Press conference on art management held at the House of Cinema
A press conference on the upcoming art management conference was held at the House of Cinema on Monday August 17. The conference will consist of 4 sessions running for two days in November, with the cooperation of the House of Music, House of Theater, Office of Visual Arts Affairs and the Alliance of Motion Picture Guilds.
House of Cinema’s Managing Director Mohammad Mehdi Asgarpour said at the press conference: “It’s not easy to come up with a definition for art and culture management because here we are faced with so many management decisions and moves that oversimplify the issue and send some very odd definitions to our minds. In many occasions, managers that are appointed over cultural organizations have expertise or taste other than what’s related to the objectives and activities of the organization, and as a result the issue of art and culture will be overshadowed by less significant considerations.”
House of Cinema’s Managing Director also said: “The initial discussions on the issue took place at the House of Cinema, and after many sessions it was eventually decided to expand the conference to include other art fields with the cooperation of the House of Music, House of Theater and … of Visual Arts. Appointed secretaries of each section of the conference are: Farhad Tohidi for cinema, Iraj Rad for theater, Mohammad Sarir for Music and Aydin Aghdashloo for visual arts.”
Asgarpour continued: “One of the most important issues in preparing for this conference was to find an outstanding artist and manager with both academic background and public recognition to best serve as the secretary of the conference, and we finally decided that the only person who can use his extensive experience in management, art and academia to handle the task would be Dr. Mehdi Hojjat.”
Dr. Mehdi Hojjat said in turn: “Art management in Iran actually covers three concepts: management, art and the current situation of the country.  Why art management is so important? As it’s obvious to all of us, no matter how brilliant and efficient individual components are, they won’t be able to do much good unless they are organized by a solid management.” 
He added: “On art management, I should say some people might think of art as the frosting on top of the cake; not such a necessary thing in the society. It is the same in social, political issues. Some issues are given more attention and have more immediate effects, while some others are virtually forgotten, with no real result to show for themselves.”
Dr. Hojjat further explained: “There are several key features in artistic areas; one is an artist with something to say, then there’s his art which is a media on its own, and finally the audience that will be addressed through art. An art work relates to all social concerns; it’s about values and beliefs and economy and political issues.”
Appointed secretary of the art management conference outlined the main themes of the conference as follows:
1. Definition and role of art management
• Features of art management
• Role of art management in social development
• Conditions for the realization of optimal art management
• Role of social establishments in art management 
• Reviewing art management in Iran
2. Legal setting of art management
• Laws and regulations of art management
• Art management establishments (existing/ideal)
• Art management’s supporting factors
• Comparative study of laws and establishments in Iran and other countries
• Legal and organizational shortcomings of art management
3. Art management from planning to execution
• Art planning in other countries
• Obstacles resulting in discrepancies between planning and execution in art management
• Managing the economy of art
• Art management and the media
• Art management and education
• Art as a media, art for art
4. Politics, security and art management
• Art management and politics
• Art management and security
• Art management and advisability
• Control and restriction in art management