1. Art has a profound ability to empower and endow the voiceless with resonance. Art is capable of educating the
uninformed and healing the wounded spirit. 30Voices is a non-profit organization devoted to raising awareness of
domestic abuse against Iranian women by establishing a community of experienced and aspiring artists eager to
share their candid visions of love, heartbreak and resurrection.
Call for Submissions 2014
“Yar Mehrban” (kind sweetheart)
30Voices is calling female Iranian artists from around the world to submit their inspired interpretation of archetype
“Yar Mehrban” (kind sweetheart) from Ferdowsi’s epic poem Shahnameh for a virtual (no need for the physical work)
exhibition on March 8th, 2014,in honor of International Women’s Day.
Eligible work includes, but not limited to: music, painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, ceramics, mixed media, installation, conceptual art, poetry, prose, short plays and short films.
30Voices hopes to inspire, empower and invite a conversation about Ferdowsi’s sweetheart. To learn her story and be
inspired by her. Please send your interpretation of
“Yare Mehraban” no later than
Feb, 12th 2014
No submission fee is required.
By visiting our site www.30Voices.org, you can fill out our submission form and/or mail images and videos on DVD to:
14320 Ventura Blvd. #442- Sherman Oaks Ca, 91423.
Submission Guidelines:
-Short CV with artist photo
-A cover letter describing the submitted piece/s
-Artwork title, dimension, date, material used
-Not more than 3 images for paintings, photography, mixed media and sculpture
-Link to any and all videos made about and by the artist
-Website address and contact information
Shahnameh nurtures in its verses the story of prominent female characters such as Faranak,Sindokht, Gordafarid, and
Tahmineh to name a few. While each heroine exemplifies a different virtue such courage, wisdom, honor, compassion
and tenderness, they all serve as major catalysts for change and progression within the epic poem.
Yar Mehrban ( Kind Sweetheart)
Estranged from asleep, and during a night of gloom and nostalgia, the master poet Ferdowsi wishes to drink wine and
spend the night in the company of that gentle soul, under the fainting light of the candle. What is of importance is
that Shahnameh is the outcome of that faithful night when that gentle soul, his kind sweetheart, advises Ferdowsi to
compose the legendary Pahlavi myths into metrical forms.
Based on what this canto suggests—and if we consider that the references to solar and stars alignments are more than
mere poetic eloquence—the time of the composition falls somewhere in the ending hours of one early summer night,
in a solar calendar, and on the twenty fifth to twenty seventh night of the month, in a lunar calendar. However, the exact
date can be reached through a computer-generated reconstruction of the celestial.
30Voices seeks work from both established and aspiring new artists compelled to explore their voice and imagination.
30Voices is a not for-profit, non-political, non-religious organization dedicated to the promotion of Iranian women's
art. 30Voices hopes to show the depth and diversity of Iranian women, their art, and their accomplishments to inspire,
empower and awaken the female energy within.
For more information: info@30Voices.org
Break the silence / Stop the violence