ID :
122271
Sat, 05/15/2010 - 14:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/122271
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Iranian sculptors call on officials to pursue Tehran statue thefts
TEHRAN, May 15 (MNA) -- Sculptors urged the officials to take serious steps to vigorously investigate the recent serial thefts of bronze statues across capital Tehran.
Sculptors asked officials for adequate safeguarding of sculptures situated in local neighborhoods and parks after several bronze statues were reported missing over the past few weeks.
The statues were allegedly stolen for the scrap value of the metal used in making them, Tehran Municipality’s Statue Office director Mojtaba Musavi had once said earlier.
And now after several weeks, no reliable source has yet to take charge of the case and no promising news has been released.
Busts of two leaders of the Iranian Constitutional Movement, Sattar Kahn in Sattar Khan Street and Baqer Khan in Shahr-Ara Street, and the bust of Iranian master of intarsia art Mohammad-Hossein Sani’khatam at Mellat Park as well as two other sculptures from the courtyard of the Iranian Artists Forum are seen on the list of missing items.
A bronze statue of a “Calf” located in the courtyard of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Tehran, and a bust of Avicenna in Behjatabad Park in the Karim Khan Zand neighborhood are also among the statues vanishing over the few weeks.
“Sculptors expect serious prosecution in this case. I see scant attention. The team who carried out these serial thefts was well equipped,” sculptor of the missing Sani’khatam bust Hamid Shans told MNA.
“How can one steal a heavy bronze statue located in a place where there is no electrical service nearby? This shows the perpetrators were extremely equipped professionals,” he remarked.
“Locating statues across the city is a necessity, not merely for the sake of beautification, and the recent reaction of officials indicates their lack of interest in improving the visual environs of our neighborhoods.
“Some statues were crafted by our late masters belonging to a specific period from our art history. And now, we are faced with the question of how artwork from this era could possibly be reproduced?” he added.
He continued, “The art of sculpture lay dormant for a long time, but in recent years, it was being revived and making progress. Tehran Municipality’s Beautification Organization was ordering and purchasing new statuary which was helping this artform to blossom.”
Sculptor Jafar Najibi, creator of the vanished bust of Persian lexicographer Mohammad Moin, lamented over the recent events and said, “I was thinking of holding an exhibition of my artwork of Iranian luminaries but now, I have lost all motivation. I think perhaps there is a motive behind the recent thefts involving opposition to public display of statues. We have yet to receive any convincing response from officials.”
Ruhollah Shamsizadeh Maleki, who himself discovered his bronze statue missing from Esteqlal Park is also intently following recent events. “No one is giving us any concrete information about these thefts,” he quipped.
Sculptors asked officials for adequate safeguarding of sculptures situated in local neighborhoods and parks after several bronze statues were reported missing over the past few weeks.
The statues were allegedly stolen for the scrap value of the metal used in making them, Tehran Municipality’s Statue Office director Mojtaba Musavi had once said earlier.
And now after several weeks, no reliable source has yet to take charge of the case and no promising news has been released.
Busts of two leaders of the Iranian Constitutional Movement, Sattar Kahn in Sattar Khan Street and Baqer Khan in Shahr-Ara Street, and the bust of Iranian master of intarsia art Mohammad-Hossein Sani’khatam at Mellat Park as well as two other sculptures from the courtyard of the Iranian Artists Forum are seen on the list of missing items.
A bronze statue of a “Calf” located in the courtyard of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Tehran, and a bust of Avicenna in Behjatabad Park in the Karim Khan Zand neighborhood are also among the statues vanishing over the few weeks.
“Sculptors expect serious prosecution in this case. I see scant attention. The team who carried out these serial thefts was well equipped,” sculptor of the missing Sani’khatam bust Hamid Shans told MNA.
“How can one steal a heavy bronze statue located in a place where there is no electrical service nearby? This shows the perpetrators were extremely equipped professionals,” he remarked.
“Locating statues across the city is a necessity, not merely for the sake of beautification, and the recent reaction of officials indicates their lack of interest in improving the visual environs of our neighborhoods.
“Some statues were crafted by our late masters belonging to a specific period from our art history. And now, we are faced with the question of how artwork from this era could possibly be reproduced?” he added.
He continued, “The art of sculpture lay dormant for a long time, but in recent years, it was being revived and making progress. Tehran Municipality’s Beautification Organization was ordering and purchasing new statuary which was helping this artform to blossom.”
Sculptor Jafar Najibi, creator of the vanished bust of Persian lexicographer Mohammad Moin, lamented over the recent events and said, “I was thinking of holding an exhibition of my artwork of Iranian luminaries but now, I have lost all motivation. I think perhaps there is a motive behind the recent thefts involving opposition to public display of statues. We have yet to receive any convincing response from officials.”
Ruhollah Shamsizadeh Maleki, who himself discovered his bronze statue missing from Esteqlal Park is also intently following recent events. “No one is giving us any concrete information about these thefts,” he quipped.
