WEBVTT - Iran’s $3 billion secret art bunker

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<v Speaker 1>From The Australian. This is the weekend edition of The Front.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Claire Harvey. All wars come with casualties, and of

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<v Speaker 1>course the most confronting a human But today we're looking

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<v Speaker 1>at a potentially different casualty of the war raging in

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<v Speaker 1>the Middle East. Some of the world's most prized works

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<v Speaker 1>of art Picasso's van Goh's Gogans now sheltered away in

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<v Speaker 1>secret locations and underground bomb proof vaults. Plus what happens

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<v Speaker 1>to the artists trying to live today in the midst

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<v Speaker 1>of conflict and oppression. Joining me today is Tim Douglas,

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<v Speaker 1>chief Culture correspondent for The Australian.

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<v Speaker 2>The year is nineteen forty seven. A group of teenage

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<v Speaker 2>Bedouin shepherds discover jars in a cave by the Dead Sea.

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<v Speaker 2>They find seven scrolls.

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<v Speaker 1>Tim, you've been reporting on an aspect of the conflict

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<v Speaker 1>in the Middle East that I don't think many of

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<v Speaker 1>us had thought about. What really stuck out for me

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<v Speaker 1>is a mention in a headline of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

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<v Speaker 2>These scrolls, the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls, weren't

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<v Speaker 2>initially seen as valuable, but soon scientists and scholars recognized

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<v Speaker 2>their significant worth.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the most magical I suppose cultural artifact. I

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<v Speaker 1>can think of these ancient Jewish texts that have been

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<v Speaker 1>in climate controlled conditions in a museum in Jerusalem for

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<v Speaker 1>the past few decades. What's happening to the Dead Sea scrolls?

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<v Speaker 3>So on February twenty eight, when missiles began falling across

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<v Speaker 3>the Middle East for the fourth time since the October

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<v Speaker 3>seventh attacks, curators across the Middle East, and in Israel

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<v Speaker 3>in particular, rush to the Israel Museum to secure these

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<v Speaker 3>very important documents, nine hundred of them in total, most

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<v Speaker 3>of them housed in that museum, and the most important

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<v Speaker 3>of them is the Isaiah Scroll. Perhaps not the most important,

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<v Speaker 3>but certainly the most well known. It's a seven meter

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<v Speaker 3>long scroll that had just been put on exhibition, and

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<v Speaker 3>the curators were forced to secure that very quickly as

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<v Speaker 3>air sirens sounded around the city, as I understand, and

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<v Speaker 3>moved to a secure location.

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<v Speaker 1>The idea of a war breaking out is kind of

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<v Speaker 1>a curator's worst n i'ma, isn't.

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<v Speaker 3>It Yeah, And especially when there are artifacts in those

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<v Speaker 3>collections that date back millennia, they are irreplaceable and people

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<v Speaker 3>have every right to be worried about them.

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<v Speaker 1>What about the rest of the Middle East? Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>bombs and missiles are falling very heavily on Iran.

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<v Speaker 3>What's happening there in Tehran is the UNESCO Heritage listed

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<v Speaker 3>Galliston Pallace, one of one hundred and twenty sites in

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<v Speaker 3>Iran protected by the Blue Shield, which was instituted in

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<v Speaker 3>the nineteen fifty four Hague Convention for historical locations that

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<v Speaker 3>require protection during wartime. This palace is very dear to

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<v Speaker 3>the Iranian people.

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<v Speaker 4>This palace has now reportedly sustained damage after a strike nearby.

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<v Speaker 4>Reports also suggesting that the palace's windows, doors and mirrors

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<v Speaker 4>were hit by reverberations from the blasts that occurred nearby.

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<v Speaker 3>So this is its famous hall of mirrors was smashed

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<v Speaker 3>and some of its famous mosaics also were smashed. But

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<v Speaker 3>it's just one of many sites in Iran at the

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<v Speaker 3>moment that are underfired. The governor of one of the

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<v Speaker 3>particular cities that was hit a historic city, accused Israel

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<v Speaker 3>and America of declaring war on cultural heritage.

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<v Speaker 5>The news spread with the speed of the human shou

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<v Speaker 5>Shah Ferrarisha day. The people cried the Shah has escaped.

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<v Speaker 5>The only chance of death to the Shah was replaced

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<v Speaker 5>today by a new one, death to Carter. There is

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<v Speaker 5>still a strong sentiment against American interest in Iran.

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<v Speaker 1>And the white Before the Iranian Revolution in nineteen seventy nine,

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<v Speaker 1>Tehran was a center of learning and feminism and all

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<v Speaker 1>sorts of things, although it be Shah's regime was very oppressive.

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<v Speaker 1>What's been the situation with art in Iran since the revolution?

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<v Speaker 3>I spoke to an artist in Sydney, Nassim Mesa about

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<v Speaker 3>this art, as she told me, is something very dear

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<v Speaker 3>to the Iranian people that have a culture of art

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<v Speaker 3>that stretches back two and a half thousand years. Clearly,

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<v Speaker 3>there are concerns about freedom of speech in that country,

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<v Speaker 3>which has led people seem to flee to Australia, where

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<v Speaker 3>she now has a flourishing art practice. But there are

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<v Speaker 3>still artists on the ground making work. Whether those artists

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<v Speaker 3>are making radical work that confronts the oppressive theocracy that

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<v Speaker 3>prevails in that country is another matter. But certainly there

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<v Speaker 3>is a deep connection to art. And of course one

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<v Speaker 3>of the most interesting aspects of Iran is that it

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<v Speaker 3>houses one of the world's most incredible and internationally lauded

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<v Speaker 3>art collections at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not something I would have expected.

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<v Speaker 3>It's not something you would have expected.

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<v Speaker 1>Where's it all come from?

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<v Speaker 3>During the nineteen seventies, the Shah's wife for Polavi embarked

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<v Speaker 3>on a collecting spree. Perhaps she and married in nineteen

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<v Speaker 3>fifty nine. Her main role was to provide an heir

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<v Speaker 3>to the regime. She did that within a year of

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<v Speaker 3>marrying the Shah, and then she embarked on a really

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<v Speaker 3>interesting period of development in a raad. She focused on education.

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<v Speaker 3>She helped found the p Lavi University. She also embarked

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<v Speaker 3>on collecting contemporary artworks during the seventies. During that time,

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<v Speaker 3>there was a depressed market in the art industry, and

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<v Speaker 3>she took advantage of that around the same time that

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<v Speaker 3>gofflm in this country did and looked to find some

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<v Speaker 3>defining works for that collection. She bought Van Goff's Gogans,

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<v Speaker 3>a huge collection of Picasso's, Donald Judd's andy Warhols. In fact,

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<v Speaker 3>there's a famous Andy Warhole painting of her, and there's

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<v Speaker 3>one of her husbands too. This collection, four thousand pieces strong,

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<v Speaker 3>it's worth three billion dollars and it has for the

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<v Speaker 3>last forty seven years been stored away in a secret

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<v Speaker 3>vault we understand beneath the building.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's not the sort of thing that the Mullers

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<v Speaker 1>would be spending their weekends looking at, is it.

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<v Speaker 3>It's not. Although last year they had a Caso exhibition.

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<v Speaker 3>They pulled out sixty six pocassos from the vault and

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<v Speaker 3>then put that on display. That was still being advertised

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<v Speaker 3>on its website last week. The website is now shut down.

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<v Speaker 1>Coming up. The most valuable artwork in the world is

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<v Speaker 1>in the Middle East, But where is it? One of

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<v Speaker 1>the differences with this round of conflict between Iran and

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<v Speaker 1>Israel and the United States is that the Golf States

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<v Speaker 1>have been drawn in those monarchies on the Persian Gulf

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<v Speaker 1>coasts that are now being attacked by Iran because they

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<v Speaker 1>host United States military assets. That's caused absolute fury among

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<v Speaker 1>those states from Jordan to Qatar, although they haven't yet

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<v Speaker 1>retaliated in any kind of military sense. What else is

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<v Speaker 1>at risk on the Golf peninsula.

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<v Speaker 3>Iran was ahead of the curve in terms of their collecting,

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<v Speaker 3>but since the seventies and eighties. Most of those golf

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<v Speaker 3>states have been cognizant of the fact that natural resources

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<v Speaker 3>on those emirates and in that region are finite, and

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<v Speaker 3>they've been looking to diversify their interests. Now most of

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<v Speaker 3>them over the last thirty years have looked to art.

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<v Speaker 3>Shajah was one of the first. Qatar actually had the

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<v Speaker 3>first museum, and since that time Abu Dhabi, Jubai, Bahrain

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<v Speaker 3>and Saudi Arabia have all got in on the act.

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<v Speaker 3>Those countries also have announced their intention to become art

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<v Speaker 3>market hubs, basically a real opportunity there for their GDPs

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<v Speaker 3>their bottom lines as an art hub. Saudi Arabia has

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<v Speaker 3>announced a multi billion dollar plan to basically become the

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<v Speaker 3>world's biggest art hub by twenty thirty. Art fairs have

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<v Speaker 3>begun to proliferate in the Middle East over the last

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<v Speaker 3>twenty years. It's held some of the world's biggest art fairs,

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<v Speaker 3>and this year in particular, two of the most high

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<v Speaker 3>profile art fairs in the world announced the moving into

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<v Speaker 3>that region too well.

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<v Speaker 1>We announced yesterday the launch of Art Basil Qatar for us,

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<v Speaker 1>for our local partners, but also for the international art world.

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<v Speaker 1>Extraordinarily momentous news, I'd say our audience.

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<v Speaker 5>Now.

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<v Speaker 3>Why that's interesting is because it signals a great shift

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<v Speaker 3>in the art market, whose traditional home has been the US.

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<v Speaker 3>Now those art markets are finding a home and finding

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<v Speaker 3>buyers very lucrative prices. In fact, for the international art

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<v Speaker 3>market in the Middle East.

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<v Speaker 1>It's all part of the kind of modernization and dare

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<v Speaker 1>I say westernization of those Gulf states. You know, they

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<v Speaker 1>are moving away from the very strict religious observance that

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<v Speaker 1>Iran has been famous for. There's much less overt control,

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<v Speaker 1>theological control of people. Do you think they've been accepted

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<v Speaker 1>by the kind of contemporary art makers, for example, who

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<v Speaker 1>here in Australia are at the center of controversies about

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<v Speaker 1>whether they're including Jewish artists in programs here.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a really interesting question. I'm not sure it keeps

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<v Speaker 3>many people in that world awake at night. I think

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<v Speaker 3>it's about money, money talks, and I think the most

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<v Speaker 3>interesting aspect of all that is Saudi Arabia. Last year

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<v Speaker 3>they had a huge art fair and rider and that

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<v Speaker 3>comes also after the Crown Prince bought the world's most

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<v Speaker 3>expensive painting in the Salvador Monday, which has bought four

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<v Speaker 3>hundred and fifty million dollars a couple of years ago

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<v Speaker 3>and which has not been seen publicly since. So I

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<v Speaker 3>think that idea says it all really about what they

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<v Speaker 3>think about art. The world's most expensive painting has been

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<v Speaker 3>bought and no one's seen it since.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, there's a trope that great art comes from suffering.

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<v Speaker 1>So I mean this conflict will produce creative works, won't

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<v Speaker 1>it if people can stay safe. We'll see the legacy

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<v Speaker 1>of this incoming years.

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<v Speaker 3>I hope that there is something that we can look

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<v Speaker 3>back at in forty to fifty years time and think, well,

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<v Speaker 3>at least we preserve this out of the madness, there

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<v Speaker 3>is hope in that ironic collection to which the regime

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<v Speaker 3>in Iran is ideologically opposed that I think there's hope

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<v Speaker 3>that something good or something fulsome might come out of this.

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<v Speaker 1>Tim, thank you very much, Thanks Claire. Tim Douglas is

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<v Speaker 1>The Australian's Chief Culture correspondent. This episode of the Front

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<v Speaker 1>was hosted by me Claire Harvey and co produced with

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<v Speaker 1>Jasper League. Thanks for joining us on the Front this week.

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<v Speaker 1>Our team also includes Kristen Amiot, Leats Hammerglue, Tiffany Dimack

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<v Speaker 1>and Joshua Burton,