Shahrzad on Rocks
Visual Pray for Peace (2008)
One of my projects for IRUS art Intercultural Collaborative project, curated by Morehshin Allahyari
Photographer: Mohamad Hassan Ezatzadeh
The project is about Scheherazade (Shahrzad) myth, who is the heroine of the 1001 nights’ stories. She rescues people from the king’s oppression by only talking to him, telling stories about humanity, goodness, tolerance, and peace for 1001 nights, and finally cures his madness. So Shahrzad to me is the ancient Iranian/ Middle Eastern symbol of nonviolent resistance.
In this project, my goal was to draw Shahrzad on rocks and stone walls in public places, as many times as I can, as a prayer for peace. I used only temporary materials (water, mud, tea, coffee, chalk)
*IRUS art was an intercultural collaborative art project between the artists in Iran and the U.S. Morehshin Allayhari was the co-founder, organizer, and one of the artists of the project. For one year, 9 artists in Denver and 11 artists in Tehran, established collaborative projects.
“We were not only developing art but also participating in a functional dialogue with each other as artists and individuals (and not necessarily “nations”)”. A combination of painting, video art, drawings, photographs, software, street art, and design was featured in Denver at the Andenken Gallery in the spring of 2009. A selected version of this show was featured at the Co-Prosperity Sphere gallery in Chicago, January 2010.
For more information please check: http://www.morehshin.com/irus-art-project/
