A CONVERSATION ON RACE & IDENTITY” AT LH HORTON JR GALLERY February 22 – March 16, 2018 Artists’ works explore topics from their personal cultural heritage, and how socially constructed “realities” have shaped and often misinformed our perspective of various ethnic groups. Works also speak to significant cultural traditions, such as the textile Japanese fishing jacket by John D. Konno. In addition, works are also derived from culturally based literature, such as the beautiful

I was born in Tehran, Iran in 1985 in the middle of the Iran- Iraq war and during the huge political changes in the country. I grew up with poetry and stories that my parents were reading to me to keep me calm and avoid the stresses caused by the war. One of my favorite stories that my dad was readying to me was about a bird named Simorgh. Simorgh is a mythical bird in Iranian mythology and literature, which is repeated in two important literature books of Iran Shahnameh (The