TEHRAN -- The Iran Painters Association and a number gallery owners have voiced their opposition to the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art’s plan to loan a selection of its Western artworks for shows in Germany and Italy.

The opposition was made during a meeting that the museum organized on Tuesday to consult with the community of Iranian artists and art experts about how the collection is sent to the European art shows.

Months ago, the museum announced the plan to loan a collection of 40 Western works and a number of pieces from its Persian art collection for shows at Berlin’s National Gallery and Rome’s MAXXI Museum.

The opponents of the plan said that the collection could be confiscated using some lame excuse. They said that Italy and Germany may return copies of the artworks instead the original ones.

“Members of Iran Painters Association are totally opposed to loaning the artworks to the exhibits,” the association spokeswoman, Manijeh Sohi, said at the meeting.

Leili Golestan, the owner of Golestan Gallery, also expressed her opposition to the decision and said, “Now is not an appropriate time to send the works to the exhibitions, because we don’t know whether the pieces will be sent back or not afterwards.”

She referred to Iran’s upcoming presidential election and added, “If Mr. Rouhani fails to win the election, management will change and no one knows what the fate of the artworks will be.”

She asked Tehran Museum of Contemporary (TMCA) Director Majid Mollanoruzi and Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs Ali Moradkhani, who were in attendance at the meeting, to postpone the implementation of the plan to after the election, which is expected to take place in June 2017.

Rozita Sharafjahan, the director of Tehran’s Tarrahan Azad Gallery, who is among the opponents of the plan said, “Unfortunately, the artworks may be copied at the exhibitions and the copied versions sent back to Iran.”

“What expert investigations are scheduled to be done to confirm the authenticity of the artworks after their return?” she asked.

The meeting went on with remarks by Mollanoruzi who tried to convince the artists and experts that everything would go well and according to plan.

He said that the collection will be insured by the Lloyd’s of London, which has asked Iran to assign an expert for estimating the value of the artworks.

He also added that a team of experts is scheduled to take samples from the various layers of the artworks. The samples will be sealed and kept in a safe place for comparison with samples to be taken after the return of the works.

According to Mollanoruzi, sending the collection will cost Iran about €2.3 million, which will be provided by sponsors.  

He said that Germany is scheduled to pay Iran €1.5 million for loan of the artworks. In addition, the country will allocate fifty percent of the box office receipts.    

Mollanoruzi was first selected as the coordinator of the exhibitions, but he was replaced with Moradkhani due to a request from Germany over his appearance in a Holocaust cartoon exhibition in Tehran.

“Organizing the exhibitions will raise the status of Iran’s art and culture,” Moradkhani said.

“The TMCA is on a tight budget and loaning the artworks can help it recover from the condition,” he added.

However, the opponents remained unconvinced by the arguments. Meanwhile, the first exhibition is set to be held from December 2016 to February 2017 at Berlin’s National Gallery.

The TMCA is home to works by many august artists of the West, including Claude Monet, Francis Bacon, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Donald Judd, Andy Warhol, René Magritte, Duane Hanson and Chuck Close.

Photo: This undated photo show Culture Minister Ali Jannati (2nd R), TMCA Director Majid Mollanoruzi (1st R), Deputy Culture Minister Ali Moradkhani (3rd R), and some of their colleagues visiting the Comprehensible Mentality exhibit, which was held at the TMCA from September to November in 2015.

MMS/YAW