Story of an orphanage turned into a museum
The Kerman Museum of Contemporary Art (San’ati Museum) has been recognized as the second best visual museum in Iran, after the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.
The museum houses a spectacular collection of contemporary Iranian and international art. It displays works by artists such as Kamal-ol-Molk, Parviz Tanavoli, Sohrab Sepehri, Ali Akbar Yasemi, Wassily Kandinsky, Tom Phillips, Auguste Rodin, and Henry Moore.
Apart from its artistic value, the museum is reminiscent of selflessness and philanthropic spirit of a benefactor named Ali-Akbar San’ati.
Over 100 years ago, San’ati decided to build an orphanage in Kerman to alleviate the plight of homeless children and orphans.
San’ati did his outmost to construct the orphanage. He had to sell half of his house to fund the construction of the project.
The orphanage was not restricted to providing children with food and a place to sleep. The orphanage was in fact a school, where literature, ethics, religious lessons and agriculture were taught. As a result, it gained such a high status that ordinary families were encouraged to send their children there to receive an education.
Saeed was one of the kids who lived in the orphanage. He was born in Kerman in 1916 and lost his father at the age of four. His mother was forced to send him to the orphanage when he was seven years old. His talent for painting was evident in childhood.
Discovering Saeed’s talent, Ali-Akbar San’ati sent him to the Kamal-ol-Molk School in Tehran where he learned painting with master painters Abolhassan Sediqi, Ali-Mohammad Heydarian, Hossein Khan Sheikhi and Ali Rokhsar. He is remembered as one of the greatest contemporary Iranian artists who created more than 1,000 paintings and 400 sculptures. He is also known for depicting morality and affliction of people in his works. As a sign of gratitude for the director of the orphanage, Saeed changed his name to Ali-Akbar (after Ali-Akbar San’ati).
Children like Saeed who had no custodian at the orphanage shared the family name of San’ati (the surname of the founder of the orphanage) to avoid registration problems at school.
He later returned to the orphanage in Kerman to teach children.
Children were kept and educated at the orphanage until the mid-1970s. At that time, Homayoun, the custodian of the orphanage and grandson of Ali-Akbar San’ati, decided to modernize it.
Consequently, a new building was constructed close to the old structure and children were transferred there.
Homayoun, who was interested in art, turned the old building into a museum, which is now known as the Kerman Museum of Contemporary Art (San’ati Museum).