Wim Delvoye Opens 9,000 sqm Museum in Kashan, Iran

Belgian artist Wim Delvoye is opening a 9,000-square-meter museum in the historic Iranian city of Kashan. The museum will be housed in a palace currently under restoration and will feature Delvoye's own work alongside exhibitions by Iranian artists. It will also serve as the headquarters for his activities and include residency programs. The project is facilitated by curators from the ongoing exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. Delvoye, a major collector of Iranian art, aims to support local art but does not plan to remain in the country permanently. Separately, Iranian cartoonist Atena Farghadani, arrested in August 2014 for satirical drawings, was subjected to pregnancy and virginity tests following a handshake with her lawyer. Her sentence was reduced to 18 months, but she endured harsh conditions including isolation and hunger strikes, leading to a heart attack in February 2015.