The national meeting on the Science and Technology of Print at the Service of Development, Science, Education, Culture and Communication was held at the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO on 5 September 2016 in the framework of a series of meetings held on the occasion of the second National Week of Print Science and Technology.
In addition to the Secretary General of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO, the staff members of the NatCom and the UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office, the meeting was host to the staff members of the Iranian Scientific Association of Printing Technology, Tehran Publishers and Booksellers Association, lithographers, publishing-house owners, university professor and scholars.
The First speaker, Mr (Eng.) Bitarafan, the President of the Iranian Scientific Association of Printing Technology, referred to knowledge as the product of reading and to printing as the basis for promoting reading and hence knowledge. He explained that printing is complementary to human communication and has played an important role in the development of nations and promoting culture. He continued by once more proposing the need for the proclamation of a day for the printing industry at the international level. In this view, emphasising the important role of printing in achieving the objectives of UNESCO, and thanking Mr Jami, Director General of the Bureau for Printing Affairs of the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance for proclaiming 1 September as the National Printing Day, he asked the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO to follow up the proclamation of a world day for printing at UNESCO.
The second speaker, Dr Nasiri Gheydari, Secretary General of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO, initially briefed the participants on the history of print, beginning from the time of the Achaemenid dynasty in Iran. Emphasising the mutual influence of the printing industry and culture on one another, the Secretary General of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO referred to the printing industry as a tool for cultural development, which has a direct and at the same time an indirect role in peace-building (UNESCO’s main objective). “Printing is the basis of freedom of expression and freedom of press, two important issues from the view point of UNESCO, both of which are promoted by means of the printing industry”, he explained, referring to the printing industry as any countries’ means of evaluating progress and development.
Considering the membership of the IR of Iran in the UNESCO Executive Board, Dr Nasiri Gheydari said that he has considered the submission of a request to UNESCO for the proclamation of a world day for printing.
Dr Mehrdad Bayat, Faculty at Iran University of Science and Technology was the third speaker. He initially reviewed UNESCO’s objectives from a theoretical point of view. He briefed the session about the concept of the printing galaxy and spoke about the history of the printing industry.
Dr Farhad Etemadi, Head of the Communication and Information Department of the NatCom was the fourth speaker. He explained that although UNESCO has not directly focused on printing and the printing industry in the framework of the activities of the Communication and Information Sector of the Organisation, it indirectly emphasises the role of the press and media in the development of Member States. “In this trend, the UNESCO Memory of the World programme and the efforts made in the framework of this programme to register the outstanding documentary heritage of the Member States is in a way proof of the important role played by the printing industry in the documentation of the memory of humanity”, he said.
Dr Abdulmahdi Mostakin, Head of the Culture Department of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO said, “what printing professionals do is giving birth and revitalising”. He expressed concern of the negative impacts of the rapid advancements in the online world on the mentality of humans and posed the question of whether the approach to printing in the modern ages should be interactive or defensive?
The Managing Director of Erfan Publishing Institute, Mr Mohammad Ebrahim Sharia’ti Aghanestani, was the Sixth speaker of the session. He explained about the important place of the printing industry, saying that “the development of any nation can be assessed by the degree of the development of the printing industry in nations”. He then briefed the session on the situation of printing and publishing in Afghanistan and expressed his gratitude to the Government of Iran for sending books and other publications to Afghanistan, emphasising the important role of such activities in the development of the Afghan society. He asked for greater assistance of the Iranians and the Iranian Government in this respect.
The Managing Director of the Iranian Lithographers’ Cooperative, Mr Gholamreza Shoja, emphasised the importance of the proclamation of a world printing day.
Dr Iranmanesh, one of the founders of the packaging industry in Iran, was the next speaker of this session. He introduced the audience to the 10-year old university course for a Bachelor’s in Packaging. He explained about the problem of a lack of appropriate planning and design for packaging in the country and asked for professional assistance on this harmful defect.
He referred to health, consumer security, environmental conservation, and economic viability as the most important factors in any packaging industry and expressed his concern about the wrongful teachings on packaging in the country.
The last speaker was Mr Esmaeil Demirchi one of the pioneers of the printing industry in Iran and Manager of the Iranian Printing Industry Museum. He said that the existence of Cyrus’ Stamp at Louvre Museum in Paris is proof of a history of two-thousand-and-five-hundred years of printing in Iran. However, “this industry was mainly developed by and in the West and the Iranians did not have a share in developing the printing industry”, he continued.
Dr Nasiri Gheydari, Mr Demirchi, Mr Mohammad Mahdi fakhrizadeh, Secretary of the Tehran Publishers and Booksellers Association, were awarded with symbols of the Iranian Scientific Association of Printing Technology. The Golden Symbol of the Association was also awarded to Mr Ghobad Shiva, renowned Iranian graphic artist and designer, who is also one of the top 12 designers of the world.
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