Art, Identity, and Civilization; A Re-reading of the Cultural Thought of Irans Martyred Leader

This is while few political leaders in the contemporary world can be found who maintained such continuous connection with the artistic community. The tradition of holding annual meetings with poets on the night of Imam Hassan Mojtaba's (AS) birth, frequent meetings with figures from cinema, theater, literature, and visual arts, numerous messages to art festivals, and detailed speeches on poetry and literature were only part of the martyred leader's ongoing engagement with art and artists – engagement that shows art for him was not a ceremonial matter, but part of the cultural project of the Islamic Revolution.

This interest, of course, has roots in the pre-revolution years. From his youth, Ayatollah Khamenei (RA) had a connection with Persian literature, contemporary poetry, and literary circles, and had spoken many times of his interest in poetry, studying the works of great poets, and attending literary sessions. This led to his connection with the literary and artistic community not only not being severed after the revolution, but becoming one of the Islamic Republic's cultural traditions.

Perhaps the most important manifestation of this connection is the annual meetings of poets with the martyred leader of the revolution – gatherings that have become a rare forum in Iran's cultural space. In these sessions, poets from various generations and tastes recite their works, and the martyred leader would offer his views with precision on meter, rhyme, language, theme, the history of Persian literature, and even the most subtle poetic nuances.

Art; a tool for transmitting revolutionary thought

But the importance of these gatherings was not limited to poetry recitation. These sessions in fact reflected a deeper view of the place of art – a view that considers art as one of the most effective tools for transmitting thought.

In explaining this view, the martyred leader of the revolution emphasized: "Art is a way of expression, a way of delivering. But this way of expression is more eloquent, more precise, more penetrating, and more enduring than any other explanation. Any message, any invitation, any revolution, any civilization, and any culture that is not cast in the mold of art will have no chance of influence and spread, and will not endure."

This statement can be considered one of the foundational pillars of Ayatollah Khamenei's thought on art. From this perspective, art is not an adornment of culture, but the language of culture – a language that can convey concepts to the deep layers of society; something that, in his belief, many propaganda and media tools are incapable of doing.

On this basis, he repeatedly described art as "the most eloquent, most expressive, and most effective tool for conveying messages," and believed that no medium has been able to eliminate the position of art, especially poetry.

In one of the meetings of Iran's martyred leader with poets in the holy month of Ramadan, he stated: "Poetry is a unique art. The existence of all kinds of media has not been able to degrade poetry from its strong and influential media existence. Poetry is truly an influential medium."

In his view, poetry is not merely a literary form; it is a medium that can shape the historical memory of a nation. For this reason, he repeatedly emphasized that future generations will come to know many of the realities of the Islamic Revolution, the Sacred Defense, and Iran's social transformations through poetry and literature.

With this same view, Iran's martyred leader asked poets to be narrators of their time. He believed that the contemporary era is full of great human, social, and historical themes and concepts that can become enduring literature.

The social and historical function of art in narrating history

In one of these meetings, he emphasized: "It seems to me that there has rarely been a time with so many prominent, inspirational social concepts. These are concepts that must remain alive in people's minds."

This view elevates art beyond an individual activity and gives it a social and historical function – a function in which the artist is not merely a producer of works, but a narrator of history and guardian of the society's cultural identity.

Of course, this special attention to art never meant overlooking the quality of works. One of the constant features of Ayatollah Khamenei's (RA) speeches was the simultaneous emphasis on content and artistic quality. He repeatedly warned that a good message, if presented in a weak form, loses its effectiveness.

In the words of Iran's martyred leader: "The work of art does not end with content; form is also very valuable. An ugly container makes the beautiful content appear ugly." This statement expresses one of the most important principles of his artistic theory: that artistic beauty and content value are inseparable pillars, and neither can replace the other.

On this basis, Ayatollah Khamenei (RA) always asked artists to ensure their works are at the highest level in terms of technique, language, structure, and innovation. He even held this same standard for revolutionary poetry, emphasizing that being merely revolutionary is not enough for a work to endure; rather, the poetry must be distinguished, well-constructed, and have literary value.

In his view, revolutionary art will be successful when it can create an excellent work both in content and in form.

This emphasis on excellence can be seen as the connecting link between Iran's martyred leader's personal interest in classical Persian literature and contemporary art – a view that believes the Islamic Revolution, to convey its messages, needs great artists and enduring works above all else.

Committed art; from the artist's responsibility to cultural civilization-building

The thought of the martyred Khamenei on art represents, above all, commitment. Of course, commitment in his view never meant limiting the artist's creativity or turning art into a political statement, but rather a responsibility arising from art itself and its power of influence.

The martyred leader of the revolution believed that art, due to its deep influence on the mind and soul of the audience, cannot be indifferent to truth, ethics, and the fate of society. For this reason, he repeatedly used the term "committed art," but at the same time tried to clarify its boundary with sloganistic and superficial art.

In a meeting with cultural and artistic figures, he described art as a divine gift and said: "Art is a very distinguished truth and a gift from the Lord, which, like any other divine gift, brings responsibilities and duties to its possessor."

From this perspective, the artist is not merely a producer of a work, but also bears responsibility for the work they create.

In this regard, Ayatollah Khamenei stated: "In addition to inherent human duties, due to the very distinguished features of art, the artist must also feel a sense of commitment regarding the form and content of their works. Artists, in addition to being responsible for creativity, innovation, and progress in form, must always feel responsible for the theme and content of their works."

This view shows that in the martyred leader's intellectual framework, commitment and artistic quality are not in opposition to one another; rather, a work of art is valuable when it is both rich in content and at an excellent artistic level.

For this reason, he repeatedly warned against producing weak works that merely use revolutionary slogans, and in one of his most important statements about revolutionary art, emphasized: "There should be no doubt that the revolution needs art, and revolutionary art, because it must carry new concepts and because it must engage with all oppositions and hostilities, must inevitably be distinguished, excellent, and progressive."

Revolutionary art; distinguished, excellent, and progressive

In the view of Ayatollah Khamenei (RA), three characteristics are enumerated for revolutionary art: distinguished, excellent, and progressive. These three words show that, in his view, revolutionary art will only be successful when it can also meet aesthetic standards.

This same view led him to distinguish between propaganda and art, because art is not supposed to merely repeat a message, but to present it in a fresh, creative, and enduring form.

On this basis, Iran's martyred leader repeatedly emphasized the importance of educating artists. He stressed that to build a beautiful container in the field of art, talent alone is not enough; education is also necessary. Artists who have the ability to teach artistic principles must come to the aid of the youth.

This emphasis on education shows that the martyred leader of the revolution did not consider art a mere product of taste, but rather the result of practice, experience, study, and the transmission of artistic knowledge.

In a meeting with poets in 2024, addressing young poets, he stated: "The fact that you have seen your poetry improve and your ability increase should not satisfy you, because you are still far from Hafez, far from Saadi, far from Nezami."

With the knowledge he had of the talent of Iran's artists, Iran's martyred leader believed that the Islamic Revolution could pave the way for the emergence of new peaks of Persian literature.

Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized: "My belief is that our era can be Saadi-producing."

The Islamic Revolution; an opportunity for the birth of a new generation of artists

This statement is one of his most important assessments of Iran's contemporary cultural capacity – an assessment that shows the martyred leader did not view the Islamic Revolution merely as a political transformation, but also as the beginning of a new era in Iran's culture and art.

For this reason, art in his thought is not merely a tool for transmitting messages, but part of the civilization-building project.

Iran's martyred leader repeatedly emphasized that the ideal of the Islamic Revolution is to build a mature, justice-seeking, hopeful, progressive society with self-confidence, and that the realization of such a society is impossible without culture and art.

In such a view, the artist is not merely a cultural activist, but also plays a role in shaping the future of society. This same view led Ayatollah Khamenei (RA) to repeatedly ask artists to address the issues of contemporary society, national identity, justice, resistance, family, ethics, hope, progress, and spirituality. Of course, he emphasized that these themes must be presented in artistic form, not in the form of slogans, because art is successful when the audience connects with the work without feeling imposition.

The continuity of Iran's martyred leader's connection with artists shows that, from the view of the martyred leader of the revolution, investing in art is investing in the country's cultural future – a future that, in his belief, without the language of art, would neither be narrated nor endure.

Poetry; a medium that still has no rival

Among the various branches of art, perhaps none holds as much place in the thought of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei as poetry. This attention is rooted in his deep understanding of the historical role of poetry in Iranian and Islamic culture.

Iran's martyred leader repeatedly emphasized that despite the spread of new media, poetry remains one of the most effective tools for transmitting thought – a medium that has not only not lost its position, but can still affect the mind and emotions of the audience more deeply than many communication tools.

In a meeting with poets and figures of Persian culture and literature in 2024, he expressed this belief: "Poetry is a unique art. The existence of all kinds of media has not been able to degrade poetry from its strong and influential media existence. Poetry is truly an influential medium."

This same view is the reason for the continuation of one of the most enduring cultural traditions of the Islamic Republic – a tradition that for over three decades has been held every year on the night of Imam Hassan Mojtaba's (AS) birth, bringing together poets from various generations and orientations.

These sessions, unlike many formal meetings, were not merely poetry recitation gatherings. In these sessions, Ayatollah Khamenei would listen attentively to the poems, discuss meter, rhyme, language, imagery, theme, composition, and even word choice, and sometimes recite verses from Hafez, Saadi, Saeb, Bidel, Nezami, and other greats from memory to explain a literary point.

This feature led many poets to consider these sessions not merely meetings with the leader of the revolution, but also a kind of literary criticism workshop.

Art; the enduring language of a civilization

A review of four decades of speeches, messages, and meetings of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei with cultural and artistic figures clearly reveals one point: art, in the view of Iran's martyred leader, is not a secondary issue, but one of the main foundations of culture and civilization.

This view can also be seen in the range of audiences of his meetings. In these gatherings, Ayatollah Khamenei (RA) always tried to strike a balance between the artist's creative freedom and social responsibility. He neither reduced art to a mere tool for political propaganda, nor considered it a phenomenon separate from society and human values. In his view, art reaches its true place when it is at the highest level both in technique and aesthetics, and can also reflect truth, justice, hope, spirituality, and human dignity.

For this reason, in defining religious art, he draws a clear boundary with superficial and simplistic interpretations. He emphasized that religious art does not mean superficiality or repetition of religious concepts, but rather art that can express truth in a beautiful, honest, and effective language.

On the other hand, the martyred leader of the revolution always described the future of Iran's art as hopeful, and believed that Iran's cultural capacities and the Islamic Revolution could pave the way for the emergence of a new generation of great artists.

He believed: "I have firm and absolute faith, from the bottom of my heart, that the future art of this country will be a vibrant and superior art."

These statements are not merely optimism, but are based on the same view that considers culture as the foundation of society's progress. From his perspective, civilization is not built solely by economy, politics, or technology, but requires literature, music, cinema, poetry, story, and other branches of art, because it is art that can shape the spirit of a society and transmit its values to future generations.

In one of his most important statements, Iran's martyred leader depicted the relationship between art and revolution as follows: "The message of the revolution must be conveyed in the language of poetry and art, which are the most authentic, purest, and most captivating languages. The revolution can be exported more easily and honestly through the medium of art and literature than through any other form."

This statement can be seen as the summary of his view on the function of art. In this intellectual framework, art is not merely a means of expressing emotions; it is the language of transmitting historical experience, narrating the identity of a nation, and a bridge between the past, present, and future.

An examination of the statements of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei shows that art holds a status parallel to other strategic areas of culture. He considers art the most eloquent language, a divine gift, a means of reflecting noble thoughts, and a tool for the preservation of culture – a language that, if accompanied by knowledge, skill, ethics, and creativity, can play a role in building the future of a society more than any other tool.

Art, Identity, and Civilization; A Re-reading of the Cultural Thought of Iran's Martyred Leader