Word: macgregor
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When western diplomats seek concessions from Iran, they typically dish out tough rhetoric and threaten sanctions. Neil MacGregor, the cherub-faced director of the British Museum, uses a more refined arsenal: cultural relics and priceless artifacts. In January, MacGregor traveled to Tehran to finalize the loan of treasures from eight of Iran's best museums. In exchange, he promised to loan the National Museum of Iran the Cyrus Cylinder, a 2,500-year-old clay cylinder inscribed with decrees from the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great. Following a request by the Iranian Vice President's office, he also vowed...
...time when more conventional channels of communication between Britain and Iran have stalled, MacGregor's cultural diplomacy is opening up another avenue for dialogue. The British Museum, especially since MacGregor took the helm in 2002, has used traveling exhibitions and curatorial exchanges to successfully engage museums from China to North Korea to Sudan. "The more difficult the political relations are, the more important it is to try to understand the history of the country with whom we're having difficult conversations," he says. (See pictures of 250 years of the British Museum...
...Persian artifacts, many of which have never been seen together inside Iran, let alone outside the country. The show highlights the accomplishments of Shah 'Abbas, who ruled Persia from 1587 to 1629, ushering in a golden age for arts and culture, and opening the country to European trade. Says MacGregor: "He created a multi-faith society in touch with the rest of the world. That's why now he is someone really worth thinking about...
...troops invaded Iraq in March 2003, looters besieged the country's national museum, stealing 8,000 objects that had come from ancient Mesopotamia. Donny George, the Iraqi museum's former director, phoned from Baghdad and described the situation to a curatorial colleague in London. That curator spoke to MacGregor, who phoned then Prime Minister Tony Blair's culture secretary. A few hours later, U.S. tanks were moving into position to guard Iraq's finest museum. "It was possible entirely because of the long links kept between curators even through the worst moments of Saddam Hussein," says MacGregor. In a world...
...trade. Glorious paintings from the early 17th century depict British envoys who traded gold and silver for silk rugs; other prints capture negotiations in which Iranians mingle with Uzbeks and Indians. Like his contemporary Elizabeth I, Shah 'Abbas waged war to defend his nation's territory. But unlike England, MacGregor says, the Shah's Iran "accommodated other faiths," as seen by gospels beautifully illustrated by Armenian Christians who were forcibly resettled in Iran from...