Visual representations of the Persian dervish in Sufi art and material culture : preliminary report from the Bunyad Institute, Tehran, Iran (part 1)

Before, during and after the difficult and harsh days of the Iranian Revolution of 1978-9, many people left Iran empty-handed. The temporary revolutionary government and its members not only attacked the royal palaces and related complexes, governmental organizations and institutions, but also penetrated private houses and confiscated the goods of executed political figures, citizens who had fled and most of the foreign diplomats. With the fast growth of many revolutionary organizations and institutions such as Bunyad-i Shahid (Institute of Martyrdom), Bunyad-i Mustaz'afan (Foundation of the Oppressed) and Kumitah-yi Imdad Imam Khumayni (The Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation), which were heavily involved in the wide-scale confiscation of the property and belongings of anti-revolutionaries (zid-i inqilab), this topic became a focus of social action in the resistance against tyranny. The war between Iran and Iraq (1980-8) immediately after the Iranian Revolution also contributed to general public negligence regarding these confiscated tangible materials. No official reports exist regarding the names of individuals whose homes and possessions were attacked and confiscated, or in what situations and conditions such actions took place. This makes it impossible to confirm how many such objects and materials were sold to private and foreign collections and collectors or still remain in the hands of individuals or governmental organizations in Iran.