The meeting “Museums, Symbols of Cultural Iran” from the series of meetings “Symbols of Cultural Iran” was held on Sunday, Mehr 30, 1402, with the presence of several Iranologists, Iran lovers, and museum experts, hosted by Dr. Farhoud Foundation.
Seyyed Ahmad Mohit Tabatabai, Reza Tavasoli, Nasser Bayat, Miriam Gots (Rahgoshay), Abdulazim Zarinkoub, Mazdak Akhawan Sales, and Dariush Farhoud were among the speakers at this meeting. Mehrdad Pourmand was the moderator of this meeting.
Keyvan Salemi Fiyeh, chairman of the meeting, spoke about the role of museums as symbols of the common culture in the vast cultural Iran, and said: “Cultural Iran is a museum in itself, and clothing, languages, dialects, celebrations and ceremonies, in every corner, are its symbols and traditions, which, under the name “Iranian culture” are gathered as one collection.
Prof. Mohit Tabatabaei, chairman of the National Committee of Iranian Museums (ICOM), referring to the Greek root of the word museum, which is specific to the nine goddesses of various arts, said: This naming is because the mother of these nine goddesses and the wife of Zeus is a demigod who bathes in the fountain of oblivion and then remembers everything. So, museums are a symbol of remembering roots. This characteristic of the museum always governs its meaning. However, this phenomenon named museum, saw changes, especially after Europe’s Renaissance, because a concept was added to it in each period.
He added: “In Iran, though a place was made into a museum during the reign of Nasser-eddin Shah, but we should say that” museum” as a cultural phenomenon, was established in the post-constitutional and modern era of Iran, a period when the museum gained its modern concept.”
Museums in Iran, especially the Museum of Ancient Iran, established in 1316, were initially a place to preserve the country’s ancient and cultural relics, recognize and identify and introduce them as a national identity and pride. For example, in the basic definition of the museum, the display of the Hasanlu cup is a sign of the art of our ancestors in making such a work. In the following decades, i.e., the sixties (solar decade) and the emergence of a transformation in the museum concept, the use of the work and the reason for its construction were discussed in the next step. In the 80s, museums became more critical in how they responded to the problems and needs of the day. Today, if we are facing a problem called the water crisis, museums can be a way forward and remind us what should or should not be done and where we have failed, in order to deal with the phenomenon of water scarcity. Technology and knowledge have indeed advanced, but what is unchangeable, and a historic experience, in this field, is the management of water and culture of water management. In Iranian culture, we have always used the interest on water; meaning that we would not touch the main water asset, and only use water in the qanats, reservoirs or water stored behind dams. But after 1334 (1955), when deep wells were dug in Iran, we actually started using the water that was supposed to be the capital asset for future generations.
At the end of his speech, Mohit Tabatabai pointed out the importance of preserving museums and maintaining their usage in order to help the growth and dynamism of our society.
In this meeting, Miriam Gotts (Rahgoshai), from France, lawyer and linguist, and director of Dr Rahgoshai Museum in Badrood, Natanz, spoke about the role of museums in preserving languages and customs for the children and future generations.
The Eco-museum, founded by Miriam Gots in her father-in-law’s house, Dr Rahgoshai, nearly a decade ago, has received the title of the best private museum in the country from ICOM-UNESCO and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and is now world-famous as a cultural heritage and national identity of Iran.
Gots has been living in Iran for nearly 30 years, and in addition to Farsi, she is fluent in several European languages. Discovering cultural commonalities between Iran and Europe is among her research priorities.
In recognition of her cultural services, in 2023, she was awarded the Knight of the Academic Palm by the French Ministry of Education.
Miriam Gots said about the activity of Badroud Eco-Museum: This museum was set up to familiarize children who are the youth of tomorrow with customs and traditions, clothing, and native culture, and primarily to protect the native language of that region. Our insistence on preserving the native language is because if this language dies, a significant part of that region’s narratives and oral literature will disappear. It can be said that the Rahgoshay Museum is a bridge between the past and the future of Badroud.
Reza Tavasoli, the director of the Simin and Jalal House Museum, was one of the other speakers at the meeting, recalling the teachings of mysticism and Sufism and addressing the issue of mysticism and spirituality in museums.
At the end of the meeting, Professor Farhoud said: “I’m proud to say that, in the clothes of a teacher or a doctor, or whatever position I hold, I am actually a soldier of my country. He mentioned the role of museums in spreading culture and added: Each of our historical monuments is a museum. Takht Jamshid, Pasargad, and Bistun each represent several thousand-year-old cultures. He noted: “Unfortunately, during my visit to some famous museums in the world, I saw that more works from Iran were exhibited there than in their original Iran.”
Monir Darayi, former director of the Museum of Fine Arts and director of the National Museum of Arts, Mahboubeh Qalichkhani, director of the photography department of the National Museum of Iran, Dr. Ali Ezzati, director of the Association of Self-taught Artists, Dr. Hoshang Talaee, professor of Iranian history and Shahnameh scholar, Dr. Mohammad Rasouli, director of Bozorgmehr Hakim Institute, The lawyer and Shahnameh scholar, Mr. Ansari, the director of the Akhawan Sales Museum, Mrs. Azadeh Sonboli, the photographer of ICOM, and Dr. Ghasemi, the director of the House of Humanities Thinkers, were among the participants in the meeting.
Photos by Homayoun Mehrzad
