[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great

[Hhakimi]

No sensation as Brit art goes on show in Tehran

“In the turbulent atmosphere of post-election Tehran, does an exhibit by Damien Hirst have any meaning?” asks The Independent’s Angus McDowall this morning. “Not a lot, to judge by the reactions of some of the Iranians attending the opening of the first major exhibition of contemporary British art since the Islamic revolution 25 years ago.

One local artist - who would not be named - started railing against the regime rather than the art as soon as she realised she was talking to a journalist from The Independent. "It's hopeless - we did not even vote, but they said we did," she said, referring to the dispute over turnout in last Friday's parliamentary elections where moderate politicians were excluded from the ballot. "In Iran, many people find it very hard to live, but for artists it is doubly so because we have such limits on expression," she said.

The exhibition, which opened yesterday, which also features work by Henry Moore, Francis Bacon and Anish Kapoor, has been careful to avoid controversy.

“A work by Mona Hatoum, featuring a wheelchair and rubber crutches, was withdrawn because it was considered offensive to those killed or injured in the Iran-Iraq war,” notes McDowall

“For many, the fact that the exhibition was happening at all was a truly momentous occasion in a decades-long history of artistic isolation. Helia, a student studying for a postgraduate degree in art, said: "In a country like Iran where everything is really limited politically, art is something without boundaries. And having relations with other countries and cultures is too important to me to speak about. It is having an enormous effect and I want it to continue."


If it’s good news for Iran art lovers, however, their politicians may have less to cheer about, as a report in The Times tells readers, they come under fire, again, from the United Nations atomic energy watchdog.



“A 13-page report by Mohamed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), states that there remain a number of questions and discrepancies over Iran’s nuclear programme that are “a matter of serious concern”.



“The report, after intrusive inspections, came days after Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, accused Iran of “still too slowly . . . coming forward with answers needed by the IAEA”. Last year the agency accused Iran of lying to the world for 18 years over its nuclear operations,” the paper notes.

[Aceman]

BRITISH ART IS **** - WHAT THE HELL DO IRANIANS NEED BRITISH ART FOR WHEN THEY HAVE PERSIAN ART? - IRANIANs SHOULD tell Jack and Tony to **** OFF and top imprisoning innocent Iranians..

[Boycott]

Azadi TV announced that Iranians are Boycotting The Tony and Jack Show

[Dolmeh]

I PISS ON BRITISH ART - BOYCOTT THE ****!!!!