Category: Ataollah Omidvar

Ataollah Omidvar (born Farvardin 2, 1325 – died Dey 13, 1400) was an Iranian architect, urban planner, filmmaker, painter, singer, and musician.
Biography
Ataollah Omidvar was born in 1325 in the city of Baft, Kerman province. He completed his primary education in Baft and his secondary education in Kerman, and then at Darolfonoon School in Tehran. From childhood, he was inclined towards music and singing, and for this reason, he won first place in singing in the country’s high schools. In 1345, he entered the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Tehran and graduated in architecture from the University of Tehran in 1351. He completed his thesis under the supervision of Mohsen Hashtroudi and Mansour Falamaki.

Ataollah Omidvar continued his musical activities and, with the approval of Moshir Homayoun Shahrdar, obtained permission to collaborate with the Golha program. In 1352, he met Saeed Hormozi and began learning to play the Tar and Setar with him. Pieces with Saeed Hormozi’s instrument and Omidvar’s singing have remained from that era. He also benefited from the singing training of Soleiman Amirghasemi. He also sang the Adhan in different Iranian musical modes and recorded Adhans based on vocal methods in Nava, Homayoun, and Chahargah modes, among which his Adhan in Chahargah mode received more attention. He continued his university studies in France and graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the École des Beaux-Arts in France with a doctorate.

Ataollah Omidvar also made short films. Examples of his films have been shown in the Cinematheque of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, the Artists’ House, etc. Abbas Kiarostami considered Omidvar’s cinematic works up-to-date and said in this regard: “Those who do not want to understand Omidvar’s works are just like those who did not understand the printing industry in the past.”

Ataollah Omidvar started working in the field of painting with works from 2000 AD. Many exhibitions of Omidvar’s “digital paintings” have been held in Iran and Paris. He has also been active in the field of photography, especially model and portrait photography, and has held exhibitions of his photographs.

He was also the first member of the board of directors of the Association of Architect Engineers of Tehran University, a founding member of the Iranian Decorative Arts Association, and a three-time candidate for the Iranian Engineering System.
Death
Ataollah Omidvar passed away on Dey 13, 1400, after a period of illness.

Collected works from this artist are on the private website as follows: