Photo by:
Recent DU graduate Moreshin Allahyari is not a fan of art bound by borders.
The 24-year-old art major recently organized a show that brought together artists of Iran and the United States to emphasize the importance of cultural awareness.
Allahyari is heading to Columbia University in the fall to complete her master of fine arts. The Tehran, Iran native moved to Denver after meeting communications professor Lynn Clarke at a conference in Iran. She was offered a scholarship to DU and moved to Denver to pursue her masters of arts degree in digital media studies.
Allahyari has a bachelor of science in communication and media studies from the University of Tehran. She uses this background as an inspiration for her artwork.
“I am really interested in identity crisis and the cultural and media studies of everyday life,” she said.
Allahyari debuted her brainchild art exhibit “Dialogues” in March at Andenken Gallery on Larimer Street. The show included works made by teams of artists from Iran and the United States. The community of artists from Denver would begin works and then send them to Iran for completion and Iranian artists did the same. Allahyari led the American team and then asked Persian artist Negin Ehtesabian to lead the Iranian team.
“We are an art community interested in breaking down the cultural stereotypes of Muslims and Middle East. We wanted to make art without seeing each other as members of nations but as individuals and human beings,” Allahyari said.
The show was given grants from the Morgridge Community Scholars and the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning and included paintings, drawings, video art, software, street art and design. The project aimed to emphasize the acceptance of the differing cultures without conveying a political message.
“We wanted to be sensitive to political issues and instead seek to have an open dialogue about culture. We started to see trust and respect as a very important part of intercultural relations, ” Allahyari said.
Through Internet communication by blogs for six months the artists were able to begin relationships that would lead to the products of the IRUS Interactive Collabrative Art Show. The project required artists in both countries to trust each other and believe that their own artwork would be added to respectfully.
For the show, Allahyari collaborated on two pieces, a photo exhibit that displayed body language that does not exist in in Iran along with an animated interactive piece.
The lack of an official diplomatic relationship between the United States and Iran created obstacles for the artists. To combat mailing complications, Allahyari employed the services of her family members and friends to help carry the artwork over boarders and mail more than 200 works between Turkey and the United States.
“My family was extremely supportive, I do not know how we could have completed the project without them,” she said.
Currently, Allahyari is planning her trip to Iran where she hopes to put on a second IRUS show.
“Repeating this will help us understand more than just what we hear about one another,” she stated.
