ReviewThree to see
Three exhibitions to see in London this weekend
From 5,000 years of Iranian art and culture to Black female resistance and the domestic sphere
FeatureBook Club
The American who brought Modern masterpieces to Iran
A new memoir by curator Donna Stein reveals the story behind the creation of a Western art collection for the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in the 1970s
BlogAdventures with Van Gogh
The astonishing tale of how a US vice president’s Van Gogh work ended up in Iran
Vincent’s print—inscribed “At Eternity’s Gate” by the artist—went from Nelson Rockefeller to Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Art, a new book by Donna Stein reveals
NewsExhibitions
5,000 years in 350 objects: Victoria and Albert Museum reveals details about its epic 'immersive' Iran show
With ten sections covering ancient Iranian history to contemporary art, London museum plans to open delayed show in February
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Hermitage plans ‘exchange of outstanding and significant exhibits’ with National Museum of Iran
Despite pandemic, Russian and Iranian museum directors met online to discuss future cultural collaborations
NewsIran
Iran's leading artist Parviz Tanavoli makes nightingale medallions to help hospitals in his native country
The artist says Iran has been “devastated” by the crisis, which he adds has been exacerbated by US sanctions
NewsExhibitions
Two Iran exhibitions in Germany put on ice amid political tensions
Insurers refused to cover the transport of loans, including salt-mine mummies and Greek and Roman antiquities
NewsHeritage
Trump retracts threats against Iranian culture sites saying: ‘I like to obey the law’
The US president’s reversal comes after widespread condemnation and defense officials’ assurances that military would abide by international law
CommentIran
'The normalisation of cultural warfare cannot go unanswered'
Tristram Hunt, the director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, calls on the international community to condemn President Trump's threat to target Iran's cultural sites
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Cultural heritage officials condemn Trump’s threats against Iranian sites
Meanwhile, an impromptu tribute to the country’s cultural heritage broke out on Twitter, as users posted images of their favourite places
AnalysisHeritage
If the US destroys Iranian cultural sites, President Trump will be criminally liable by international law
The US is signatory to The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which forbids any act of hostility to cultural property
NewsExhibitions
Experimental art space in Tehran has been recreated in Pittsburgh
Two artists began a collaborative project after one was denied a visa to enter the US under Donald Trump's travel ban
InterviewShirin Neshat
‘This US government looks more like Iran's every day’: Shirin Neshat talks about the power of political satire ahead of LA show
The Iranian artist's major exhibition opens at the Broad museum features new work addressing discrimination in Trump's America
ArchiveUSA
US government intervenes as Israel bombing victims issue lawsuit asking for Iranian antiquities from museums
Iran argues that artefacts housed abroad should have immunity since they originate from a foreign sovereign state
NewsIran
British Council condemns Iran court upholding ten-year sentence for UK-based curator
Aras Amiri loses final appeal over spying charges
NewsExhibitions
Shirin Neshat curates exhibition of all-women Iranian artists in New York
The show includes the work of 16 contemporary artists exploring themes such as sexual identity, repression, religion and memory
NewsVictoria & Albert Museum
V&A to mount major Iran exhibition in face of US sanctions
Museum’s director Tristram Hunt says securing loans and sponsorship is “more of a challenge” as tension grows between Trump and Tehran
NewsArt market
Tehran's art fair opens despite sanctions and growing tensions with US
Second edition of Teer Art Fair aims to foster domestic Iranian art scene at a time when international sales increasingly difficult for the country's galleries
NewsPolitics
Art world condemns Iran’s ten-year prison sentence for British Council employee Aras Amiri
Curator could be used as a bargaining chip, along with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
NewsVenice Biennale 2019
Iranian works will abound at the Venice Biennale despite US sanctions
Complications around shipping and insurance have not stopped artists and curators from the country to make their presence felt at this year's edition
NewsObituaries
Tributes to Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, giant of contemporary Iranian art
Curators and artists, including Shirin Neshat, remember the artist who called her geometric mirror works “signs of light and life”
NewsRestoration
Queen Victoria and Fath-Ali Shah portraits, torn apart in 2011 British Embassy attack, to go back on show in Tehran
Restored paintings will form part of a new display of 66 works, including several Persian pieces bought by the UK's Government Art Collection after the attack
NewsIran
Works by Iranian artist held at UK border, postponing exhibition
Bita Vakilli's work was withheld for a week by government officials
NewsLooting
President Rouhani personally takes looted ancient relief back from New York to Tehran
Piece depicting a Persian soldier was seized last year at Tefaf New York
NewsObituaries
Shirin Aliabadi, known for depicting rebellious Iranian women, has died
Artist photographed women breaking free of state-imposed rules
ReviewExhibitions
In a troubled Iranian era, art defied darkness
A show at Toronto's Aga Khan Museum zeroes in on creativity in the Qajar Dynasty
NewsLaw
Parviz Tanavoli banned from leaving Iran over legal dispute with former gallery owner
Maryam Goudarzi claims that the artist should return six 1972 sculptures worth $6m to her, but Tanavoli says they were swapped legally for five newer works
News
Works by Picasso among objects rediscovered in Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art's collection
Preparation for 2019 exhibition and the building's renovation has led to the discovery of previously undocumented art works
NewsConservation & Preservation
A 19th-century bikini from Iran goes on show in the UK in time for the summer
The garment was conserved for the Holburne Museum's exhibition of objects collected by the “intrepid” traveller Ellen Tanner
NewsLaw
Iranian gallerists released on bail after two years in Tehran prison
Karan Vafadari and Afarin Neyssari paid a bail of around $10m according to sources but still await appeal request
NewsArt market
Iran’s art market defies expectations in face of US sanctions with new fair
In a first for Iran, the Teer Art fair is set to open in June amid a growing but fragile market environment
InterviewFrieze New York
On the road, from Iraq to Germany
The Iraqi-Kurdish artist Hiwa K on migration and contemporary politics
NewsExhibitions
Los Angeles County Museum of Art hopes to ‘change American perceptions of Iran’ with new show
Artists based in Iran were absent at the opening of exhibition of historical and contemporary Iranian art this week due to Trump's travel ban
NewsPolitics
Trump’s travel ban: artists and museums speak out against third iteration
US Supreme Court called on to consider potential harm to arts organisations and the American public
News
Against the odds, Louvre exhibition opens in Tehran in historic deal
French museum became first cultural institution to secure ties with Islamic regime after sanctions lifted in 2016
NewsLaw
Terror victims cannot seize Iranian antiquities, US Supreme Court rules
A 2008 amendment to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act does not open a foreign nation's assets to claimants, the justices unanimously decided
NewsExhibitions
Louvre blockbuster show heads to Iran in major move of cultural diplomacy
Exhibition of 50 Greek, Roman and Persian artefacts is "first large-scale exhibition by a major Western museum in Iran"
NewsPolitics
Iran's presidential election casts shadow over show organised by country's leading artist
Artist Parviz Tanavoli hopes Lions of Iran exhibition will still go ahead in Tehran—and travel abroad
ArchiveIran
"Unedited History: Iran 1960-2014" at Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville will emphasise the survival of modernity in Iranian history
The exhibition will contain works by 24 artists, from three pivotal historical moments: 1960-70, the revolutionary era, and the post-war period
ArchiveCommercial galleries
Western dealers push for trade sanctions against Iran to be repealed
Galleries and artists see improvement after temporary relaxations were implemented to discourage nuclear proliferation
ArchiveDecember 2013
British Museum expert says griffin returned to Iran is fake
Scepticism grows about confiscated silver vessel handed over by the US as an act of diplomacy
ArchiveChicago
Possible US sanctions on Iran could create back door for commandeering of museum antiquities as damages
Persepolis tablets on loan to Chicago's Oriental Institute since the 1930s compromised in lawsuit brought by victims of Jerusalem suicide bombing
ArchiveIndia
India's Devi Art Foundation debuts show exploring political unrest in Iran
More than 50 artists included are part of Anupam Poddar's collection
ArchiveIran
An interview with Anahita Razmi, winner of the Frieze Art Fair's Emdash Award '11
How a 12-screen video installation on show at Frieze was filmed despite Iran’s strict regime
ArchiveIran
Chicago courts refuse Israel suicide bombing victims request for seizure of antiquities from US museums
Iran was gratified by the ruling that a foreign state's property in the US is exempt from such inquiries
ArchiveIran
Robert Adanto's documentary "Pearls on the Ocean Floor" throws spotlight on Iran's revolutionary female artists
The women who go against the grain, featured at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
ArchiveAsia Society
New York's Asia Society to unveil first US exhibition of pre-revolutionary modern Iranian art
Although Iranian art heavyweights made their reservations about the show clear, it will go on to tour North America
ArchiveNovember 2010
US museums receive surfeit of patronage for Islamic art collections
But Arab donors are in scarce supply, while Turks, Iranians and others spend freely
ArchiveIran
Lukewarm reception of US's first Iranian contemporary art sale a reflection of tentative market
Experts blame poor sales on a dearth of representation in US museums
ArchiveBooks
Indefatigable enthusiasm in Saeb Eigner's book "Art of the Middle East: Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World and Iran"
While one may not be familiar with some of the book's more niche digressions, Eigner's dexterity in referencing the ancient past never fails to impress
ArchiveArtist interview
Interview with Shirin Neshat: “For Iranian artists, being silent is like taking the side of the demon”
As her debut movie, “Women Without Men”, screens in Basel, the artist explains that cinema is closer to her people
ArchiveBritish Museum
Iran's denunciation of British Museum in Cyrus Cylinder disagreement could make loan renegotiations impossible
Loan of relic caught up in international political tensions
ArchiveIran
Discovery of fragment belonging to British Museum's Cyrus cylinder further defers loan to Iran
This development has done little to alleviate lingering tensions between Iran and Britain
ArchiveIran
Iran's hackles rise as British Museum hesitates in Cyrus Cylinder lease
The museum director has reassured Iran's vice president that the wait does not mean the loan has been called off
ArchiveIranian art
Frieze week schedule speaks of Iranian art surge in the West
Does a crop of major presentations coinciding with the art fair indicate a proportionate energy in the market?
ArchiveIran
British Museum will loan Cyrus Cylinder to Iran's National Museum
The British Museum pledged to send over the rare cuneiform cylinder in exchange for Iran's ample contributions to previous shows
ArchiveIran
Farjam Collection gallery opens at the Dubai International Financial Centre with Islamic art exhibition
Our first glimpse of plans for multiple museums laid out by the Iranian industrialist at Art Dubai '08
ArchiveIran
Exhibition of Iranian antiquities to be held at the Louvre in 2013
Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organisation will supervise preparations
ArchiveIllegal & Illicit
Iran Foundation trustee found guilty of book theft from British Library and Oxford's Bodleian Library steps down from post
Farhad Hakimzadeh was given two years' imprisonment after it was learnt he had stolen volumes from the two UK institutions
ArchiveIranian art
Iranian artists triumph at Christie's Dubai as contemporary market hits its stride
Christie's '08 auction report sees the mediocre pushed aside to make way for big names
ArchiveArtist interview
“Every society has its taboos”: Interview with Farhad Moshiri
The Middle Eastern contemporary artist discusses the state of the art market, his commercial success, and what it’s like to work in Iran
ArchiveMarch 2008
Why the US military's proposal to dispose of Saddam Hussein’s Victory Monument is misguided
They represent good and bad aspects of Iraq’s modern history and cannot simply be obliterated
ArchiveIran
Former Iranian ambassador gives $2.8m to assist Texas's Museum of Fine Arts in pursuit of Islamic art
The director says that the collection will be the first of its kind in the region, catering to an emergent Muslim community
ArchiveTehran
Iran's Saba Cultural Institute announces Russian Orthodox icons show
The news comes as unexpected due to suppression of religion freedom in the nation
ArchiveSculpture
Disputed fifth-century fragment returns to auction after Iran's injunction blocking its sale thrown out
Reinforced legitimacy adds £500,000 to upper estimate
ArchiveIran
A nostalgic journey for the Persian royal family at Art Basel '07
Emotional responses were elicited by Michael Stevenson and Andy Warhol
ArchiveSt Petersburg
Hermitage nears conclusion of deal with Iran securing multiple joint exhibitions
The museum's director maintains that the agreement is no major coup
ArchiveCommercial galleries
Iran loses case against Barakat Gallery ordering return of artefacts seemingly taken from Jiroft
UK courts ruled that Iran presented insufficient evidence to warrant the antiquities' reacquisition
ArchiveIran
Iran loses UK court battle over Persepolis fragment
Iranian lawyers argued that any rights to the fifth-century bas-relief should be relinquished to its country of origin
ArchiveItaly
Italian archaeologists arrive in Iran for citadel of Bam restoration project
The Italian government is giving financial assistance in the 2,000 year-old site's repair, after it was badly affected by an earthquake
ArchiveIran
Antiquities resembling those looted from Jiroft offered for sale by satellite of Manhattan's Salander O' Reilly Galleries
Gallery “unaware” of concerns over objects offered on website
ArchiveSculpture
Tehran to commission sculptures for first International Sculpture Symposium
The event will go ahead despite religious sensitivities
ArchiveIran
Danish artists' group Parallel Action plans Iranian revolution via an appeal to the arts
With the Danish Arts Council's blessing, Thomas Altheimer and Nielsen will travel to the Middle East this autumn
ArchiveJudaism
Niavaran Palace Museum mounts Chagall show in defiance of Iranian regime
Exhibition of Jewish artist’s work challenges official stance on Israel
ArchiveIran
Victims of Hamas suicide bombers demand Iranian antiquities from US museums in compensation for injuries
Terrorist attacks in Jerusalem which killed five and injured hundreds were executed with funding from Iran—say plaintiffs in several lawsuits
ArchiveIran
Iran takes first step in reconstruction of Samarra mosque, a casualty of sectarian reprisals in Iraq
The shrine's restoration, which will be paid for by private sector investment, has been the subject of a deal brokered between ICHTO and the Iraqi Ministry of Culture
ArchiveIran
Iran sues Barakat Gallery for return of antiquities apparently looted from Jiroft
The gallery's owner makes no comment on artefacts' origins, but insists that all purchases were made legally
ArchiveIran
Iran takes out injunction to block Christie's sale of Palace of Xerxes relief fragment
Iran argues that the artefact was acquired through criminal means, although their failure to speak out when the fragment went to auction previously may undermine their case
ArchiveIran
Sami Azar reinstated as director of Tehran's Museum of Contemporary Art following protests by artists
“This is the only time in Iran that a cultural manager has been supported by artists like this”, he tells The Art Newspaper
ArchiveIran
How Sami-Azar, head of Tehran's Museum of Contemporary Art, has been the mediator that Iranian artists yearned for
With the view that creative outlet precedes change, Sami-Azar has begun to thaw segregationist policies that bar Iranian artists from international acclaim
ArchiveIran
Ali-Reza Sami Azar, director of Tehran's Museum of Contemporary Art, has stepped down
Whilst the motivation behind his departure is unexplained, his career , driven by his reformist values, has left its mark on Iranian culture
ArchiveIran
Franco-Iranian accord decrees the two nations will collaborate in archaeological ventures
Two heads are better than one, as the question of how best to preserve historic ruins is yet to receive a definitive answer
ArchiveIran
Archaeologists given more time to survey Iran's Bulaghi valley before dam waters cause it to submerge
Experts at the ancient site of Izeh in the Karun River valley have not been afforded the same privileges
ArchiveExcavation
Could the Bulaghi dam project be a blessing in disguise?
A modernisation project might just save an unearthed historical site in Iran that could one day prove to be invaluable to the study of the region.
ArchiveIran
36 arrested and 940 objects reclaimed as Iranian authorities apprehend antiquities smuggling ring
Iran has clamped down on illegal trade in antiquities, which has led to archaeological sites being promptly denuded post-discovery
ArchiveIran
National Museum of Iran exhibition to tour five Japanese cities
The costs of bringing "Iranian splendour" overseas will be covered by the Japanese royal family
ArchiveAntiquities & Archaeology
Construction of dams in Iran submerges crucial archaeological sites
“To see this happen breaks my heart”, says archaeologist Dr Henry Wright
ArchiveIllegal & Illicit
Iran sentences Jiroft smugglers to death
It is the first time that Iranian courts have issued a harsh punishment for the illicit exportation of goods from an archaeological site
ArchiveRestitution
How Britain tried to use the Cyrus Cylinder for political gain
As The British Museum prepares to loan the Cyrus Cylinder to Iran, The Art Newspaper remembers the Persian antiquity's first visit to its home nation in 1971
ArchiveRestitution
While Tehran and the West clash over Iran's nuclear programme, their museums keep communication diplomatic
The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago's decision to restitute a set of 300 ancient clays tablets to Iran is proof of strengthening ties
ArchiveIllegal & Illicit
Antiquities dealer arrested for smuggling Iranian artefact from raided archaeological site into US
Hicham Aboutaam sold the antiquity to a New York buyer for $950,000; the US says it is part of a the looted Western Cave hoard
ArchiveIraq
Iran offers to help Iraq protect its heritage
By expressing their wish to join an international cultural task force, Iran acknowledges the mutual cultural history that ties the two countries
ArchiveBritish Council
The British Council releases its artistic programme for 2004
The international line-up includes projects in Libya, Iran, Israel and the Palestinian Territories
ArchiveIllegal & Illicit
Looted tombstone from Jiroft returned to Iran following its seizure by London police
After the tomb was discovered, Iran's Ministry of Culture were unable to prevent civilians from systematically emptying them of artefacts, which were then shipped overseas
ArchiveIran
London and Paris markets flooded with Iranian antiquities looted from newly discovered site at Jiroft
Before police intervened, thousands of objects were plundered by locals and sold on to Europe
ArchiveTehran
Director of Tehran's Museum of Contemporary Art on how artistic collaboration can bring Iran and the UK closer
An upcoming show of British contemporary sculpture could be the start of a productive cultural dialogue between Iran and the UK
ArchiveIran
New York's Asia Society hosts 'Hunt for paradise: Court arts of Iran, 1501-76. Asia Society'
The exhibition illustrates how monarchical patronage in the 15th century paved the way for an age of artistic accomplishment in Iran
ArchiveIran
British Museum’s Iran exhibition scheduled for 2005 after 2002 postponement
The successful procurement of these loans may be a sign of more collaborative projects to come between the British Museum and Iran
CommentPersonal stories of coronavirus
After years of sanctions and political upheaval, the pandemic is a new hurdle for the fragile Iranian art scene
Pejman Foundation in Tehran opened a museum at the start of this year only for it to close soon after as coronavirus struck
Carolyn Tso