The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art has apologized and temporarily closed the venue to visitors after a video posted on social media showed insects crawling under the glass frame of a famous picture worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Art has issued an apology and temporarily closed to deal with pest control after photographs of insects walking inside world-famous works were circulated on social media.
Insects, which can attack and eat paintings, pose a serious threat to the American and European minimalist masterpieces now on display at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art for the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution took over Iran.
What are these insects doing in Tehran’s contemporary museum and on the works?
In 2019
A work by Bernd and Hilla Becher has been sold at Christie’s auction for more than 335 thousand pounds. Now think about the value of the works of these two artists in Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art? pic.twitter.com/8eEbluA1JM— SHAHRZAD (@shahrzadartist) August 16, 2022
A video that went viral earlier this week shows two insects walking under the glass frame of a 1978 photograph by famous German photographers Brand and Hilla Bacher. The sight of wingless insects caused shock and disgust on social media.
The museum apologized to the public last Wednesday, responding that “the proper maintenance of our prized works is of concern to all of us.” It was also reported that “as soon as the insects were discovered, experts rushed to the museum and carefully cleaned the works of art on display. The insects did not damage the photograph or any other work. The museum will be closed for a few days so that exterminators can deal with the problem.”