TEHRAN – The National Museum of Iran plans to hold an exhibition of historical objects to be loaned from the Louvre under an agreement which was signed in 2016.

Some 24 pieces of art, selected from various cultures such as Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, are projected to go on display in Tehran in 2018, Tasnim quoted the National Museum of Iran director Jebrael Nokandeh on Feb. 8.

During President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to France in Jan. 2016, the Louvre signed a historical agreement with Iran that clears the way for improved bilateral cultural and scientific cooperation.

The agreement, signed at the presidential Elysee Palace, laid out a framework for cooperation up to 2019, including plans for sharing knowledge and experience on exhibitions, publications, scientific visits and training sessions, as well as archeological digs.

The first project will be an exhibition on the Qajar Dynasty (1789-1925), due to open in the spring of 2018 at the Louvre’s satellite museum in Lens, northern France.

PHOTO: Remnants of a colossal column head being kept at the Louvre Museum. The Iranian masterpiece dates back to the Achaemenid era (ca. 550-330 BC).

AFM/MG