The daughter of a renowned West Vancouver sculptor who had his passport confiscated in Iran said a decision in his case will likely be made on Monday.
“We don’t like this waiting game. But we all are confident that his passport will be given back,” Tandis Tanavoli told the North Shore News.
“It may take longer than we like, but we are sure he will come through this ordeal OK.”
Her father, Parviz Tanavoli, had his passport confiscated July 2 on his way from Tehran to London for a celebration of his work at the British Museum. He is now barred from leaving Iran.
Tanavoli, who holds both Iranian and Canadian citizenship, has been a resident of West Vancouver since 1989.
Along with his lawyer, Tanavoli, 79, will appear in an Iranian court on Monday.
“The judge he appeared in front of last week needed time to go over the documents and the case, and chances are he will find that there had been a misunderstanding of mischief and rule to return his passport to him,” said Tandis, who was originally in Iran with her father but has since flown back to Vancouver.
Tandis said the whole ordeal has been confusing and the family still hasn’t been given a clear reason why her father’s passport was confiscated.
At first it was thought to be on the orders of the Naja, the Iranian equivalent of police, but Tandis said they have announced they weren’t involved. Similar denials have been made by the Ministry of Culture, she said.
“It might have been a private complaint, but we can’t find a name. There is no paper trail,” she said.
Some reports pointed to suspicions Tanavoli is being targeted for featuring an image of a woman on the cover of his new book, European Women in Persian Houses. He was on the way to London for a scheduled talk and signing of the book.
“The situation is very mysterious, and many authorities in Iran are working to get to the bottom of it as to how this has happened,” Tandis said.
She said her father, who is allowed to stay at the family’s home while he waits for his court date, is a national treasure, not a troublemaker.
Tanavoli is considered one of the founders of the neo-traditionalist movement originating in the 1960s. A bronze sculpture of his sold for $2.8 million at Christie’s Dubai in 2008.
“Given the circumstances he is well,” Tandis said. “In this case he knows he hasn’t done anything wrong, and so do the officials who deal with such situations. He is at home, working at his studio and free to go wherever he pleases within Iran.”
The family has been offered help by the Canadian government, but assistance hasn’t been needed so far, said Tandis. “Should anything serious happen within the case then we will definitely ask them for their help. But so far the Iranian officials have been supportive and trying to resolve this issue themselves,” she said.
The artistic community in British Columbia has reached out to support Tanavoli.
Bob Evermon, who was a student of Tanavoli’s in Minneapolis during the early 1960s, was surprised when he heard his friend’s passport was confiscated.
“He is a historian of Iran. He loves Iran. He’s a treasure of Iran,” said Evermon, who now lives in Sechelt.
Mehrdad Rahbar, an artist based on the North Shore, said Tanavoli is a “great internationally renowned artist.”
“(The Iranian government) has systematically done, and continue to do, their best to destroy our Persian arts and culture in any capacity,” he said.
