The solo exhibition, "Celebration of the Art of Calligraphy: Messages of Peace and Reassurance" features the rhythmic paintings of Salma Arastu. Her current body of work explores the continuous and lyrical line of Arabic calligraphy and Islamic patterns influenced by both her native culture and the universal teachings of the Quran.
An artist reception is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 21 at the MBAW Art Gallery. The exhibition continues through Aug. 20.
Born into the Sindhi, Hindu tradition in India, she later lived in Iran and Kuwait, and embraced Islam through marriage. Her paintings, sculptures, and poetry speak of human universality, and have been greatly influenced by her travels.
“Both in theme and in technique, this project represents a new direction for me at this juncture of my career, enabling me to pursue my spirituality through my art," Arastu said. "Born in India as a Hindu, I am now Muslim residing in the United States; a unique position to express the unity of spirit that I feel.”
This March, Salma was invited to Morocco for a one-month artist residency through Green Olives Art Gallery. She has presented talks on her works at Stanford University, Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, Seattle University and Museum of Contemporary Religious Art in St. Louis, Missouri where she also had a successful solo exhibition in 2015. She was invited to Germany in the spring of 2011 to Westphalia Wilhelm University in Münster to publish her paper Art Informed by Spirituality in the publication at the International Symposium: God Loves Beauty: Post Modern Views on Religion and Art, and previously in 2000 for an artist residency
in the town of Schwäbisch Gmünd.
The Art Gallery of Musical Bridges Around the World continues the mission to unite, educate and inspire through culturally diverse programming by showcasing the works of established contemporary artists. Quarterly art openings bring the community together, where the collectors are offered an exclusive opportunity to acquire artwork and support our non-profit at the same time – the proceeds benefit MBAW programming directly.