Diaspora in Bloom to return for California show
The exhibition spotlighting contemporary Assyrian art will return in March to the gallery where it hosted its first showcase in 2019.
Yasmeen Altaji | Jan. 17, 2023
Diaspora in Bloom, an exhibition showcasing modern Assyrian works from artists in diaspora, will return this spring, organizers said this week.
The art show opens at Art Ark Gallery in downtown San Jose, Calif. in March, this time with a new multimedia exhibition honoring Akitu — the Assyrian springtime celebration of the new year — and the tagline: “The oldest party in the world.”
Now in its fourth year, Diaspora in Bloom aims to bring contemporary Assyrian art to gallery light, according to Akadina Yadegar and Nardin Sarkis, co-founders and co-curators of the program.
Sarkis said this year’s exhibition, featuring five new and returning artists, builds on a theme the curators had been eyeing for more than a year.
“We really try to keep Diaspora in Bloom like a celebration of our culture — something that's very positive and uplifting — and I think Assyrian New Year is one of our most celebratory holidays,” he said.
With this particular theme, he added, the event could serve to educate those beyond the Assyrian community.
“For our first exhibit most of the visitors were not Assyrian, and they learned so much about our culture,” Sarkis said. “We thought our Assyrian New Year and the fact that it is the oldest celebration in history is something exciting to share with the world.”
In ancient Mesopotamia, the Akitu festival began on the first of Nisan — April on the Gregorian calendar — marking the new year and the beginning of spring. Today, modern Assyrians celebrate with ancient lore and modern traditions.
“We thought our Assyrian New Year and the fact that it is the oldest celebration in history is something exciting to share with the world.”
The group held its first exhibition in 2019 at the same downtown San Jose gallery. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic prompted a virtual show leading viewers through a model art gallery equipped with a narrated tour, music, and other supplements. In 2022, Diaspora in Bloom hosted traveling pop-ups at the Assyrian National Conference in Washington, D.C. and at an Assyrian Arts Institute-sponsored booth at the Assyrian American National Convention in Arizona. This year’s show will be the group’s second-ever independent and in-person event.
“We have the experience of our first show to really guide us,” Yadegar told The Word. “I think with our first show, it was really just us learning everything as we went and really leaning on the artists to kind of show us the ropes.”
Art and artists
Sarkis said that in their search for artists, he and Yadegar “ruminate on the theme, look for emerging artists that are creating contemporary art and kind of mull over their portfolios until we find artists that we're excited to exhibit.”
One such artist is Maryam Yousif, an Iraqi Canadian American artist who first exhibited with diaspora in Bloom virtually in 2020. She told The Word she’s working on three ceramic pieces for the show.
“It’s good to show our work and see where we fit in sort of the big picture of the art world,” she said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what the other artists are making and how our work will look together.”
Yousif will meld what she dubbed her “habibti” character with her takes on ceramic handbags and serving trays at the exhibition.
“It makes me think of how much I grew up with trays for chai and desserts and serving guests with trays, except I’m serving my artwork in it,” she said. “I think that’s gonna be fun to show.”
“It’s good to show our work and see where we fit in sort of the big picture of the art world.”
Featured artists Atra Givarkes, Esther Elia, Rabel Betshmuel and Romane Iskaria will also showcase their own variety of media, according to Yadegar. Works will include paintings, sculpture, photography and video.
“We ourselves personally wanted to feel more represented in gallery spaces as Assyrians in diaspora,” Yadegar said. “I think it resonated with a lot of people. And that was really valuable and life changing in a lot of ways.”
Yadegar and Sarkis maintain that Assyrian art should live on as more than ancient history.
“I think it's really important that Assyrians can walk into a gallery and experience their culture in a way that isn't always what they see when they go to museums and galleries,” Yadegar said.
A new model
While the group’s first exhibit relied on crowdfunding, this year’s show will sell tickets on a sponsorship model. Each $70 ticket to the opening night reception, according to Yadegar, will help cover the costs of the exhibition itself. Artists, meanwhile, will earn a “gallery commission,” wherein each individual featured artist and Diaspora in Bloom share profits from work sold at the show in a 60% and 40% split, respectively.
“I think it’s really important that Assyrians can walk into a gallery and experience their culture in a way that isn’t always what they see when they go to museums and galleries.”
Costs include transportation of art, opening night entertainment, and gallery upkeep throughout the duration of the exhibit, according to Yadegar. She said she the organization is on its way to becoming a nonprofit.
“I think we wanted people to be able to donate really comfortably,” she said. “Hopefully we will be [a registered nonprofit] by the time of the show, but the the process is taking a little longer than we thought it would.”
What’s next
Yadegar and Sarkis, both Bay Area natives, hope to reach beyond their hometown.
“I think we would really love to do more shows in other cities [where] there are large Assyrian populations,” Yadegar said.
Yousif looks forward to a longer-term cultural impact.
“I hope that people take away just how incredible our history is,” Yousif said. “Assyrian artists are here and they’re contemporary and very much making important work.”
The exhibition will run from March 18 to April 8.