Zakiria Tahirian is again displaying his work at the Home exhibition at the City Of Greater Dandenong's Walker Street Gallery.
The exhibition showcases art created by artists with refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, aiming to nurture and encourage each individual's practice. They have each lived in Australia for varying amounts of time, already making significant impacts on society.
Here, Zakiria Tahirian pens an open letter about finding a home away from home, and the messaging behind the work he's presenting in the exhibition.
“The journey of life starts everywhere, every second, with all of us always in search of different ways and paths to experience and explore.
I am still a beginner on this path and am always searching to find both new paths and to find myself. When I took my first step into the arts world, for someone with a relatively small amount of knowledge, I had a pretty large ego! Now that I am a more experienced practicing artist, I know that I am a drop in an ocean.
My journey from Quetta, Pakistan started with a suitcase full of colours and canvases. Through time, I have learnt so much, and yet I still don’t know anything! I always try, in every possible way, to reach the destiny that I am after, to find myself and expand my knowledge and this has come through my discovery of the miniature world, a style that flourished in Afghanistan in the 15th century. For the past seven years, with the practicing of Persian and Mughal miniature style works, I have reached the satisfaction of self. After many tries to learn and discover what it is that I want, what I need and what brings me peace, I find calmness and peace in the making of my own paper, brushes and colours.
I moved to Australia two and a half years ago. On my third day in Melbourne, I walked out of home to find Home, and I did. I stepped into Dandenong’s art world and I found Walker Street Gallery. When I entered the building, I found different kinds of artworks that were different to what I was expecting. After spending some time crafting my own practice, I applied for the Home exhibition in 2017 and, unexpectedly for me, was accepted.
From then on, I have been involved in facilitating many workshops as well as doing murals and exhibiting more broadly in Greater Dandenong.
Home 2019 is also a great opportunity to be part of, as I’m showing my artworks to the public with different ideas and techniques that I use for presenting my thoughts and feelings of being away from my motherland home and finding a new or alternative home. One where I can breathe peacefully, but still a part of me is missing my motherland, both through the memories I carry, or through those left behind.
The series of untitled artworks that I’m putting into the exhibition this year are all about my experience of being here. The series explores the changes, challenges, and confusion that I have experienced throughout this journey. As well as ink and gold leaf, I use invisible ink in my artworks to highlight that we are carrying so many things that people cannot see, unless they shine a light (a UV blue or red light) and look deeper.”
I am still a beginner on this path and am always searching to find both new paths and to find myself. When I took my first step into the arts world, for someone with a relatively small amount of knowledge, I had a pretty large ego! Now that I am a more experienced practicing artist, I know that I am a drop in an ocean.
My journey from Quetta, Pakistan started with a suitcase full of colours and canvases. Through time, I have learnt so much, and yet I still don’t know anything! I always try, in every possible way, to reach the destiny that I am after, to find myself and expand my knowledge and this has come through my discovery of the miniature world, a style that flourished in Afghanistan in the 15th century. For the past seven years, with the practicing of Persian and Mughal miniature style works, I have reached the satisfaction of self. After many tries to learn and discover what it is that I want, what I need and what brings me peace, I find calmness and peace in the making of my own paper, brushes and colours.
I moved to Australia two and a half years ago. On my third day in Melbourne, I walked out of home to find Home, and I did. I stepped into Dandenong’s art world and I found Walker Street Gallery. When I entered the building, I found different kinds of artworks that were different to what I was expecting. After spending some time crafting my own practice, I applied for the Home exhibition in 2017 and, unexpectedly for me, was accepted.
Untitled by Zakiria Tahirian, ink and gold on paper, 2019
From then on, I have been involved in facilitating many workshops as well as doing murals and exhibiting more broadly in Greater Dandenong.
Home 2019 is also a great opportunity to be part of, as I’m showing my artworks to the public with different ideas and techniques that I use for presenting my thoughts and feelings of being away from my motherland home and finding a new or alternative home. One where I can breathe peacefully, but still a part of me is missing my motherland, both through the memories I carry, or through those left behind.
The series of untitled artworks that I’m putting into the exhibition this year are all about my experience of being here. The series explores the changes, challenges, and confusion that I have experienced throughout this journey. As well as ink and gold leaf, I use invisible ink in my artworks to highlight that we are carrying so many things that people cannot see, unless they shine a light (a UV blue or red light) and look deeper.”
