Director of Tehran's Int'l Quran Exhibit Hits Back at Critics

--Since the opening of the international section of the 17th International Quran Exhibition on August 29, a flurry of criticisms has been leveled at Mohammad-Ali Khajepiri, the director of the exhibition, over poor quality of the artworks and the scale of the section.

In an interview with the Iranian Quran news Agency (IQNA) he responded to criticisms by saying that as the Iranian arts rank above those of other Islamic countries, it makes it impossible for other Muslim artists to compete with their Iranian peers at any exhibition.

He pointed to the low number of the countries that had attended the exhibition and added that we had invited double the number of the current countries, but their artworks could not meet our expectations.

In the international section of the Quran exhibition 21 artists from 20 countries have presented their artworks featuring calligraphy, Tahzib (illumination) and painting for ten days.

Tehran's 17th International Quran Exhibition, which kicked off in Imam Khomeini Prayer Hall on August 16, will be running throughout the holy month of Ramadan.