There is an old adage among the Kurdish people that goes, "No Friends but the Mountains."
It characterizes their experience of relations with regional neighbors, which is rooted in a single event - the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. That is when the French, British, and their allies divided up the Middle East, leaving the Kurdish people without land.
The purpose of this project was to form a collaboration of "friends," between US and Kurdish artists, and other contributors; to engage in various art initiatives to include wall murals, kite projects, and origami workshops with children in hardship situations around Kurdistan.
The intent was to create friendships, to cultivate cross-cultural learning, to support local artists, and to inspire hope through creativity and artistic expression among communities who need it most.
