TEHRAN - Experts from the National Museum of Iran and the Museum of Teikyo University of Japan have explored ways to enhance cooperation in various museology arenas during a webinar on Wednesday.

Novel approaches to the preservation and exploitation of cultural heritage constituted the core of the event, which was also attended by officials from Iran’s Research Institute of Cultural Properties, and the northern Golestan province, an official with the National Museum told the Tehran Times.

Coordinated by Fereidoun Biglari, the deputy director of the National Museum, and Kazuya Yamauchi of the Teikyo University, the webinar included three main sessions and five lectures on cooperation between the two museums, as well as exploitation and protection of cultural heritage.

Top Iranian archaeologist Jebrael Nokandeh, who presides over the National Museum, and Yamauchi of Teikyo gave opening speeches, welcomed participants, and gave an introduction about the background of cooperation and the importance of results obtained so far. 

In the first session of the online conference, Takashi Oikawa, and Akira Fujisawa from the University of Teikyo briefed on joint efforts made by the two establishments.

In the second meeting, Hossein Dabbagh from Golestan province’s department of cultural heritage, tourism and handicrafts explained about projects carried out to protect and restore the Seljuk-era (1037–1194) monument of Imamzadeh Noor in Gorgan.

Protection and the use of historic castles in Japan was another subject discussed at the session by Kazuhiko Nishi, an expert from Tokyo Research Institute for Cultural Properties.

The third session of the webinar consisted of two lectures. Maral Dadashzadeh of the National Museum of Iran, first spoke about Egyptian Blue or Lapis Lazuli Paste, and the final speaker of the webinar, Akira Fujisawa of the Teikyo University, spoke about the use of copper alloys in the Iranian Iron Age.  In the end, the attendees agreed to publish the results of the speeches.

The National Museum of Iran is somewhat chockfull of priceless relics that represent various eras of the country’s rich history. Its structure was completed in 1928 based on the design by French architect André Godard who was also an archaeologist and historian of French and Middle Eastern Art.

AFM/MG