Tehran Museum closed after bug spotted crawling through artwork

CAIRO – 24 August 2022: Last summer, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in Iran, which houses one of the most important collections of Western art in the Middle East, gained international attention when it reopened after a 42-year closure.

Just a year later, it made headlines for a completely different reason: seeing an insect crawling on the artwork forced the museum to close.

Last Wednesday, a video was posted online showing two bugs crawling on an exhibited photo taken by Bernd and Hila Becher, who are considered key artists of the Conceptual Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The video went viral, amassing more than a million views on Instagram, according to ARTnews.

The bugs spotted crawling on artwork exhibited at Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art

The museum was later closed so that the building could be disinfected. 

In a statement posted on Facebook, the museum apologized for the incident, affirming that no other insects were observed on other artworks in the museum. According to the evidence seen in the paintings, no damage was caused to cellular parts of any of the paintings examined, seen or reported by museum experts. The museum’s management explained that the insects were possibly from the front spaces of the museum.

According to the Associated Press, the exhibit at the museum was a success. It has reportedly been viewed by about 17,000 people since it opened in June.