Detained Iranian-Canadian sculptor Parviz Tanavoli returns to Vancouver

Two weeks after Iranian officials inexplicably confiscated his passport, renowned sculptor Parviz Tanavoli is finally on a plane and heading home to Vancouver.

The 79-year-old, who holds dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship, is scheduled to arrive at Vancouver International Airport Monday afternoon on a Lufthansa flight from Tehran with a connection in Frankfurt — much to the relief of worried family and friends.

“Thank God the nightmare is over,” said his daughter Tandis Tanavoli Sunday, less than an hour after Tanavoli’s flight, which was delayed, took off from Tehran. 

“We’re relieved more than anything. We weren’t even sure if he was going to make it out tonight.”

Iranian-Canadian sculptor Parviz Tanavoli at the airport in Tehran just before boarding a flight to Frankfurt on Sunday, July 17.

It took several days for them to figure out the nature of the “disturbance,” said Tandis, who flew out to Tehran to help her father. 

There were concerns the allegations may have been related to his new book, European Women in Persian Houses, which depicts a woman with a nipple partly visible behind a robe. But the issue, as it turned out, wasn’t related to politics or censorship. 

“It was nothing like that. That would be the ministry of culture, and they were the first place we called, and they were the first to assure us it wasn’t them,” said Tandis. They checked with various authorities and “everybody was saying ‘it wasn’t us.'” 

Eventually, they learned the complaint stemmed from a woman who appeared to have a grudge against Tanavoli, and was trying to get him to give her some of his sculptures, said Tandis. The woman got someone she knows in Iran’s federal police to detain Tanavoli at the airport. 

When authorities looked into the case, they deemed the accusation bogus and dropped the charges. Tanavoli’s passport was returned to him Saturday. 

In an email written from the airport, the artist thanked his friends and supporters for helping him get through the “horrendous ordeal.” 

“Now that the dark days are over, I feel my path throughout this long journey has been worth it,” he wrote. “I heartily thank you all for your concerns and your support.”

Tanavoli, who splits his time between Canada and Iran, indicated that he has no hesitations about travelling to Iran in the future, where he mentors young artists and is busy preparing an exhibit featuring lions for next spring. 

Tanavoli’s works are displayed at the British Museum, the Tate Modern, and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. His sculpture The Wall fetched $2.8 million at Christie’s in 2008, the record for the most expensive work by a Middle East artist at auction.

During the ordeal, Tanavoli was barred from leaving the country, but was not in jail. Amid the uncertainty, he did what he did best, said Tandis. 

 “He worked. He stayed in his studio and he sculpted. He prepared two to three pieces for his upcoming exhibition. That’s my dad.”

Another Iranian-Canadian, Homa Hoofer, remains detained in Iran. The retired Concordia University professor health has been in jail since June 6. No reason has been given for her arrest.

chchan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/cherylchan

with files from Daphne Bramham