Organised by
The Iran Heritage Foundation
Date
Wednesday 10th March, 17.30 (London, GMT)
Online webinar
Description
This webinar will focus on why it is so important to develop and maintain cultural contacts with Iran, a country often seen through a political lens. The discussion panel consists of four people with extensive experience in this area: Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum; Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Curator of Middle Eastern Coins at the British Museum; Jon Snow of Channel 4 News; and Mahrukh Tarapor, former Associate Director at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. They will review recent cultural contacts and consider ways in which these can be built on and expanded in the future. The discussion will be chaired by John Curtis, Academic Director of the Iran Heritage Foundation.
Biographies
Neil MacGregor was the Director of the British Museum from 2002 to 2015, during which time the museum held many blockbuster exhibitions, including two major shows about Iran: ‘Forgotten Empire: the World of Ancient Persia’ and ‘Shah Abbas: the Remaking of Iran’. He is also known for his popular BBC Radio 4 series ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’, also published as a book. After leaving the British Museum he became the Founding Director of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, which opened digitally in December 2020.
Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis has been Curator of Middle Eastern Coins at the British Museum since 2005. She is a member of the IHF’s Academic Grants Committee and is Vice-President of the British Institute of Persian Studies. She is also Joint Director of the International Parthian Coin Project, a collaborative research project involving major international museums with important Parthian coin collections, such as Tehran, Paris, London, Berlin, Vienna and New York. She has written several publications, including co-authoring two volumes on Sasanian coins as part of a project with the National Museum of Iran (NMI).
Jon Snow is one of the UK’s best-known news presenters and has been the face of Channel 4 News since 1989. He has reported from all over the world and has visited Iran several times, most recently in February 2020. He has an interest in Iranian history and culture, and took part in IHF’s 2015 conference ‘From Persepolis to Isfahan: Safeguarding Cultural Heritage’ on a panel, together with Neil MacGregor. He has won several awards, including the Richard Dimbleby Bafta award for Best Factual Contribution to Television (2005), and Royal Television Society awards for Journalist of the Year (2006) and Presenter of the Year (2009).
Mahrukh Tarapor has been a leading figure for more than three decades in collaborations among cultural institutions, governments and museums. She is the former Associate Director for Exhibitions and Director for International Affairs for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. She defined a leading role for the Metropolitan in the international exchange of scholarship and works of art, negotiating landmark loans worldwide for ambitious and acclaimed exhibitions.
The Iran Heritage Foundation
Date
Wednesday 10th March, 17.30 (London, GMT)
Online webinar
Description
This webinar will focus on why it is so important to develop and maintain cultural contacts with Iran, a country often seen through a political lens. The discussion panel consists of four people with extensive experience in this area: Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum; Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Curator of Middle Eastern Coins at the British Museum; Jon Snow of Channel 4 News; and Mahrukh Tarapor, former Associate Director at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. They will review recent cultural contacts and consider ways in which these can be built on and expanded in the future. The discussion will be chaired by John Curtis, Academic Director of the Iran Heritage Foundation.
Biographies
Neil MacGregor was the Director of the British Museum from 2002 to 2015, during which time the museum held many blockbuster exhibitions, including two major shows about Iran: ‘Forgotten Empire: the World of Ancient Persia’ and ‘Shah Abbas: the Remaking of Iran’. He is also known for his popular BBC Radio 4 series ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’, also published as a book. After leaving the British Museum he became the Founding Director of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, which opened digitally in December 2020.
Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis has been Curator of Middle Eastern Coins at the British Museum since 2005. She is a member of the IHF’s Academic Grants Committee and is Vice-President of the British Institute of Persian Studies. She is also Joint Director of the International Parthian Coin Project, a collaborative research project involving major international museums with important Parthian coin collections, such as Tehran, Paris, London, Berlin, Vienna and New York. She has written several publications, including co-authoring two volumes on Sasanian coins as part of a project with the National Museum of Iran (NMI).
Jon Snow is one of the UK’s best-known news presenters and has been the face of Channel 4 News since 1989. He has reported from all over the world and has visited Iran several times, most recently in February 2020. He has an interest in Iranian history and culture, and took part in IHF’s 2015 conference ‘From Persepolis to Isfahan: Safeguarding Cultural Heritage’ on a panel, together with Neil MacGregor. He has won several awards, including the Richard Dimbleby Bafta award for Best Factual Contribution to Television (2005), and Royal Television Society awards for Journalist of the Year (2006) and Presenter of the Year (2009).
Mahrukh Tarapor has been a leading figure for more than three decades in collaborations among cultural institutions, governments and museums. She is the former Associate Director for Exhibitions and Director for International Affairs for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. She defined a leading role for the Metropolitan in the international exchange of scholarship and works of art, negotiating landmark loans worldwide for ambitious and acclaimed exhibitions.
