from the some artist that created the artshow prayer books on display, now comes the fight for human rights of Bahá'ís in iran.
the project everyone deserves human rights "... is a project that inspired 1,500+ people from around the globe to take a picture with a poster that speaks about the persecution of Baha'is in Iran. The pictures were then brought together as a symbol of collective unity and used to create a sculptural piece of body armour."
it's an incredibly cool project which I think will be able to affect a lot of people all around the world. here is the artist's statement:
It has become an unnatural reaction in this day and age to be desensitized when one watches the destruction and catastrophic daily events that take place in the world. The individual subconsciously justifies what they see by simply accepting it as the world we live in. Artists have the ability to shape our thoughts and ideologies. I think now more than ever that it is a very exciting time to be a contemporary artist and use the creative thought for the betterment of humanity. Artists can create awareness through contemporary art about the turbulent times we live in, the issues and problems that plague the world collectively.
We live in a time when there are constant advances in communication technologies that open broad avenues of interaction among the planet's diverse populations. Artists should use this global communication and diversity of the world's people as a tool to express the arts. I have used the power of the internet and e-mail to create a global network of the world’s people—a demographically diverse group have thereby come together to participate in this world wide artists’ collective. I believe that Fine Art should not be coined as high art and alienate the majority of society who cannot intellectually understand it at an educated level, but instead encourage the masses that art can be used to move the hearts and change the minds of men. I believe by encouraging this project, I am giving the participants the chance to see that even though they are not artists they can all contribute to the arts and be apart of this ever evolving history of art. No matter what work of art and of what culture, it is a living teacher of mankind's evolutionary development. Art can influence society; art can spark social, intellectual and educational revolutions of thinking.
I embarked on an internet based project, via Facebook. I created a network page were I created awareness about the issue of human rights violations, injustice and persecution. I directed it to a specific minority group. The group is the Bahá’í community which is being oppressed and persecuted by the fanatical regime governing Iran.
I left it open for anyone who was on Facebook to join my world wide collective and participate in this project, in collaboration with me. To this date, nearly 1000 people have joined the group and I have received over 1500 photographs from around the world from people who are concerned about the injustice and human rights violations directed at the Persian Bahá’í community in Iran. I wanted to create an artwork and art movement that is directly addressing social change and reform—the world’s people cannot go by and just let injustice prevail in the world. We need to educate ourselves, our friends, our colleagues, co-workers, family members, and communities on the local, national and international levels about the issues and problems that plague this turbulent world, from domestic family problems to the world problems.
We as individuals cannot get comfortable with our material lives but instead should be seeking to better our world. Art is a reflection of society and if society needs social change, then art should depict and inspire social change within its ideas. I have made a body armour out of the 1500 photographs that I have received, which comments at the injustices directed towards the Bahá’í community in Iran. No matter how much they are being persecuted, the entire world is protecting them and supporting them in the spirit of justice and love as symbolized by the armour. Their efforts to apply the Teachings of their Faith into actions of spiritual and social development that are conducive to the prosperity of their people and homeland are not forgotten by the peoples of the world, and in fact, we are with them in spirit, praying for them and protecting them.
The most distinctive aspect of this artwork is not necessarily the 1500 photographs of people holding up signs or the aesthetics of the armour. The artwork already took place through the conversations that have been taking place creating awareness about the persecution of Bahá’í in Iran. It is the individuals from around the world making a conscious decision to participate and thereby educating their friends, families, co-workers, associates and strangers about the persecution, injustice and oppression that plague our world. The conversation is the artwork and the photographs of them holding the sign is a documentation and acknowledgement of that event in time. It was a worldwide collaboration of hundreds and hundreds of people. The participants then sent me the documentation photographs of people holding the signs; I then made them into body armour. The body armour thereby becomes a symbol of a time based event that happened over a course of eight weeks around the entire world.
In essence, I have used modern age technology to communicate an idea of collective unity, justice and human rights through contemporary art.
Shahriar Asdollah-zadeh, 2008
the project everyone deserves human rights "... is a project that inspired 1,500+ people from around the globe to take a picture with a poster that speaks about the persecution of Baha'is in Iran. The pictures were then brought together as a symbol of collective unity and used to create a sculptural piece of body armour."
it's an incredibly cool project which I think will be able to affect a lot of people all around the world. here is the artist's statement:
It has become an unnatural reaction in this day and age to be desensitized when one watches the destruction and catastrophic daily events that take place in the world. The individual subconsciously justifies what they see by simply accepting it as the world we live in. Artists have the ability to shape our thoughts and ideologies. I think now more than ever that it is a very exciting time to be a contemporary artist and use the creative thought for the betterment of humanity. Artists can create awareness through contemporary art about the turbulent times we live in, the issues and problems that plague the world collectively.
We live in a time when there are constant advances in communication technologies that open broad avenues of interaction among the planet's diverse populations. Artists should use this global communication and diversity of the world's people as a tool to express the arts. I have used the power of the internet and e-mail to create a global network of the world’s people—a demographically diverse group have thereby come together to participate in this world wide artists’ collective. I believe that Fine Art should not be coined as high art and alienate the majority of society who cannot intellectually understand it at an educated level, but instead encourage the masses that art can be used to move the hearts and change the minds of men. I believe by encouraging this project, I am giving the participants the chance to see that even though they are not artists they can all contribute to the arts and be apart of this ever evolving history of art. No matter what work of art and of what culture, it is a living teacher of mankind's evolutionary development. Art can influence society; art can spark social, intellectual and educational revolutions of thinking.
I embarked on an internet based project, via Facebook. I created a network page were I created awareness about the issue of human rights violations, injustice and persecution. I directed it to a specific minority group. The group is the Bahá’í community which is being oppressed and persecuted by the fanatical regime governing Iran.
I left it open for anyone who was on Facebook to join my world wide collective and participate in this project, in collaboration with me. To this date, nearly 1000 people have joined the group and I have received over 1500 photographs from around the world from people who are concerned about the injustice and human rights violations directed at the Persian Bahá’í community in Iran. I wanted to create an artwork and art movement that is directly addressing social change and reform—the world’s people cannot go by and just let injustice prevail in the world. We need to educate ourselves, our friends, our colleagues, co-workers, family members, and communities on the local, national and international levels about the issues and problems that plague this turbulent world, from domestic family problems to the world problems.
We as individuals cannot get comfortable with our material lives but instead should be seeking to better our world. Art is a reflection of society and if society needs social change, then art should depict and inspire social change within its ideas. I have made a body armour out of the 1500 photographs that I have received, which comments at the injustices directed towards the Bahá’í community in Iran. No matter how much they are being persecuted, the entire world is protecting them and supporting them in the spirit of justice and love as symbolized by the armour. Their efforts to apply the Teachings of their Faith into actions of spiritual and social development that are conducive to the prosperity of their people and homeland are not forgotten by the peoples of the world, and in fact, we are with them in spirit, praying for them and protecting them.
The most distinctive aspect of this artwork is not necessarily the 1500 photographs of people holding up signs or the aesthetics of the armour. The artwork already took place through the conversations that have been taking place creating awareness about the persecution of Bahá’í in Iran. It is the individuals from around the world making a conscious decision to participate and thereby educating their friends, families, co-workers, associates and strangers about the persecution, injustice and oppression that plague our world. The conversation is the artwork and the photographs of them holding the sign is a documentation and acknowledgement of that event in time. It was a worldwide collaboration of hundreds and hundreds of people. The participants then sent me the documentation photographs of people holding the signs; I then made them into body armour. The body armour thereby becomes a symbol of a time based event that happened over a course of eight weeks around the entire world.
In essence, I have used modern age technology to communicate an idea of collective unity, justice and human rights through contemporary art.
Shahriar Asdollah-zadeh, 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment