A meeting of cultures

The Safavid dynasty (1501-1722); rituals and banquets at the court of Shah Abbas I (1571-1629); the architecture of Isfahan, and British travellers to that city. This episode includes a discussion with Dr Sussan Babaie, Andrew W. Mellon Reader in the Arts of Iran and Islam, Courtauld Institute of Art; and Dr Jan Loop, Professor in Early Modern History at the University of Kent.

Unknown, British 17th century, Sir Thomas Herbert, 1st Baronet (1606-1682), 1642

The appointment of the first permanent British Ambassador to Tehran; the history of the British Embassy building in that city; the portraits of Fath Ali Shah, 2nd Qajar ruler (1772- 1834); and the European tour of Naser al Din Shah (1831-1896). This episode also features a discussion with Dr Moya Carey, Curator of Islamic Collections at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin; and Mark Bertram CBE RIBA, author of Room for Diplomacy, Britain’s Diplomatic Buildings Overseas 1800-2000.

The exterior of the British Embassy, Tehran from the garden © Crown Copyright

I think it’s an important message for all of us in diplomacy: not to be captured too much by the moment and become, as it were, prisoners of immediate events, and to try and hold on to a longer view

Sir Dominick Chilcott, British Ambassador to Turkey, and Ambassador to Iran in 2011

The attack on the British Embassy in Tehran in 2011; the damage caused by the mob to a number of art works from the Government Collection; and an interview with Sir Dominick Chilcott, ambassador to Iran at the time of the attack and currently British Ambassador to Turkey.

The dining room in the British Residence, Tehran © Crown Copyright

The art reminds us … of the depth of that history … It’s a reminder of how long the diplomatic engagement has existed.

Rob Macaire, Ambassador to Iran

The return of the damaged artworks to London for conservation; their journey back to Tehran; and the re-installation of the works in February 2019. Our curator speaks to Alejandra Echenique de Hopton; Rob Macaire, British Ambassador to Iran; and Andrew Parratt, Head of Collection Care at the Government Art Collection.

The Fath’Ali Shah room in the British Residence, Tehran

Cultural diplomacy can take place in a private place, but at its best it should be in as open a space as possible

Rob Macaire, British Ambassador to Iran

Watch this series of short videos on the conservation of the four 19th-century Iranian paintings of the Qajar period, that are installed at the British Residence in Tehran.