Culture is the common soul of a nation / Artists are the pulse of collective feeling and guardians of society’s soul

According to the reporter of the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) in Gorgan, Niknam Hosseinipour, on Wednesday evening at the ceremony honoring the leading figures of culture and art in Golestan, mentioned that he wanted to talk a few words about everyone’s responsibility, both you artists in whatever field you work, and cultural managers, and that is the position of people of culture and art in strengthening national cohesion. He said: You know and I know that culture is the common soul of a nation and art is its eloquent language. A nation that wants to have lasting integrity, cohesion, and future-building must inevitably rely on its cultural assets.

He added: Assets that are embodied in human beings like you. Poets who express people’s feelings, writers who create collective narratives, musicians, theater artists, cinema artists, and all those who, with their creativity, pass from ‘I’ to ‘we’, are a civilization-building nation that becomes a bridge between generations.

The advisor to the Minister of Culture continued: In my opinion, the duty of people of culture and art is an instance of this poem by Rumi in Musa and the Shepherd, where we came to connect, not to separate. I have quenched everyone’s thirst, I have given everyone a character. Therefore, your essence and appearance are empathy and bridge-building of the kind of culture and art.

Hosseinipour noted: In a society where changes are very fast and social pressures are sometimes heavy, it is culture and art that reminds people that there is still something that binds us together like cement and shapes our identity. We are proud of our people of culture and art in the world, from Ferdowsi and Rumi to Hafez and Saadi, because these are part of our glorious history, and of course the 8-year and 12-day Sacred Defense, where artists put their lives and creativity for the homeland, and all artists performed very well and showed national cohesion.

The head of the Public Relations and Information Center of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance said: Therefore, it is you artists who keep shared values alive with your soft and penetrating language and art, and inject hope and vitality into society.

Hosseinipour then said: You are the pulse of our collective feeling, you are the ones who gather scattered hearts around a common flame called Iran and the Persian language, and we must protect the Persian language, which is not only the guarantor of nationality and identity but also the carrier of our culture.

He added: Therefore, you are the ones who build common memory and are the guardians of society’s soul, and a nation without its artists is like a city without lights, and a society that does not respect its artists and does not place them first has actually weakened its spiritual foundation because artists are not only producers of art but also builders of social trust and narrators of truth, and every artwork is a light that illuminates the path of dialogue.

He also stated: Dialogue which is the basis of understanding and empathy and is our need these days and every day, both intergenerational dialogue and dialogue between artists and government and sovereignty. Therefore, artists must be given opportunity, respect, and creativity, and cultural diversity must be protected, and of course, the youth of this land must be trusted to create the new voice of Iran.

The head of the Public Relations and Information Center of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance said: I must say that it is thanks to you artists that the nation not only takes pride in its past but also has hope for its future.

He said: We need you not only to make things more beautiful but also for a new understanding of the world, and how beautiful it is to look at the world through the lens of art.

Hosseinipour added: Therefore, your gathering in this hall shows that art knows no borders, knows no distances, and one cannot look at art through the lens of politics, and Golestan province, with its diversity of climate, ethnicity, and religion, is an example of plurality within unity and has presented great figures to Iran.

The advisor to the Minister of Culture said: These figures are the cultural and identity pillars of this land, faces that have made Golestan’s name proud in national and international arenas with their knowledge, art, social commitment, and high morals. This province, with its unique cultural diversity, is the birthplace of personalities, and I hope we continue to appreciate people of culture and art, and I hope that by creating lasting works and narrating the truth with beautiful language, you keep the light of hearts’ solidarity burning bright.

The ceremony honoring 30 leading figures of culture and art of Golestan province in various cultural and artistic fields, in an event titled Haft Bahr Honar (Seven Seas of Art), was held with the presence of Seyed Majid Pourahmadi, advisor to the Minister and CEO of Art Credit Fund, Niknam Hosseinipour, advisor to the Minister and head of the Public Relations and Information Center of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Ahmad Golchin, Director General of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Golestan, and a group of other provincial officials and people of culture, art, media, and Quranic and mosque activists of Golestan province at the Fakhroddin Asaad Gorgani Hall.