Summary
The Evolution of Simorgh: Re-forming Collective Identity
"Simorgh in the 21st Century," serves as an imagined contemporary follow-up to Farid ud-Din Attar’s 1177 Persian masterpiece, "Conference of the Birds." In classical Iranian mythology, the Simorgh is a benevolent hybrid healer. In Attar's Sufi text, the word Simorgh literalizes as thirty (si) birds (morgh), revealing that the divine protector the birds seek is actually the realization of their own collective unity.
For the modern Iranian diaspora, this project serves as a vital framework for cultural healing, transforming experiences of displacement into opportunities for shared restoration. Rather than dwelling on historical fragmentation, "Simorgh in the 21st Century" literalizes the process of cultural reclamation. By inviting seven distinct diaspora storytellers—each specifically anchoring one of the seven spiritual valleys of the Sufi path (Quest, Love, Knowledge, Detachment, Unity, Wonderment, and Poverty/Nothingness)—the project builds a focused, sequential collective framework. This collaboration directly mirrors the core philosophy of Saadi Shirazi’s "Bani Adam"—the understanding that humans are limbs of one interconnected body. The project celebrates the endurance of cultural identity. By transforming individual vulnerabilities into a synchronized artistic community through these seven transformative stages, the work demonstrates how a dispersed culture reforms, reclaims its heritage, and heals as one.
Stories about a large flying creature span 8000 years.
She is called Zhū Quèin in China,
Suzaku in Japan,
Jujak in Korea,
Chu Tước in Vietnam,
The Greek have the Griffin,
who is comparable to Homa of the Persians.
In our story she is called Simorgh.
In the sacred book of Zoroastrians,
she is described as having the head and wings of an eagle,
the body of a lion and tail of a peacock.
As our relationship to the Devine changed,
so did our image of Simorgh.
But no matter when, where or what,
and called by any other name,
she is always BEAUTIFUL and BENEVOLENT,
able to heal man and purify nature
with her magical tail feathers.
and by humanity against Nature have been relentless.
She is burnt black from the constant barrage
and plucked out of magical feathers.
The Devine must divide.
will we loose our empathy
and begin to fear each "other."?
