Japanese ambassador visits Tehran art show

Works by two major pioneers of the Iranian modernist painters Mahmud Javadipur and Ahmad Esfandiari are currently on display in the showcase at the TMCA.

Komano also met TMCA curator Mahmud Shaluii after his visit to the exhibition, the TMCA reported in a press release on Friday.

Komano said that Iranian artworks have a variety of special characteristics, which are noted in other countries.

He also said that he is acquainted with many Iranian artists including Mahmud Javadipur, and that the exhibit showcases an amazing collection of artworks by the two artists.

Komano said that the curator of the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art is keen to visit the TMCA, and that officials plan to discuss the expansion of relations.

“The TMCA is ready to collaborate with the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art in organizing joint art shows,” TMCA curator Shaluii said.

He said that the TMCA has invited Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art’s curator to the Third Fajr International Festival of Visual Arts in order to familiarize the curator with the potential of Iranian visual arts.

The festival will take place in Tehran and several other Iranian cities from February 1 to March 3.

In October 2010, the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art asked the TMCA to loan its painting by Jackson Pollock, “Mural on Indian Red Ground”, for a Pollock retrospective at the museum.

The TMCA is currently contemplating the request.

Photo: Japanese Ambassador Kinichi Komano takes a glance at the certificates on display at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMCA) on January 27, 2011 on the sidelines of his visit to an exhibition of paintings by two major pioneers of Iranian modern art, Mahmud Javadipur and Ahmad Esfandiari. A TMCA official also accompanies the ambassador.