Sharing Messages of Peace

U.S. Citizens Meet Iranian Artists in Rome, Italy

On December 5th, a group of USC4P&J members visited an exhibition of poster art by young Iranian artists (aged 20-30) on themes of peace. Entitled 'Roma – Teheran: percorsi di pace', the show at the Ostiense train station displays 52 works and runs through 15 December. It focuses on a theme that is particularly close to heart among a people that has suffered a long drawn-out war with Iraq and is now feeling the strain of repeated threats of attack from Western powers.

The exhibition was organized by the association Amici per la cittá, who had, by chance, seen the artwork on display in the Teheran Contemporary Art Museum during a trip to Iran. Struck by the creativity as well as the message, they worked to bring a part of that exhibition to Italy.

We met with the delegation of artists who travelled to Rome to speak about peace through the common language of visual art. They were also keen to speak directly with all those interested – whether high school students, peace activists, or casual visitors – and answer questions about their culture and views. In this way, they hoped to present a truer 'reality' of Iran, in contrast to stereotypical images presented by the media. With our visit, we also hoped to convey to them another 'reality' of the U.S. – one that is peace-seeking and rarely covered by the mass media.

To show our solidarity with their pursuit of peace and a fairer representation of their culture, we presented them with one of our ‘U.S. peace flags' upon which we had written messages for the Iranian people. This was met with great appreciation and many smiles, as the strong message of peace was also coupled with ‘creative design', echoing many of the posters on display!

See examples of the artwork.

Anna Farkas