Salma Arastu: Myth and Mystery

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

The Himalayan region-often referred to as the "roof of the world," has traditionally been considered a domain where time stands still. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of CIIS, we took the opportunity to examine the crises and aspirations of the present moment, and the parallels with those in which we found ourselves in 1968. We sought contemporary artistic parallels for the seeking that fueled the founding of CIIS; what emerged were two central threads. One of two exhibitions that mark the 50th anniversary of California Institute of Integral Studies, is Salma Arastu's Myth and Mystery, an inquiry that looks across faith traditions to find coherence and continuity, where for too much of history, humans have focused on difference, denying the dignity of those whose practices look different than their own. The paintings in this exhibition are selected from two sequential bodies of work in which Arastu refers to modernist color field paintings, while using lyrical, calligraphic text in multiple languages to point eloquently to beliefs shared globally across faith traditions.

Exhibition event:

My Journey from Meera Bai to Rumi: In Search of Eternal Love: A collaboration with Naina Shastri
Desai | Matta Gallery
Saturday, May 5, 6:30PM - 8:30PM