Iranian refugees share art overseas through Skype.
Paintbrush Diplomacy and the Healing Art – ARMAN Project
Date: December 12, 2010
The project: Local Iranian refugees created art to share with Iranian refugees in Turkey through Skype.
Location: Firehouse North Gallery in Berkeley
On a Sunday morning at our Firehouse North location, we gathered ten American children from a local Iranian community to do an art project and shared their artwork with Iranian refuges in Turkey. We accomplished this instantaneous exchange by using Skype and projecting the children in Turkey onto a large screen on the wall. One of the adult refugees is an artist and he gave an art lesson to the children in the room in Berkeley. Each child had an opportunity to hold their artwork up in front of the computer in order to explain their drawings. Trauma Psychologist Maryam Alizadeh led this event, and she was able to bring both communities together through the universal language of art.
