The awarding ceremony for the National Painting Festival, “Mythos Land”, was held with the presence of Chang Hua, the ambassador of the People’s Republic of China and Hamed Alamati, Kanoon General Manager.

According to Kanoon General Directorate for Public Relations and International Affairs, Hamed Alamati, Kanoon General Manager, said, “As two major ancient and influencing civilizations, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Peoples’ Republic of China have been interacting since distant past. Yet, the interactions between the two countries have increased recently.”

He added, “Silk Road and previous cooperations of the two countries are familiar at the world level, to people of culture, thought and art; two civilizations that have always been interacting and the result of this interaction has had precious outcomes.”

Referring to the relationship between the two countries, Alamati said: “There are good capacities for cooperation between the two countries, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the People's Republic of China, but for greater interaction and cooperation, the two countries need to have a better understanding of each other's culture.”

Kanoon director stated, “China is described as culture, civilization, and art in the poems of Iranian poets. There are many stories about China in Iranian literature and painters are also mentioned in Iranian literature.”

He continued, “Art and literature have always been the foundation of cultural and social interactions between countries and are one of the important tools that we can use.”

Alamati stated, “The language of art is an effective language for conveying cultural concepts, especially painting, which is the common language of all humans and does not need translation. Painting is one of the ways to communicate between nations, that's why we chose to hold a painting competition last year and this year with the aim of creating friendship and interaction between the children of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the People's Republic of China.”

He added, “Last year, under the pretext of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the "Flying Dreams" competition was held, and this year, in the second collaboration, the "Mythos Land" competition was held to familiarize Iranian children and adolescents with the culture and nature of China. In these festivals, Iranian children and teenagers studied about China and depicted their imaginations.”

In another part of his speech, Kanoon general director said: “I would like to thank those who worked hard to organize this festival and the opening of the exhibition, especially the ambassador of the People’s Republic of China and the Cultural Counselor of the People’s Republic of China for their support. I am also grateful to the Vice-Chancellor of Culture, Center for Creations, International Affairs and Kanoon teachers and trainers and the parents of the participants.”

At the end, Hamed Alamati said, “I hope in the coming years, the field of extensive cultural cooperation will be provided more than before.”

Chang Hua, the ambassador of People’s Republic of China in Iran said, “As a representative of the embassy of China, I would like to congratulate the opening of “Mythos Land”. I am thankful to the Kanoon and Kanoon general director for this.”

He said, “I congratulated the 12 selected and I wish health and success for 427 participants.” Chang Hua clarified that Iran and China are two civilized countries which have influenced the whole world. They have been interaction with each other and I hope this relation continues, especially during recent years, with the management of the heads of the two countries, cultural interactions have increased.

The ambassador of China said, “At the beginning of the new year and the spring of China and Norouz, the competition of “Mythos Land” was held. The works of this exhibition are the dreams and fantasies of Iranian children about the culture, nature, and customs of China, which is miles away from it and is full of creativity.”

He continued, “I hope Iranian children get the chance to visit China and its dimensions, and these interactions will ignite this friendship and continue.”

At the end, Chang Hua said, “I wish the interaction between Iranian and Chinese children reaches higher levels and creates seasons of sympathy and friendship.”

Ensieh Mousavian, director of Kanoon Literary-Artistic Creations said, “Based on the agreement concluded between Kanoon and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in 2022 with the goal of developing cultural-artistic relations among Asian children, preparing suitable conditions to promote friendship and sympathy.”

The National Festival of Children and Adolescents Paintings titled “Mythos Land” was held for children to depict the beauties of a country far from Iran with the common language of painting.

He said, the jury for “Mythos Land” included: Fatemeh Tavakkolinia, Masoumeh Fazeli Moghadas, Reza Abdoli. They selected six works at children’s section, and six at the adolescents’ section. Ten paintings were introduced as meritorious.” This took place on Dec 19, 2022.

Director of Kanoon Literary-Artistic Creations announced, “A virtual exhibition of “Mythos Land” will be held as soon as possible for the interested to have access to the paintings of this exhibition.”

In part of the ceremony, Parsa and Dorsa Nikbayan (two free participants from Ahvaz  performed a text in Chinese and Farsi to introduce Iran. At the end, with the reading of the statement of the jury, awards were given to the selected members.

This ceremony was held on January 4, 2023 with the presence of Chang Hua, the ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Zhozy Haw, Cultural Counselor of the People’s Republic of China  and Hamed Alamati, General Manager of Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults at Ghadir Hall, Kanoon Center for Cultural-Artistic Creations.