When religious beliefs exist in one especially when he/she is an artist, these beliefs will help ease the interchange of religion and art unconsciously, and glorifies a religious art.”
Naser Arasteh, a professor of university, mentioning the importance of religious concepts in arts said. Explaining his proposal for the symposium he added: “when I was invited for symposium I was thinking a way by which I could depict such magnificent concepts as Justice and Compassion, and I found the solution in image of the sun, as a symbol of Imam Ali’s virtues, illuminating the world.”
Appreciating Imam Ali religious arts museum for initiating such events, he considered this event to be a dramatic act to recover the interchange of art and religion, and said: “with these events held, there will be a descent relationship among artists while depicting religious themes”.
“Beauty of religion can easily create a desirable relationship among human beings and signify themes like justice and compassion. Common ground among all artists is a firm belief to a true guide, which incarnates in their art” he added.
Being asked if he thinks the religious instructions could be terraced in contemporary arts he said: “it is hard to say that religious instructions are clearly seen in today’s art, as the approach to these instructions is different among cultures. In some religion has a more significant role and in others less.”
Arasteh, who is the winner of the first prize of “sacred defense” festival in 1988, pointed out the importance of religious instructions: “religious and national thoughts are more found in Iranian artists’ oeuvre, as we have seen these issues and themes like sacred defense in the art of many Iranian artists within past years.”
Responding the question of possibility of using art to reach to a conceptual common level he declared: “there was times in which art served the mere role of expressing religion, but nowadays art offers a much wider variety of themes and can be used to express humanitarian and global concepts as justice and compassion.”
Bringing his words on a conclusion he said: “ I firmly believe if a deed is done honestly and to please God, if it is in arts or any other field, will inevitably leave a divine impact.”