World Art Day to be celebrated April 15

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The International Association of Arts has declared April 15, 2012 the first World Art Day, and the event will be celebrated worldwide.

At last year’s world general assembly meeting of the International Association of Arts (IAA) in Guadalajara, Mexico Turkey’s national committee president Bedri Baykam presented a proposal suggesting that Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday, April 15, be declared World Art Day. The proposition was co-signed and presented by Rosa Maria Burillo Velasco of Mexico, Anne Pourny of France, Liu Dawei of China, Christos Symeonides of Greek Cyprus, Anders Liden of Sweden, Kan Irie of Japan, Pavel Kral of Slovakia, Dev Chooramun of Mauritius, and Hilde Rognskog of Norway. It was voted on and unanimously accepted by the IAA’s General Assembly.

Given Leonardo’s multi-faceted personality as a painter, sculptor, thinker, writer, innovator, mathematician and philosopher, his birthday was seen as a perfect choice for a day to commemorate the role of art in the contemporary world, with its complex artistic, social and political layers.
All the national committees of the IAA will be contributing to World Art Day through festivities, exhibitions, panel discussions, posters, banners and parties, emphasizing the role of art in achieving peace and freedom. From Mexico to Japan, from France to Sweden, from Slovakia to South Africa, from Cyprus to Venezuela, countries on all continents are preparing to celebrate World Art Day in different ways.

Day for artists

The IAA designated April 15 as World Art Day with the intention that it will be a day for all artists and art lovers in the world to celebrate, not only members of IAA. The idea is to create a day to emphasize the importance of art in the lives of everyone, of all ages and races. Every gallery, museum, art center, university and artist are free to organize their own activities.

The President of IAA World, Mexican Rosa Maria Burillo Velasco said, “Art is the most genuine expression of the human soul, shaped in images words, sounds and movements enduring reflections that describe us the story of humanity. World Art Day will permit to all the artists and art lovers of the world, to feel the power and the preciousness of art simultaneously and let all of us breathe its importance for all nations of the World.”