A Study of the Importance of Letterism in Contemporary Iranian Art (Case Study of Fajr Visual Arts Festival and Tehran Auction)

There are many reasons to prove the importance of painting-calligraphy in Iran contemporary art, especially after the Islamic Revolution. Modernism was associated with the emergence of some kind of painting subset of the Sagha Khaneh Movement in the Pahlavi Era which was named painting-calligraphy or Letterism. This art stream has not yet been analyzed except in some cases superficially. So, the purpose of this research is to analyze the centrality of letters in some contemporary artworks in Iran, using the many examples available in this field and comparing the presence of this current in Iran in parallel to similar works in Western Art.  By studying this art stream, through examples such as the Fajr Festival as an official event and Tehran's auction as a business event in Iran contemporary art, we can get enough information to study this approach in Iranian art. Achieving these goals provide a deeper understanding of contemporary Iranian art developments. Strengthening this approach after the revolution can be linked to the foundations of preservation of Iranian-Islamic Identity due to the Importance of calligraphy in Islamic Culture. The purpose of research studies was to Understanding Current Contemporary Iranian Letterism, quantitative and qualitative performance review of its presence in the developments of a recent decade of Iranian art in order to answer this question: "What examples can be seen as the reasons for the importance of letters and calligraphy in contemporary Iranian art?" Historical studies of contemporary events as qualitative data and extracting quantitative data of Fajr Visual Arts Festival and Tehran Auction, examining similar visual approaches with Western Art, structural classification of Iranian samples and identify existing subtypes were the research strategies to achieve the result. Strengthening this approach after the revolution can be related to the basics of preserving Iranian-Islamic Identities in contemporary Iranian art. In contemporary time, this identity approach find out for the first time in Sagha Khaneh before the Islamic Revolution to emphasize on Iranian Cultural Identity. The statistical population was based on the quantitative study of Tehran Auction and Fajr Visual Festival according to an overview of the emphasis on letters in contemporary Iranian art that: “Letter-based works are examples of which, lines, or calligraphy, or inspiration for their movements and shapes have been used in a visual structure. The technique and style of the artist are not considered in this diagnosis.” It was found that reinforcement of this post-revolutionary approach could be linked to the foundations of preserving Iranian-Islamic Identity in contemporary Iranian Art, according to the importance of writing and calligraphy in Islamic Art. In the contemporary era, this identity approach first came to be in the art of pre-revolutionary Sagha Khaneh Art, to emphasize Iranian Cultural Identity. Similar trends in the use of letters as an expressive element in contemporary Western Visual Art have also been influential in the creation of this branch of Sagha Khaneh Art. But after the revolution and after observing the cultural currents that sought to emphasize and strengthen the use of letters in the art of recent years in the country by holding competitions and exhibitions, quantitative findings from the study of the Fajr Festival and Tehran Auction were cited to show that this visual approach is measurable as an accepted and considered method in major art events of the country. According to quantitative findings from the study of the Fajr Visual Festival and Tehran Auction, the research question can be answered as follows: “The Fajr Visual Festival and Tehran Auction are two examples of measurable features that indicate the importance of lettering in contemporary Iranian Visual Art”.  Combining qualitative and quantitative research methodology, observation and collection of library information led to the final analysis of the research. Quantitative studies are showing that attention to the letterism in contemporary Iranian Art in Fajr Visual Arts Festival and Tehran Auction is almost equal but the impact of the business approach on this artistic trend is even more.