Simorgh in the cage

#memories from #2017
what emotions and feelings #indigenous and people of #colors are experiencing with their #bodies and their #soul.
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In the summer of 2017 while I was MFA student in #California #college of #art #Donald #Trump Signed an Executive Order that banned seven Muslim countries from entering the USA. The US #Supreme #Court has upheld a ban by President Donald Trump on travel to the #US from seven countries: #NorthKorea, #Syria, #Iran, #Yemen, #Libya, #Somalia, and #Chad.
As an Iranian artist, I was one of the people affected by this order.
I want able to take a study abroad classes and that summer while as my classmate went to #France, #Germany, #Japan, and #China to study overseas.
I felt alone and heartbroken, and I was so sad that I couldn’t take any of these classes. And I was thinking about other people that they have been affected by this order.what are their struggles and how we can #resist?
I revised the Simorgh project during the continuing debate over the #Muslim travel ban, which applied to seven countries and coincidentally referenced Attar’s seven valleys. And I presented” Simorgh in the cage” at Betweenscapes #exhibition in Somarts curated by Kathy Zarur and Roula Seikaly.
Simorgh in the #cage features seven amplified #birdhouses that emit bird songs commonly heard in each of the #seven impacted countries while indicating the seven valleys in Attar’s #story. It invites audiences to access the scape of the installation, an upward #spiral that suggests both journeying and ultimately, #unity. In this #installation, I chose International birds of these countries.
#Simorgh in the cage celebrate my #cultural #heritage and #Persian #poetry while uses the language of the #birds as a universal #language to address #Attar #poem and simultaneously #political difficulties that #immigrants are going through.