TEHRAN -- A collection of exquisite illustrations of Rumi’s poems from the Divan of Shams and also portraits on the themes of Molana Jalal ad-Din Rumi and Shams of Tabriz was unveiled at Tehran’s Palestine Museum of Contemporary Arts on October 28.

Held to run concurrently with Tehran’s International Congress on Rumi, the exhibit includes 50 illustrations and 16 portraits, Curator of Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Art Habibollah Sadeqi told IRNA.

The majority of Iran’s renowned painters and illustrators have contributed to the display. Many of the works depict Rumi’s poetry, he added.

Sadeqi, pointing out Mahmud Farshchian’s latest miniature work “Shams and Rumi”, which has been showcased for the display, referred to it as a unique work of art.

Artworks by Aidin Aghdashlu, Kurosh Shishegaran, Kazem Chalipa, Sedaqat Ejbari, Zahra Rahnavard, Habibollah Sadeqi and Morteza Heidari are amongst the collection.

The 50 illustrations are compiled in a book entitled “Shams of Iran’s Academy of Art” by Mehdi Hosseini. The book was also unveiled during the inauguration ceremony.

This illustration project was initiated two years ago by the secretary of the academy Bahman Namvar-Motlaq, who invited artists to participate in the task. Sedaqat Jabbari undertook the calligraphy.

The book contains a combination of modern paintings with traditional calligraphy. Previously such works had only been compiled using traditional methods.

The exhibit will run until late November at the venue which is located on Mozaffar St., Taleqani Ave near Palestine Square