Gholamreza Nami Transcript and Audio

Pasargad Bank founded the Pasargad Energy Development Company (PEDC) some years ago. The Board of Managers allocated a budget to acquisition of artworks back then. They sought services of an art consultant to purchase works for their collection. When a new Chief Executive Officer was appointed for the bank I was offered a job to carry on with the acquisition of more works and establishment of a museum. Now after nearly six years since the establishment of the Pasargad Bank Museum, I am proud to say that we have twice changed over the entire collection, with the third round of new acquisitions to be made in the next couple of months.

The day I came on board as an art consultant, I gave a list of artworks to the Board of Managers to be acquired for the museum. The list was, of course, approved and we made acquisitions according to the list. I made financial return for the bank a priority and chose artworks with a promising market so as to enable the bank to make a profit in the long term. After all, they both need to be accountable to their shareholders and acquire works that show the evolution of the Iranian contemporary art. No doubt, the works in the collection enjoy aesthetic qualities.

There are over 500 works in the collection. The Pasargad Bank Museum is the only permanent fine arts museum in Iran. As the art consultant of the museum, I endeavored to acquire works that recorded the evolution of Iranian contemporary art and made them accessible to art enthusiasts to conduct research on the subject.

We would be able to cover the history of Iranian art of the past eighty years if we purchased another four or five artworks. It is a great regret that we have no works by Jalil Ziapour in the collection. We managed to purchase a work by the pioneering artist, Nasser Yektayi, though. Mr. Javadipour is also present in the collection. So is Mr. Hamidi. A few more purchases and it is safe to say that every single Iranian contemporary artist is presented in the collection, providing artists and art students with an opportunity to do their research. We welcome art lecturers to hold their classes at the museum. However, it is pointless to come for a visit if students have not already been given a definition of art or taught the difference between art and photography. Questions such as “what path art took to get where it is now and how come artists no longer do plein air realistic paintings?” need to have already been addressed to prepare students for such visits.

In meetings with post-revolutionary officials, I would emphasize time and again the significance of the collection of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, noting the artworks in that collection could be capital for Iran’s economy. This could be true if acquisitions continued. Art investments are one of the safest, most pleasant investments in the world and all rich organizations, including Rockefeller Foundation and the German Deutsche Bank, are the greatest collectors in the world. Before the revolution, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art purchased a work by an international artist for $600,000. The work is currently worth $300m. What kind of investment could have possibly enjoyed such growth in over 30 years? Artworks both adorn houses and can be safe investments. Acquisitions, however, need to be made wisely and not just based on personal taste. When personal taste is given more emphasis in acquiring artworks no added value can be expected. They purchase an artwork for a certain amount but it attracts no or little added value over time. This frustrates investors and they will never consider investing in artworks again. Therefore, I suggest those planning to invest in fine arts seek advice of an art consultant to avoid such issues and make a good investment.

There are some artists I call “skilled pseudo-artists”. They paint a glass of water, a watermelon or a spoon with light reflections so perfect they look absolutely real. This is like photography though. A camera can do even better.

If I were to buy myself an artwork and did not care about the price, I would buy a work that I liked; an expressive work consistent with my mentality, the product of a creative mind. I would purchase a work that makes visible the invisible; no work by a “skilled pseudo-artist”.

The Iranian contemporary art has hugely evolved in the past twenty years. The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art twice put their Iranian and Western collections on display. This was a great achievement. Artists were able to learn so much by looking at the works. A fine catalogue of the collection was produced, which could be used a reference.

Discussions around the economics of the fine arts were a deterrent and huge enthusiasm for making money out of art misled a younger generation of artists. The pioneering artists, however, carried on doing what they were doing. The market dictated the style or subject matter, though, and young people had to go with the flow. This has been the scourge of Iran’s art in the past decade. Artists need to be warned against paying too much attention to the art market. They need to stick to their art.