TEHRAN – The National Museum of Iran is set to showcase a loan collection of relics from Drents Museum, Assen, the Netherlands.

“A collection of 300 historical and artistic relics from the Netherlands will go on display at the National Museum of Iran in an exhibit to be open in the months of Mehr [which begins on September 23],” said Ali-Asghar Mounesan, the director of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, CHTN reported.

“The works date from the 18th to 20th centuries and the event is named ‘archeology and art in the Netherlands, narrated by Drents Museum.”

Hosting such exhibitions shows Iran’s determination in expanding cultural ties with other countries, Mounesan added.

Nearly 200 Iranian antique items from the National Museum of Iran is currently on show at the Drents Museum in an exhibit titled “Iran – Cradle of Civilization”. The objects date from the Paleolithic era to the time of the Safavid Dynasty (1501–1736), featuring earliest developments of agriculture and livestock farming from the very beginning to cuneiform clay tablets, gold beakers and ornaments, bronze weapons and beautifully painted ceramics associated with successive Iranian kingdoms.

“These treasures have long been hidden from the Western world. Many of them have never been exhibited in the Netherlands before, and have even never been on show outside Iran before,” according to the Drents Museum website.

The National Museum of Iran hosted a landmark Louvre show from March to July, which is deemed as the first large-scale exhibition by a major Western museum in the country.

AFM/MQ/MG