Press Release:                                                                                      August 3, 2007

 

IRAQI ARTISTS ASSOCIATION (IAA)

An Organization that Promotes Iraqi Artists

 

Artists, through the universal language of art, have an important role to play in our future. Artists help bring about further awareness of their culture and encourage a better understanding among people from all around the world, paving the way for tolerance and peace.

For artists, however, to use their utmost creativity, they need a home and a community that encourages their freedom of expression and provides them with support.

This has been an objective of a number of Iraqi and Iraqi-American artists living in the United States (Michigan), who are active in various fields as visual artists, writers, composers and filmmakers. After months of discussion and planning, these notable artists of Iraqi ancestry have recently (July 2007) formed and registered the Iraqi Artists Association (IAA). The organization will be a great resource for Iraqi artists of all religious and ethnic backgrounds living in the homeland and ever more increasingly, in diaspora communities.

The Iraqi Artists Association (IAA) is a non-profit organization (501) (C) (3) dedicated to expanding opportunities and exposure for Iraqi artists worldwide, while serving as a unifying center for community information and interaction. Through the arts, we seek to broaden an appreciation for Iraq’s rich history and culture, and thus, foster understanding between the east and the west. With so many social, political and religious issues regarding Iraq and Iraqis happening on a daily basis, it has become absolutely essential to create an organization that addresses a neglected though highly compelling part of that world – art.

 

Founding Board