Ahmad Nadalian’s recent work created with his students and colleagues at the Environmental Art Festival in the Persian Gulf might actually save the world. I believe that every one who experiences these pieces and their environmental optimism, might believe once and for all, that there are indeed solutions to the environmental ills and conflicts that we face in the world.

The energy in the painted hands and faces of his students puts a whole new look on how one might view the future of The Persian Gulf and our relationship to it. Students are students everywhere – and art is a medium that crosses all borders and boundaries.

Environmental art can be about preserving traditions as much as it also encompasses concerns about the future of conservation and ecological injustices.

Ahmad Nadalian’s carved cylinder seals awaken one to the rich lineage of Persian art making. We are reanimated with the images created by the hand-carved cylinder seals as they are rolled out in the sands, along the oceans and coastlines that we all share. One wants to follow the path of these ancient animations and fish symbols to see where they might lead us. Collaboration with indigenous local materials such as these is empowering in ways that redefine “super (creative) power” and our notions of a global paradise.

Abigail Doan

Artist, USA