“Closed Until Further Notice”—Keeping a Tehran Art Institution Alive During Wartime is an interview by Parham Ghalamdar with Hamidreza Pejman, founder of the Pejman Foundation, about sustaining an independent art institution through wartime disruption. The conversation follows the practical and cultural consequences of keeping an arts organisation active when its city and community are under pressure.
Conducted in Persian through voice and text between March and May 2026, the interview was translated into English and published by the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP). It reflects on the work of maintaining cultural infrastructure, caring for artists and audiences, and making decisions amid uncertainty.
INTERVIEW
“Closed Until Further Notice”—Keeping a Tehran Art Institution Alive During Wartime
Interviewer: Parham Ghalamdar
Interviewee: Hamidreza Pejman
Published by MERIP, issue 319
20 August 2026
Read the interview: https://www.merip.org/2026/08/closed-until-further-notice-keeping-a-tehran-art-institution-alive-during-wartime
