Photo Contest on National & Religious Festive Rituals

The history of mankind is completely dependant on human heritage. No doubt, the background of any society is evaluated based on its ancestors’ heritage. On the same basis, in the year 2003 the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) divided the human heritage into two categories of tangible and intangible heritage, and named the latter as the origin of cultural diversity and a guarantee for the sustainable development of all societies.
Each nation has its own festive rituals to celebrate and rejoice. As time goes by, these rituals are gradually refined and constantly renewed by people, giving them a sense of identity and procreation and promoting the cultural diversity. The valuable role of intangible cultural heritage as a decisive factor in bringing people together and ensuring mutual understanding makes it doubly important to protect and safeguard them.

With a firm belief in the importance of the issue and to pay respect to this part of cultural human heritage and generate a sense of joy and freshness in the city, the Artistic Deputy of Tehran Municipality’s Cultural-Artistic Organization started the preliminary arrangements for a photo contest named “National & Religious Festive Rituals”.

The call for participation was published by the City Photo Museum in the summer of 2006, and consequently the Secretariat received 622 photos from 115 photographers.
During the next stage, the selection committee comprised of Ms. Hamideh Zolfaghari & Messers. Esmail Abbasi, Mohammad Sattari, Mohammad Mehdi Rahimian & Masoud Zendehruh-e Kermani started to evaluate the submitted works in May 2007, and ultimately chose the best of the photos, which were put on display in the City Photo Museum May-June 2007.

it is now my duty to express my sincere appreciation for the efforts of the members of the selection committee, our collaborators in the City Photo Museum, and especially Ms. Mozhgan Tarighi, the diligent manager of the museum, for holding such a great competition.