Culturati rankled over Iran’s position at Met - Tehran Times

TEHRAN -- Ranking the name of Iran behind other countries in the title of galleries to be reopened in the Islamic Art section of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has aroused some resentment in Iran. Master Iranian miniaturist Mahmud Farshchian and Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art curator Mahmud Shaluii objected to ranking the name of Iran “after other countries”. A suite of 15 dramatic new galleries for the art of the Arab lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and later South Asia will open at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on November 1. “Iran possesses more artworks in comparison with other countries that are named ahead of it in the title of the galleries,” Farshchian and Shaluii claimed. According to the important role of Iran in Islamic art and possessing major Islamic art, it is important to emphasize the priority of Iran in all cards, brochures and catalogues, Shaluii mentioned in a letter to the director of the museum. Farshchian also sent a letter to the museum’s director and noted about reducing the rank of Iran. The grand reopening of the galleries will house the Metropolitan’s renowned collection of Islamic art—one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of its kind in the world. Design features within the new space will highlight both the diversity and the interconnectedness of the numerous cultures represented here; multiple entryways will allow visitors to approach the new galleries—and the art displayed within them—from different perspectives. “The opening of these extraordinary new galleries underscores our mission as an encyclopedic museum and provides a unique opportunity to convey the grandeur and complexity of Islamic art and culture at a pivotal moment in world history,” stated Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum.