Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving is approaching, and as always, I thank everyone around me—I love and appreciate you very much.
I thank my entire family and my parents for giving me life, raising me, and educating me.
I thank God for His wisdom and love for us.
I thank the land on which I stand today, which has given me shelter and helped me. I thank once again those people who are around me at this time and are my support, my encouragement, and the inspiration for my work.

Last week I was lucky enough to be among the participants of the festival NUIT BLANCHE TORONTO 2025.

Besides a sleepless night, a surge of emotions from the huge number of art installations and meeting the artists themselves, I still have an orange volunteer cap.

I was lucky enough to spend the night not far from me, in Humber Collage’s location.

Who was with me in this location? Tell me about yourself, write. I think you liked everything that happened there that night. I had the brightest and darkest red place. This is a beautiful installation by a wonderful Iranian artist, a professor at the University of Toronto, NILOO INALOUEI.

The installation was called Woven Words and carried the connection from the Global South to Turtle Island,conducted communication by fragments from contemporary Iranian poetry by filling .

Those who came to this location could touch the tightly woven fabric scraps that hung smoothly from the ceiling, find lovingly written poetic lines, and walk through them, feeling a connection with themselves. It was the most sensitive, tender, and pleasant location.

We were helped to create this beauty by the warm autumn weather outside, the huge number of Toronto residents interested in culture and art, and the wonderful aura that surrounded us.

Interesting East

In the piggy bank of every artist, if he constantly works, collection after collection is created and this is not just a bunch of paintings.
I don’t stop being interested in trying a new style or getting carried away by some direction: everything is interesting to me: painting and decorative arts, ceramics and mosaics. And I want to get acquainted with everything and learn it manually. I really love the society of artists and always welcome new acquaintances. A few days ago such an acquaintance took place thanks to the society in which I am.

Her name is Meryam Ashan, a beautiful Iranian name and she carries the personification of beauty and femininity. She also brought a bunch of her paintings to our meeting and showed them. Her style is the traditional Iranian style of creating miniatures. And when she showed her works, the artist from Pakistan just jumped with admiration, because this is a very popular artistic style of miniatures, known and traditional for the East (China, Pakistan, Iran and India).

Example of miniature

The style means the creation of miniature compositions united by one meaning. So, before us was a picture in which the artist herself is presented in the center, and around her there are cats in different poses. And they are all unique, bright and in different positions.

Persian tradition miniature from 19 c.

Her miniatures were beautiful. She stood up and walked over to the switched-on computer, typed in a page and showed her her first work.
The work was created in a graphic black and white style: an image of her, movement around her and a running horse nearby.
“This is a horse. This symbol has a very interesting meaning in Iranian mythology and I, as an artist, personify myself with a horse.”

The Persian horse has held a place of great prominence and prestige in Iranian culture throughout its rich history. Symbolising power, loyalty, and grace, these horses played a vital role in the ancient Persian empires.

Ancient Warriors and Horse Bas-Relief: A Testament to the Achaemenid Empire’s Military Prowess

It’s interesting to meet an artist this way.
You will agree that each artist, depicting his works, brings a special culture and traditions, plus a huge amount of knowledge accumulated over the years.