Fifteen hundred square metres of space this exhibition area in berlin is committed to gallery has been prepared for sixty works from the Tehran Museum of contemporary art works that have never before been shown in the west its the start of a planned Cultural Exchange intended to strengthen relations between iran and the west. But it never came to that just weeks before it was due to open authorities in iran prevented the artworks from leaving the country. Come run veba has lived in spain and france since the late one nine hundred seventy s. The architect artist and collector left his homeland a year before the iranian revolution. Dba knows the tehran connection more intimately than most for he was once closely associated with it and he still spends a lot of time thinking about whats become of it he is the architect who designed the Tehran Museum of contemporary art in the one nine hundred seventy s. Debo was also its first director the Tehran Museum of contemporary art held the largest and most valuable collection of contemporary art outside europe and north america. Tehran the capital of iran in the one nine hundred seventy s. The city experienced a Rapid Transformation into a modern metropolis western consumer goods were readily available the surge in oil prices allowed the city to become a hug for International Business and lifestyle. The only thing missing was a place to show modern art. Empress. Actively promoted culture and art in iran. Because more than mccarthy. Today she lives in paris she left iran for a life in exile on january sixteenth one thousand nine hundred seventy nine and headed to the city where she had studied architecture years earlier. Arts plays an Important Role in my life without it my life would be empty the history of iran dates back thousands of years this is a civilization rich in art and culture and it has produced many extraordinary artists in various fields of art see it architecture poetry or literature. In one thousand nine hundred sixty seven there was festival of arts was founded at the behest of embers from rock. Both iranian and International Artists were invited to take part in this unique festivals of on guard orientation attracted global attention. Was. The empress helped shape the countrys cultural policy of the day giving it a very distinct style. She she had cultural ambitions for her country. The story of the contemporary museum in tehran began when i went to an exhibition like it was where the city theater of tehran city is today i recalled the artists i ran directly saying to me it would be nice if there was a place of our works would be preserved forever for you during those teen q. Kauto me mood where i have wish i think back when i got the idea of creating a museum for iranian artists he dodged the regime. Irani. It was not the only museum she had built but it was the most important one. Architect come run diva had just completed his studies in washington d. C. He spent a lot of time thinking about a contemporary art museum in tehran as her cousin he was close to empress farokh she commissioned him to design the museum. My. Memory is some of the money. In terms of architecture i was interested in finding an identity. And. We wanted the building to have an iranian forces. I cant think of the persian word for it. But yes i would say identity is the proper word im. Not. It has seemed. Very much one of the museum to reflect a sense of iranian identity. In. The us that the they in my design the building so that the museum with its light in the last movie would be reminiscent of desert town thats. Because they tend to have very interesting rubes and they have. Wind towers and domes like you see on mosques that. The building was built on a site surrounded by an unfinished park. In the center of the museum and visible from all parts of the Main Building spiral walkway is oil pool a sculpture by japanese artist known to yuki how to gucci. Reflected light gives it the look of a dark mirror. It was installed in one thousand nine hundred seventy seven. And. Come around often talks about the past with his family and friends. He met his wife in the Tehran Museum she worked there as a curator. For this but the shiny thank you. Card and when word got around it and chris the uranian government and the shah were buying our. Members of the art world naturally approach them to suggest works to bind. Iran was very wealthy at the time and the International Art market was out a low point. Some of the works proposed were selected and bought this room and. That. Eventually the collection grew to include well over three thousand works by both iranian and International Artists painting such as mural on in the in red ground by jackson pollack found their way there. Along with works by brock. Roy lichtenstein rauschenberg. And many others. Financed by petrol dollars from the sale of oil its total cost is still a mystery but the criticism that iran spent too much money on art continues to annoy cameron dba to this day how do you do you can mine cow that. How much transactions were completely above board. And then i received a letter if you john someone recently claimed that they had all the purchase receipts at that moment and. Someone else said the museum had lost them all. But i still have them the stuff i can get them from the library. But. It is the idea here is the list of everything i bought everything is listed here. Every work purchased while i was director of the museum is recorded here in the aftermath. Cameron diva mainly bought works by contemporary american artists at prices that are absurdly low by todays standards. See. The total amount spent on art purchases while he was the Museum Director was about three and a half Million Dollars. This is three earlier or so. And is said right to be done and well it was a fortune but has now multiplied in value. At that time i was fortunate to have had the chance to meet some of the artists myself. For example i met some guys in the south of france. And henry more the more they were hard yes warhol it was very interesting to see warhol if he came to iran and made par shirts of the shah and a few others he was a very quiet and gentle man a little shy but we had a good reporter would you travel with me but how do i show you. Almost forty years ago on the morning of the day the museum was to be opened in tehran come on de boat woke up with his heart pounding he was nervous it was supposed to be a major event. He wanted to celebrate a festival of part as well as demonstrate irans ability to hold its own on the International Level. It was the evening of october thirteenth one nine hundred seventy seven. The date marked both lobbies birthday and the opening of the museum in tehran. Of on guard artists from all over the world gave performances. He was working as a photographer in the museum. More. You had me at that time it all seemed so new to me and somewhat bizarre never mind what it was like for the general public with no relation to it. On the pictures i took at that time you can see their stunned reactions while i was taking pictures i realized what a wide gulf there was between us of unguarded lete and average citizens back so that was more than the population would accept at that time i wanted to capture all the reactions both from the intellectuals who were taking part in the celebrations and from those who were observing the event from the outside and did not understand what was going on. The pictures she took back they have never been shown in public anything showing the monarchy had to be after the revolution and remain so to this day. And there is yet another reason why there are no pictures of the opening night. Show. When the shah arrived he dipped his hand into the pool of oil his hands got dirty everyone stood there and shark until farrar started to laugh then everyone laughed and things quieted down again. But afterwards all the negatives of the pictures taken that evening were collected and destroyed because this moment was not meant to be recorded. The secret service saw to that. Youre go green. The fact that the shahs hand has been dirtied with oil could be seen as a symbolic historical event because oil had polluted Iranian Society. That are not in ecological terms. But in the sense that a lot of money came into the society and upset the existing class system through the roof childish i the iranian revolution started in one nine hundred Seventy Eight among other things it was the populations reckoning with the shah and the imperial family for its pomp and extravagance and its pandering to the west. The on one card was no longer received with approval. I. Millions took to the streets of tehran in support of their new leader they saw him as their liberator from the shahs dictatorship. Was. I. On february first one nine hundred seventy nine the figurehead of the revolution the Ayatollah Khomeini returned to iran from exile in paris from then on Everything Associated with the west was condemned banished and destroyed those who escaped were concerned about the art they had just bought. But what no one knew was someone was watching over it. This newsgroup sunni them ive heard about him i was so happy about it he was. Really someone who looked after the pictures. Every day for almost forty years. Has been walking down the long corridor to the basement of the Tehran Museum of contemporary art. Under the shah he had been employed there as a driver. Every day there were demonstrations against the shah here a lot of students were on the street the campus is close by. We saw it all on the eleventh of february nine hundred seventy nine the revolution triumphed. Then a few came from the revolutionary committee. Yes i think thats what it was called back then but im no longer exactly sure and they occupied the museum like they told my coworkers they could leave everyone else went home much as i was the one they kept on with the i understand. From our members i knew nothing about heart but i realized that when they put me in charge of this treasure i had to pull myself together and take good care of it. Max and monet rothko and because her at first for rouge he saw their work says little more than paint on canvas. Month by the mission of my ignorance that made to acquire as much knowledge as i could of course i knew nothing about ott. But if i try to obtain information from different books there was no internet back then. I had to search through books for days just to get a Little Information about a work eventually i would find something and documented for the museum. Child whos me ash that im human im just happy im. Probably the most precious piece in the vault is jackson pollocks mural on indian red ground its estimated to be worth as much as two hundred fifty Million Dollars and is considered one of pollocks greatest works. Shahbazi the driver watched over one of the worlds most valuable Art Collections. Its value today is estimated at around three billion dollars. Called up my shorts god gave me the courage to carry out this task in this way im not. Hes a tears of joy im simply happy i may not have been a good person to god. God was good to me for putting me here today. I apologize for the tears i cant control myself yes. Or them. Please forgive me. And this treasure is so incredibly important to me. Sure there are only a few people here in the museum know how much i love this treasure. So much. Iran is coming back to my life after years of sanctions against the country and its nuclear program. The Historic Nuclear Agreement was signed in july twenty fifth team most of the sanctions were lifted as a result Iranian Society was keen to reengage with the world and gain respect. It was an opportunity to resume the cultural dialogue. The outstanding collection of contemporary american and european art hidden in the basement of the Tehran Museum was widely talked about even in the past museums had tried to show irans contemporary Art Collection but mutual trust had to be built. In the end berlin was chosen to present the western masterpieces and works by iranian artists plans were made to mount the exhibition and they can mail the gallery it was a sensational coup for the german capital. Concentrate on the us it all started as a joint venture between two museums our National Gallery and the t. M. O. C. A. Interrogatively the auto painter exhibition was curated by the Deputy Director of the National Gallery if youre. And he came into contact with colleagues at t. M. O. Ca hes above all however he came into contact with the collection dozens of his its incredible potential was just slumbering in a basement suite it of course was the support of the German Foreign office was vital from the very beginnings was making. Thirty works by International Artists from the tehran collection were to be shown as well as thirty works by Twentieth Century iranian artists. In spite of all the restrictions iran still has more artists today than ever before. Here at one of tehrans most renowned art schools the majority of students are women a development that demonstrates the extent to which women have become emancipated over the past thirty eight years despite all the restrictions they have won their place in the Islamic Republic in the past only two to three women would be present at an art lecture. Irans most famous sculptor remembers it all well. Parviz town of ali teaches here at the my home there institute of art in tehran one of his sculptures was to be sent to the exhibition in berlin. For him an essential aspect of the exhibition was to show the mutual influence of already and and accident. Which i am proud of having guitar the whole of proud of her badly its about the intersections between iranian and western culture. Our work is often implemented by western schools because we didnt have our own tradition of sculpture so we had a poetic and literary tradition but we had very little tradition when it comes to spatial content except in architecture that are. You know and their mentality today is very iranian. Todays iranian woman wants to express herself to show herself in the best possible light. Is. When i turned forty or fifty years ago that didnt exist i mean everyone was emulating the west. Today theyre proud of themselves and that is a good thing so they used techniques his instruments for their works. But they want to express their own feelings. Want to. Call you up and this is an interconnection a marriage between iran and the west between east and west. Your is there was a jewish. Shot at walker. This is the. Times it was there as it is today more than ever the children of the revolution are emancipating themselves and questioning their role and that of the Islamic Republic was. This thats the law that has to harass our generation dares to show itself more than we women want to prove that if you men are allowed to have your way and do whatever you want and we women can do the same even though we have no place to do it well take it anyway yes our generation is definitely more rebellious. By mischance thats the only. Power the brown strands are my mothers hair all the rest is mine. Don raises the question of what happens when you go out onto the streets in tehran wearing a headscarf made up your own hair i dont harm someone in that so will that really be a problem and our project is to get people to think about that. The course because they excel matter they decide that. This. Is. The new generation has become more courageous the art scene in particular has felt the limits of the Islamic Republic since its foundation sometimes the artists moves sometimes they win. In the. You who are my leader and then you generation is more creative than before and everyone can express themselves as they wish to know and it is a new kind of freedom of independence surely theres no large group which they have to belong to yes. There you see before the revolution in the one nine hundred fifty s. And sixtys. There was a period in which our painters were proud to look to the west food morphed often at that time our good artists went abroad to italy france when they came back they were happy and proud to say they had studied says and picasso or Morning Hours as this they were proud to say they were impressionists that they could paint like impressionists. Then came a time when iranian artists became aware of the issues in their country they wanted to express themselves through iranian things i was asked. The revolution many artists became revolutionaries. Others who they were artists who took part in the revolution. And wanted to express things related to it you know name me a little more bloodshed in society theres. All these they were politically minded as you all see with anger he said. Pervious tone of ali is for milieu or with the experiences of iranian artists in recent decades he is one of the most prominent internationally as well. He wants to teach his students it is not the iranian in their work that makes them artists but the art they carry within themselves. As well youre one of the focuses less on trying to get an iranian artist out of us than on trying to get us out of us he wants to know what were capable of what makes up our essence. He wants to know why we should be turned into a new artist he wants to know whats inside of us and wants us to represent exactly that he has made it possible for us to believe in ourselves back out in public and very much in the land of the pajamas now the works are being taken from the vaults and taken abroad and shown in berlin in addition surprise when they could be exhibited in many other places these works are very pure and untouched they show a new perspective they show how people in iran thought thirty years ago and which works of art they can. Acted to influence the next generations culture that i get lost on the sites which was not at. All. With thirty iranian and thirty western works the berlin exhibition was also to be an opportunity to reveal the observers established patterns of perception thats one ton of only was hoping for. One could change of course roland im for im very happy about it i think its a good step with k. You know so it would be a pity to keep these works in prison without anyone being aware of their existence you know my holes and it was just on harveys tape Internet Museum vault for years and never got out its a good thing that not only the iranian people can see them but the whole world maybe. This opens the door to Cultural Exchange when we acquired these works everyone thought that iran was a third world country and not worthy of art or rouhani the battery iran or if it makes iran iran. You know so now that. Even forty years ago iran was already seeking acceptance on an International Level and looking to free itself from western influences. Tonne of all these guiding principle is an artist doesnt have to adhere to western ways of seeing in order to be an artist. And artists should not seek acceptance from outside himself neither from orient nor occident. The date of the berlin opening was approaching increasing media interest fueled criticism of the Cultural Exchange with the Islamic Republic from various quarters. One accusation was that germany would be giving iran money through the prussians Cultural Heritage foundation. Was on the scene that the worlds major museums pay low eightys when loan fiends are expected then we say ok sorry were out of that was clear to us from the outset and we quickly made it clear to our iranian colleagues that this is not about loan fees but about a serious calculation of an exhibition of this kind of you know. All the artworks being brought to berlin that dated from before nine hundred forty five were also checked for provenance. Pat singer the president of the pression Cultural HeritageFoundation Also had to deal with assertions that some of the works in iran were forgeries. And beyond wed heard that some works had allegedly been replaced with forgeries over the decades and that the originals had been sold for huge sums of money but you cant just say that these are bandits so its hard to say anything about them at all just because of the importance of these works that if they were to be sold abroad whether to museums or private parties i find it very hard to believe that you wouldnt hear anything about it you know dying in prepacked is its one of optics the one your fear that. In tehran preparations continue despite growing criticism of the Cultural Exchange this sculpture by a parviz town of ali is destined for berlin. Re store. And a few of her colleagues from the gmail and a gallery were sent to the iranian capital to prepare three particularly problematic works for transport to berlin. Picasso or for the castle which i have now prepared that needed to be nearly mounted in its frame then it needed by pray should protection that something put between the rear surface and the canvas to prevent or reduce vibrations during transport all thats been taken care of and the condition of the work recorded prior to its dispatch to germany is before this fact hospital. One cuts you existing or potential damage is noted in advance of tons fought. Fiercely monken and. A climate resistant shipping crate is custom made for each priceless work of art they are designed to prevent any further damage to the unique pieces. Cannot confirm the claims that the art was not properly stored down here in the basement she is reminded of the vaults of the National Gallery and berlin. The key modern that theres an air conditioner so that much i can say and i mean all this has obviously been dormant for a long time you can see that they havent been moved much its all a bit neglected and dusty but by and large the collection is in Good Condition someone has been looking after it lost. In berlin advance ticket sales had already begun in spite of rumors that conservative circles in iran were against the project. But that didnt diminish the Public Interest in fact on the contrary. Doesnt understand all the interest in this exhibition is tremendous that is clear and it comes from different places because now you can also see that very clearly on the one hand simply seen vees warhols and hansens and rothkos they are really so important in the history of art especially that of the second half of the Twentieth Century and theyll finally be seen again because thats one thing that it is and then of course there is already such a special interest in the fact that it comes from iran and of course then you think back to the shahs time when the collection originated the works from this museum have a great history as a mathieson vacuum. He said i need to share difficult. Expectations for this Cultural Exchange were high and not just in germany. Preparations were in full swing for the eagerly awaited opening day. All the difficulties it seems had been resolved and everyone had great hopes for their own form of dialogue between cultures. But then things suddenly took a turn for the worse the pression Cultural Heritage foundation canceled the exhibition. For once what are some in the mission here to go in the end it became increasingly difficult for us because everything that needed to be resolved the selection of the works questions about transport an insurance etc had been resolved but in order to actually start the ball rolling so to speak to begin packing them for transport we needed export permits and they were not issued in time thats when we said it was now impossible for us to do any further planning under such conditions as we know im getting rich merchants. And i believe that this exhibition had to come about this dialogue between western art of the Twentieth Century and iranian art of the Twentieth Century would have changed perceptions of iran in germany and europe and among the public this is a ticket i think you have to do away with stereotypes there is the stereotype of a regime of a political constitution but of course a society is also made up of people and societies are usually much more colorful you know and it is a shock and it is a shift isnt it if you can talk. In a discourse that does not make the world less secure or more warlike but actually makes it more peaceful him eventually leads to more understanding only happens through the understanding of people and societies in different countries. Imagine flying over a city. And then having to draw the few from memory. Down to the tiniest detail. Thats what british orders Stephen Wiltshire can do. Hes famous for his dry again to urban panoramas. Jerome a. Thirty minute w. The freedom of expression. Of value that all ways has to be defended and new. All over the world. Are to a Freedom Freedom of art. A multimedia project about artists and their right to express their views freely. D w dot com or to freedom. To. A news outlets to me to just not see the unsub new sounds old school so called change can sign up to this kind of. Science but of course. Keep playing put big dreams on the big screen. In the magazine on the dummy. This is news coming to you live from bahrain north and south korea set the date for a response thats between the two rivals seen on boys horse talks at the border and announced for twenty seven that is the dates the two leaders will meet its their lead to step in at times to come and you can be sure. Also coming up