The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 2 October 2017
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A very modern museum opened in the Iranian capital in October 1977. It contains one of the finest collections of Western art outside Europe and North America. Iran's Islamic revolution just over a year later, led to many of the paintings being hidden from public view. Rozita Riazati spoke to Kamran Diba who was the architect, and first director, of the museum.
Photo: A woman visitor to the Museum. Credit: AFP/Getty Images.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC |
| 0:35.4 | Sounds. |
| 0:36.4 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:40.9 | My name's Linda Davies and I commissioned |
| 0:43.0 | podcast for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:45.0 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality, |
| 0:49.0 | featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:54.4 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 1:00.9 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories. |
| 1:04.3 | And that's just a few examples. |
| 1:06.2 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, |
| 1:09.4 | find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. You're listening to witness the history |
| 1:14.6 | podcast from the BBC World Service. I am Rosita Riazzati and today I'm taking |
| 1:20.0 | you back to pre-revolutionary Iran when a brand new museum of contemporary arts was opened |
| 1:25.8 | in Tehran in October 1977. |
| 1:29.7 | It would house the finest collection of 20th century Western art outside Europe and North America. |
| 1:35.6 | In 2012 I spoke to the museum's architect and first director Comron Deiba. It's October 14, 1977, hundreds of eager Iranians dressed in tuxedos and evening gowns have gathered in Lola Park in Central Tehran, |
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