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RFL/RE – A major exhibition in Berlin of works from the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art has been scrapped because Iran hasn’t issued required permission for their export, the German capital’s museum authority announced on December 27.
German organizers had hailed the exhibition as a “significant gesture of cultural diplomacy.”
The show was supposed to feature works by Iranian modern artists as well as Western painters, including Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.
It originally was supposed to open on December 4.
The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which oversees Berlin public art museums said on December 27 that it had terminated “with great regret” its cooperation agreement with the Tehran museum.
The step was necessary because Iran still hadn’t cleared the works’ export and it wasn’t possible to delay the Berlin museums’ plans any further, foundation head Hermann Parzinger said.
Parzinger added that his foundation would remain “in dialogue” with Iran, saying that the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation was always keen to nurture cultural exchange.
There was no immediate reaction from Iranian authorities.
The Tehran collection was officially opened in 1977 by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
The works were purchased under the supervision of the Shah’s wife Farah Diba Pahlavi.
Based on reporting by AP and Deutsche Welle
