Iranian artist Farnaz Khosh-Sirat’s name in Farsi means “transcending beauty.” She said her art, like her name, strives to transcend her lived experience as a person who is far away from home.
Born and raised in Kuwait, Khosh-Sirat said she was always homesick for Iran. That feeling intensified in 2009 when she moved to the U.S. for art school. She said she coped by creating art centering Iran.
“Through my art, I’ve tried to bridge this connection to Iran, no matter where I am in the world, because it’s a very heavy sense of home that I crave,” she said.
She painted her latest creation, a tulip mural at the Multicultural Center, throughout the week of April 12.
The project culminated in the “Among the Tulips” concert and mixer hosted by Multicultural Student Affairs on April 17. She also gave an Iranian setar and vocal music performance at the event.
Weinberg sophomore and Persian Student Organization Co-President Sepehr Khavari attended Khosh-Sirat’s concert.
“Having that chance to see there was intention behind every single aspect of her artwork was something that was amazing,” he said.
The event was organized by Multicultural Center Assistant Director Aliah Ajamoughli — who has a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology — alongside PSO in recognition of Persian Heritage Month, observed in March.
Painted with the assistance of artist Azadeh Khastoo, the mural depicts a vivid orange tulip rising beneath a sun-like glow, framed by an arched border that echoes traditional Iranian architectural motifs.
Although Northwestern is home to her first public tulip mural, Khosh-Sirat said she hopes to paint these murals all over the world in honor of Iranians.
Soft washes of green and blue fill the background of the mural. On the adjacent wall is Farsi script from a Persian poem titled “Grieving Tulip” by Mohammad-Hossein Behjat Tabrizi, known as Shahriar.
Khosh-Sirat said the tulip traces back to an ancient Persian tale in which a prince throws himself off a cliff after his father, the king, falsely told him that his true love had died.
A phrase in the tale, “For every youth that dies, a tulip rises” has grown to represent not only the prince’s resilience and love, Khosh-Sirat said, but many young people’s love for Iran and resilience against the current regime.
Khosh-Sirat said all people killed by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, an authoritarian regime, are not forgotten for what they died for: a free Iran.
She described the experience of being Iranian today as “strange,” especially when the news doesn’t reflect the severity of recent protests in Iran against the regime.
At the concert, Khosh-Sirat performed five Persian songs that echoed the themes embedded in her artwork and her Iranian experience.
“It’s a human right, and it’s definitely an aspect of being human, to be able to sing,” she said.
Her opening pieces, performed in a minor scale, centered on grief and loss. One referenced a well-known lyric, “from the blood of the youth, a tulip has grown.”
Another song, a Kurdish lullaby, connected to the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement that emerged following the death of Mahsa Amini, also known as Zhina Amini. She was a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman whom Iran’s morality police tortured and killed in September 2022 for violating the strict hijab law.
Khosh-Sirat said she aimed to blend themes of mourning with resistance. As an Iranian woman, she said music is important to her.
“The quietening of women’s voices is something that’s always been a sore spot to me because I have that connection to music and the voice,” she said.
Other songs drew from classical Persian poetry, including works by Hafez, emphasizing themes of grievance and the necessity of love and friendship.
Khosh-Sirat said it was critical to end the performance with “a blossom of hope,” represented by a song in major scale. She cited hope as a reason Iranians “will never be defeated.”
As the concert’s organizer, Ajamoughli said she hopes students, specifically Southwest Asian and North African students, feel like they have a “place of belonging, and especially with ongoing violence in our communities overseas.”
Still, she said the event was not only for SWANA students, but the greater NU community.
“I also want all of our students across all of Northwestern to see the human in our community and the connection to their own,” Ajamoughli said. “Many of the students that we serve have experienced the loss that comes with war and violence, either in their homeland, or here in the United States.”
Iranians were also moved by Khosh-Sirat’s artwork. During the concert, Khastoo said she hoped “to honor the people in Iran who are actually fighting.” After the concert, she added that she hoped that people will truly talk to Iranians and believe in their experiences.
The concert was meaningful for both attendees and Khosh-Sirat herself.
She said beyond finding art making “soothing,” she believes art has the ability to move people both personally and politically.
Above all, Khosh-Sirat said she hopes for a free Iran and remains confident that day will come.
“As voiceless as they may be right now, Persians have a very stubborn voice,” she said. “It’s very inspiring to see it. As an Iranian, it makes me very proud.”
The mural is slated to remain in the MCC for the time being, Ajamoughli said.
For now, Khosh-Sirat said she plans to continue using her art and voice to advocate for that freedom, aiming to be a voice for those without one.
“How nice would it be to see my country dance for joy, and for them to be allowed to dance,” Khosh-Sirat said.
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