Iranian Publisher's Letter on Translating Catherine Millet's Art History Book

Key facts

• Mahmoud Bahmanpour is director of Nazar publishing house in Tehran.
• Catherine Millet was invited to Iran in spring 2009 for the Persian translation of 'L'Art contemporain en France'.
• Over 150 people attended Millet's lecture at the Maison des artistes in Tehran.
• Millet signed nearly 80 books at the Maison des artistes event.
• Over 250 people attended her lecture at the Mah Institute.
• More than 150 copies were sold at the Tehran Book Fair.
• Two reformist newspapers, Etemad Melli and Etemad, covered the translation.
• Iranian Channel 4 aired a 45-minute program on the book.
• Police pressured Bahmanpour to cancel events related to Millet's visit.
• The Mah Institute is the only place in Iran where teachers give courses on the latest contemporary art currents.
• Alireza Samié Azar is director of the Mah Institute.
• The veil became mandatory in Iran in 1982.
• Representation of the female body has been prohibited since the 1979 revolution.
• Some Iranian artists secretly depict women, and some women pose nude for pay.
• The Green Movement was emerging in Iran at the time of the letter.
• Bahmanpour and his wife were imprisoned in Evin prison for several weeks.
• The book 'L'Art contemporain en France' was translated into Persian by Nazar editions.
• Jacques Henric accompanied Millet on the trip.
• The letter was published in art press n°360 (October 2009).
• Edward Lucie-Smith's 'Movements in Art Since 1945' is in its tenth edition in Iran.