artist to create elaborate works in a concise way. The motifs of these works are in full compliance with the modern graphic principles and aesthetic fundamentals while most of the artists have tried to design their works in accordance with the designs of ancient Iran and the symbolism hidden in the works of ancient heritage of Iran. Reviewing the art of the first years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution with the ancient Iranian art shows that it has blended the traditional artistic elements with the modern motifs and designs. The Iranian artist has looked at the western art through the eyes of his lofty cultural heritage. He adopts a selective approach towards the modern artistic manifestations and chooses its positive and constructive parts.

As it was said, another aspect of artistic works after the victory of the Islamic Revolution is the content and inward feature of these works.

The essence of every revolution is the huge asset of people and popular support behind it. Usage of this asset I various fields of economy, war, art etc. will create new forms. The artistic designs and ideas are inspired by external characters and events and are expressed in a simple way. A glance at the magnitude of artistic works after the Islamic Revolution reveals that form and content were usually simple and realistic, especially in the first years of the post-revolution era.

This trend changed gradually and after a few years the forms, contents and even patterns were added to them. However, it must be noted that in many cases trend-setting in form took place in favor of the content and expressive methods has followed unusual approaches. This can be seen in the art that grew and was exhibited in mosques in the firs years after the triumph of the Islamic Revolution. the huge development that the revolution brought got to the point that mosques functioned among the most serious places for presentation and flourishing of the art of revolution. These arts included painting, calligraphy, music, composition and performance of songs and even movie. Thus, a new description of the form and content was presented in art. During recent years, a return has occurred in the art of revolution. The Ammar Film Festival is an example in this regard.  

RM/ME