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Iran. The name has a full set of suggestions within our society today.

It has become inevitable to associate the country with the discords of today’s world, yet there are many other stories to be said including life, literature, music, art, etc. Let Iran’s House of Art tell these stories in hopes of providing a more realistic image to serve as a bridge uniting people.

Iran’s house of Art is a University of Minnesota affiliated, non-profit organization, taking steps towards opening new avenues for people to understand Iran. It is never claimed that what is brought to you through the activities of this group are all-encompassing or complete portrayals of the aesthetics of Iran. They are rather a glimpse over what is indeed a vast world which is a product of talent, human communication, emotions, family bonds, lifestyles, geography, history, need, spirituality, and most certainly, human complexity. Therefore, to all of you visiting us today: welcome home. Since talent, human communication, emotions, family bonds, lifestyles, geography, history, need, spirituality, and human complexity are distinct to no specific group of people. These are areas within which we can come together; we can merge.

To portray this idea, Iran’s house of Art has taken up, as its 2007-2008 academic year project, the Merge Series.

Merge is a series of enlightening events that focus on a number of different art realms brought together. The concept is not only to merge two different styles or realms of art, but also to merge as human beings. It is about finding common grounds and cherishing them.

The first of the Merge series, Merge: Harmony of Mystic Words, was held on November 10th. The event brought together a number of gracious calligraphy pieces completed by master Sina Goudarzi and the soothing Tar performance of Amirhossein Kiani. The second event of the series, Merge: Glimpse, was also held successfully on February 10th. This two-parted event presented a condensed portrayal of Iran's classical music through performing selected works of Masters Hossein Alizadeh, Mohammad Reza Shajarian, and Mohammad Reza Lotfi. Contemporary works of fusion by artists such as Davood Azad and Mohsen Namjoo was played on the second part of the concert.

Once again, welcome home.