Skip to main content

Iranian museum closes temporarily after bugs infest famous artwork

The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art issued a formal apology and vowed to address the problem after paper-eating insects were spotted in its highly popular exhibition of minimalism and conceptual art.
The photos by Bernd and Hilla Becher at Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.

“Where there is one, there could be more.”

This was the initial remark of the museum director after a video of two bugs inside the frame on the bottom-left corner of a 1978 work by Bernd and Hilla Becher, went viral on social media.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.