Cultural official: Countries seek to launch permanent museums in Iran
Anumber of countries requested to let them launch permanent museums in Iran, said the deputy director of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization’s (ICHHTO).
Mohammad-hassan Talebian, who was speaking at a press conference ahead of the opening of ‘Dutch Archeology and Art: Highlights from the Drents Museum’ exhibition on Tuesday at the National Museum of Iran, added that this high demand shows the success of Iran’s cultural diplomacy.
The exhibition opened on October 2 and will continue until April 6.
The National Museum of Iran hosted a landmark Louvre show from March to July, which was deemed as the first large-scale exhibition by a major Western museum in Iran and some other Armenian and South Korean exhibitions last year.
US sanctions did not restrict Iran and countries such as Spain, Singapore and Japan recently asked for launching museums in Iran.
“In the past, Iran only sent its antiquities to other countries, while today Iran’s cultural officials decided to showcase artifacts from other countries and began the plan by showcasing items from Italy, Armenia, South Korea, France and the Netherlands.” Talebian said.
He noted that officials in the arts sector are doing their bests to have all Iranian museums, public or private, cooperate with international museums.
Touching upon the holding of Drents Museum exhibition in Iran, he elaborated that showcasing 50,000-year-old artifacts, 2,200-yearold mummy and recently-purchased painting indicates the importance of the event.
An official from Drents Museum said, “We are proud to showcase Dutch relics in the cradle of world civilization: Iran.”
Nearly 200 Iranian antiques from the National Museum of Iran is currently on display at Drents Museum in a six-month exhibit titled ‘Iran — Cradle of Civilization’. The objects date from the Paleolithic Era to the time of the Safavid Dynasty (1501– 1736), featuring earliest developments of agriculture and livestock farming from the very beginning to cuneiform clay tablets, gold beakers and ornaments, bronze weapons and beautifully painted ceramics associated with successive Iranian kingdoms. Director General of Drents Museum Harry Tupan said, “Holding exhibitions in Iran is a valuable experience for us and we hope our exhibition in Iran would be as highly welcomed as Iran’s in the Netherlands.”
So far, 80,000 individuals have visited ‘Iran — Cradle of Civilization’ and the number is expected to reach 100,000 by the time the event ends.
But, she added, “Facts were distorted in the interest of limiting the running time to two hours.
“For instance, I was not an undergraduate in Cambridge when Stephen and I met. We met in our home town of St. Albans when I had just left school and Stephen was starting his PHD studies in Cambridge.”
Mrs. Hawking also cited the fact that her parents, who helped the couple, “scarcely get a look-in in the film”.
She said, “This was especially sad as the premiere took place on what would have been my dad’s 100th birthday.”
She added, “The film really only shows that part of our lives in Cambridge. Our many foreign travels were ignored altogether — for example, our honeymoon was spent at a physics conference at Cornell University in upstate New York.
“I’m sorry to say that none of these extensive travels — with all the organizing, packing for a family with a severely disabled member, transporting them, driving them, as well as the usual day-today care — really appears in ‘The Theory of Everything’.
“I asked for a frenzied fast- forward version — even simply getting all the suitcases, wheelchair and passengers in the car to represent this aspect of our lives — but I was told this was not possible because of the time constraints.”
She also spoke movingly about Hawking’s death, saying: “Stephen was given two years to live in 1963 and he fought that wretched disease until this year.
“It was as if a giant had been felled and taken, and we thought he was immortal. I think that goes for all of us.”