In an unusual move by Tehran’s mayor, hundreds of copies of famous artworks — both of world masters and Iranian artists — have been plastered on about 1,500 billboards across the city, transforming the Iranian capital into a gigantic, open-air exhibition.
The 10-day project, which ends today, has stirred both appreciation and criticism. However, whether people like it or not, the message is simple, according to Ehsun Fathipour.
“It says Iranians are art lovers, too,” the 57-year-old Tehran businessman said.
Photo: AP
There is plenty to look at — from Claude Monet’s iconic Rouen Cathedral, Rembrandt’s Landscape with a Stone Bridge and Mark Tansey’s 1981 work The Innocent Eye Test, to the 18th century Flowering Plants in Autumn, attributed to Japanese painter Ogata Korin.
In a city of 9 million people, 200 copies of works by world masters vie for attention along with 500 works of Iranian artists, such as Still Life by Iranian painter Bahman Mohasses, which is in Tehran’s Arjantin Square. In Jomhouri Street, just a few blocks from the office of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, known for his love of the arts, stands a copy of the 19th century Indian Fisherman by German Albert Bierstadt.
The copies beam down from the city-owned billboards along key throughways, from overpasses, and from main intersections and squares.
The project was the brainchild of Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf — a former Revolutionary Guard commander who twice lost bids to become Iran’s president, first in 2005 and then in the 2013 presidential election, when he came second to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Qalibaf has built his reputation on a host of quality-of-life projects in the capital, including parks, expanded subways lines and highways. However, he also has faced accusations that he took part in past crackdowns against student protesters before becoming mayor in 2005.
Tehran municipality sponsored the exhibit, entitled An Art Gallery the Size of the City, saying it wanted to bring art closer to the city’s residents. It has had other usual projects in the past, including converting a prison, a garrison and a slaughter house into a museum and galleries.
Jamal Kamyab, who runs the Tehran Beautification Agency, affiliated with the municipality, said the aim was to “improve the artistic literacy of the citizens” and decorate public areas.
Tehran-based analyst Saeed Leilaz said the project is likely Qalibaf’s attempt to revamp his image, while also courting the middle class’ support, possibly for the next election.
“It’s a transition from a hardline paradigm to a milder sphere, one that caters to the cultural needs of the middle class,” Leilaz told reporters.
Few among Iran’s population of 80 million frequent galleries and museums, instead favoring shrines of religious figures and historical sites. From time to time, Iranian artists have also had their works banned, apparently for being deemed insulting to Islamic values.
Many like the billboards, like Sahar Nasiri, a 23-year-old student of Farsi-language literature.
“The city is overwhelmed by advertisements the entire year, so this is a nice break,” she said.
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