Imagine by DOU SOURATI
Amman, May 2019
Visuals by Sören Gerhold
Curated by Muath Isied, the Mannheimer Duo artists Mehrdad Zaeri and Christina Laube created a mural in Amman's suburb Hashmi as part of a partnership with Stadt Wand Kunst carried by Muath Isied and Sören Gerhold, the mural was depicted as one of the most liked mural in the region as people from all over the world flocked to see it in person.
the duo SOURATI traveled to Amman/Jordan to bring "Imagine" to the city, a young woman in a simple dress, she stands erect, her eyes are closed. A flock of birds circles overhead. Unlike the figure of the young woman, the birds do not cast a shadow. They stand for our dreams, our longings, for visions. “Imagine” should be an encouragement for every woman to go her own way.
"IMAGINE to believe in yourself and follow your dreams, children imagine to step beyond limitations and try something new, something your might be afraid of right now. Imagine to become a painter instead of an engineer, little Bader; to work as a doctor or pilot, little Shaheed although, no: because! you are a woman. May the silent smile and the special energy of this beautiful woman Christina Laube and Mehrdad Zaeri created give You strength in the next years. May the peace birds make your thoughts fly to places you are dreaming of now. May the encouraging example of a couple working together in your neighbourhood for five days make you realize that women and men are created equal, can be partners in private and professional life.
The duo SOURATI consists of Christina Laube - photographer, author and illustrator - and Mehrdad Zaeri - book illustrator, storyteller and stage artist. Mehrdad is the publisher of illustrated children's books with artistic standards. In 2016 they were selected by Stadt.Wand.Kunst in Mannheim as young artists to design their first large house facade, and that is how “Die Freiheittesterin” came into being. Since then, spraying has become a great, mutual love, which, among other things, was followed by the design of the animal shelter in Mannheim. They live and work together in Mannheim. Her name SOURATI means ALTROSA in Persian.
Mehrdad Zaeri-Esfahani was born in Isfahan/Iran in 1970. As a child, his world consisted of a passion for games and fears of life, but the joy of playing has remained. In 1985, Mehrdad and his family fled to Heidelberg via Turkey and East Berlin. It was there that taxi driving and drawing began and he decided to become an artist. Today, Mehrdad Zaeri lives in Mannheim, makes his art mainly as a book illustrator and performance artist and likes this life, which always has a surprise in store. Christina Laube is a trained photographer. Today she works as a freelance photographer, author and paper set maker for book illustrations. This allows her to pack her pictures into stories and stories into pictures. She prefers to deal with people and their inner workings.
Stadt.Wand.Kunst has been a cooperation partner of the street art festival Baladk in Amman/Jordan since 2018. The theme of this year's edition was "inclusion" and aims primarily at equal rights for women. SOURATI aka Christina Laube and Mehrdad Zaeri gave two workshops there: a workshop with young people in one of the poorer neighbourhoods in East Amman; this is supposed to be a colouring book. The second workshop was held for Jordanian artists. Above all, SOURATI left a mural in Amman, more precisely in the Hashmi Shamali district. It is titled "Imagine".
Mehrdad and Christina always agreed on their imagery. The captured moment should create a mood, touch you and encourage you to recognise the story behind it. Color is only used sparingly, and her work is characterised by a simple and clear narrative style. Together they put this into practice on the walls today. They let themselves be guided by the stories that every street in the world can tell. By working on the murals, they bring their love of images and stories together into one big whole.
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