Storytelling of Cultural Heritage in the Multimedia Festival / We Need Guardians of Heritage

The secretary of the 3rd International Multimedia Cultural Heritage Festival described this event as an effort to enhance the storytelling of cultural heritage. He stated that, in this edition of the festival, non-Iranian artists are welcome to submit their works related to the introduction of Iran’s cultural and historical heritage—whether tangible, intangible, or highlighting shared connections between Iran and regional countries—to the international section of the festival.

According to a report by the cultural correspondent of Shabestan News Agency, the 3rd International Multimedia Cultural Heritage Festival will be held in mid-November this year in the city of Shiraz. The event will be hosted by the Fars Province Governorate and organized by the Cultural Heritage Department of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts. The festival aims to enhance cultural heritage literacy, foster interaction between cultural, artistic, and media communities and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, and discover talents in producing heritage-related artistic works.

The Multimedia Festival: An Effort to Enhance Storytelling of Cultural Heritage

In an interview with the cultural correspondent of Shabestan News Agency, Alireza Tabesh discussed the details and objectives of the 3rd International Multimedia Cultural Heritage Festival. He stated, “This is the third festival being held with the aim of increasing cultural heritage literacy, fostering greater interaction between the cultural, artistic, and media communities and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, and discovering talents in this field—talents who have been able to produce artistic works related to cultural heritage.”

Iran’s Cultural Heritage from the Perspective of International Artists in the Non-Competitive Section

He explained one of the key features of the 3rd International Multimedia Cultural Heritage Festival: the non-competitive section. In this section, non-Iranian artists who have created visual content related to the cultural and historical heritage of Iran—whether tangible heritage, intangible heritage, or shared connections between Iran and regional countries—are invited to submit their works to the international section of the festival. These submissions can include short films, documentaries, and photographs. The call for submissions for the national sections has also been announced, encompassing a variety of categories.
Tabesh commented on the various sections of the third International Multimedia Cultural Heritage Festival, stating that this year’s festival will feature sections dedicated to cinema, television, radio, performing arts, music, photography, and poster design. Notably, the music, photography, and poster sections have been added to the festival for the first time. Additionally, the digital heritage section will also be part of this year’s festival.

The secretary of the third International Multimedia Cultural Heritage Festival discussed the addition of the ideas and experiences section to the festival, stating that the Ministry of Cultural Heritage has engaged in various activities in archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, international collaborations, restoration, preservation, promotion, and education in recent years. Many artists have also been active in the field of cultural heritage during this time. Furthermore, researchers in various academic fields are engaged in historical studies and interdisciplinary research related to the historical and cultural heritage of our country. Therefore, this year, a call has been issued for cultural heritage specialists from across Iran to submit their experiences for the festival. Naturally, there will be a special judging process for this section, and the top submissions will be selected.

Additionally, recognizing that there are numerous valuable ideas in the field of cultural heritage, we have added this section this year. We have issued a call to the academic, scientific, cultural, media communities, and even the general public across the country, inviting them to submit their innovative ideas related to cultural heritage, management, research, promotion, and content creation to the festival.

Engaging Students with Cultural Heritage through the “Future Guardians of Heritage” Campaign

Tabesh explained the “Future Guardians of Heritage” campaign, a section of the 3rd International Multimedia Cultural Heritage Festival: “The Future Guardians of Heritage campaign was introduced to the festival last year, and it will continue this year as well.

This campaign is designed for the 11 to 18 age group, inviting teenagers and students to express their interests in the cultural heritage of Iran in various formats, including videos, poetry, songs, calligraphy, photography, short films, clips, as well as storytelling sessions, recitations of the Shahnameh, and anything else this generation considers part of cultural heritage. They are also encouraged to share their experiences and suggestions for the protection of cultural heritage in this section, helping to enrich this emerging aspect of the Multimedia Cultural Heritage Festival.”
The secretary of the 3rd International Multimedia Cultural Heritage Festival, referring to the addition of an international section, stated: “This year, an important new part, the non-competitive international section, has been added to the festival. As you are aware, we have had collaborative efforts with our neighboring countries in the cultural domain of Greater Iran, including joint archaeological excavations, shared research in restoration, anthropology, archaeology, and other fields related to heritage sciences. Some of these collaborations are documented in the form of films, photographs, and visual records. We invite all artists and researchers in the field of cultural heritage outside of Iran to submit their works—whether short films, documentaries, or photographs—on the theme of shared heritage between Iran and their countries, or their Iranology studies and research related to the field of heritage.”We encourage the submission of cultural works that are captured in visual documents, such as short films, documentaries, and photographs, for this edition of the festival. As approved by the Policy Council of the 3rd Festival, the international section will be held in a non-competitive format this year. The reason for this is that it marks the first year of introducing this section. However, we hope that in the coming years, with the expansion of the international section, we will witness competitive participation from artists around the world and gradually take bigger steps in the realm of international collaboration through this festival.

Attendance of the Minister of Cultural Heritage at the Third Policy Council Meeting in Shiraz

He noted: “We held the first Policy Council meeting of the festival in March of last year, followed by the second meeting in May of this year. Next week, the third meeting will be held with the presence of the esteemed Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts, as well as the Governor of Fars Province. In this meeting, which will include the members of the Policy Council, a report on the actions taken in the national and international sections, as well as the efforts made in Fars Province as the host city, will be presented.”

Deadline for Submissions Extended to September 30

The secretary of the 3rd International Multimedia Cultural Heritage Festival announced the extension of the submission deadline for the festival, stating: “The deadline for submitting works for the third edition of the festival has been extended to September 30, 2024. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all artists, researchers, and media professionals who have collaborated with the festival during this time, submitted their works, communicated with us, or introduced the festival’s call to interested individuals. I would like to inform the audience of this festival that they can submit their works in the announced sections to the festival portal before the submission deadline on September 30.”

The Multimedia Festival: An Effort to Enhance Storytelling of Cultural Heritage

Tabesh emphasized, “We hope to contribute to the enhancement of cultural literacy in this edition of the festival. Across this land, there are numerous cultural and civilizational artifacts that need to be introduced through the language of art in a creative and narrative way for the new generation.”

The secretary of the 3rd International Multimedia Cultural Heritage Festival identified one of the festival’s key objectives as enhancing the storytelling of cultural heritage. He added, “I hope that artists and intellectuals will actively participate in this edition of the festival so that we can achieve our goals