Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art

The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA) is one of the largest art museums in Iran, with a collection of over 3,000 items including 19th- and 20th-century European and American paintings, prints, drawings, and sculptures, as well as a major collection of Iranian modern and contemporary art. It is considered to have the most valuable collection of Western modern art outside Europe and North America. The building itself is an example of contemporary art, designed in the style of an underground New York Guggenheim Museum, with most of the museum area underground and a circular walkway spiraling downwards with galleries branching outward. Western sculptures by artists such as Ernst, Giacometti, Magritte, and Moore are found in the museum's gardens.

Don't miss

• The building's design, inspired by the Guggenheim Museum in New York, with an underground circular walkway and galleries branching outward
• Western sculptures in the gardens by artists such as Ernst, Giacometti, Magritte, and Moore
• Works by Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol in the permanent collection
• A collection of over 3,000 items including European and American masterpieces and Iranian modern and contemporary art
• The museum's architecture incorporates elements from traditional Persian desert towns like Yazd and Kashan

Tickets & tours

Ways to visit Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art

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Getting there

A bit of history

The museum was inaugurated by Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi in 1977, just two years before the 1979 Revolution. The idea originated in a conversation at a gallery opening in the 1970s when artist Iran Darroudi mentioned her desire for a permanent place to exhibit works. The museum was designed by Iranian architect Kamran Diba, who employed elements from traditional Persian architecture of Yazd, Kashan, and other desert towns. After the 1979 Revolution, the Western art was stored in the museum's vault until 1999, when the first post-revolution exhibition of Western art was held. Now, pieces of the Western art collection are shown for a few weeks every year, but most pieces are never shown due to the conservative nature of the Iranian establishment.