Sculptor Nahid Saliani passes away at 84

TEHRAN – Iranian sculptor Nahid Saliani died of sepsis caused by a fracture in her arm at a Tehran hospital on Sunday. She was 84.

Saliani broke her arm in an accident in the northern Iranian city of Rasht. She was transferred to Arad Hospital in Tehran after the fracture caused sepsis and doctors in Rasht failed to deal with the problem. However, the doctors’ attempts at the Tehran hospital were also in vain and ultimately Saliani died.

Born in Bandar Anzali, Saliani left the northern Iranian port city for Tehran after completing her basic education.     

 She received a BA in sculpture from the College of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran in 1959 and won a scholarship to the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome.

Rome and other Italian cities, including Florence and Naples, hosted numerous exhibitions that Saliani and her fellow students organized during her college years.    

France was her next stop where she attended a one-year course on sculpture and held several exhibitions.

She returned home afterwards and began a teaching career at the College of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran.

 Her memory lives on by her works, including “Mother and Son”, a huge bronze sculpture that is located in the courtyard of the Iranian Artists Forum in Tehran.