Tehran -- The director of the Art Committee of the Tehran City Council Abdolhossein Mokhtabad has said that the committee will assign a team to investigate the dispute between sculptor Parviz Tanavoli and the Tehran Municipality over converting Tanavoli’s residence into a museum for his works.
Mokhtabad made the remarks during a meeting with Tanavoli at his home in Tehran, the Persian service of ISNA reported on Saturday.
Based on an agreement signed between Tanavoli and the Tehran Municipality in 2003, he transferred the ownership of his 58 sculptures and his house in northern Tehran to the municipality on the condition that the house would be converted into a museum for his works.
However, the municipality announced later that the plan to establish the museum has been cancelled.
Tanavoli filed a lawsuit and six years later the court ruled that the house was to be returned to him.
According to Tanavoli, the municipality refused to return his sculptures, some of which allegedly have been sold.
In addition, an unknown group along with a number of personnel from the police forces broke into Tanavoli’s house and took a number of his works in mid March using a crane and a truck.
The artworks are being kept at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art until the suit is settled, ISNA reported on April 16.
Mokhtabad expressed his regret over the incident and said the committee will pay special attention in its investigation into the issue.
MMS/YAW
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