Silicon Valley Reads: Islamic Art Exhibit Comes to Euphrat Museum

The county-wide celebration of Islamic art, tradition and culture for the 10th anniversary of Silicon Valley Reads continues Friday with the opening of an Islamic Art Exhibition at the Euphrat Museum of Art at De Anza College.

The exhibit titled, Invoking Peace, will feature art that combines Islamic tradition, innovation, faith and activism and will feature work from several Muslim artists from around the world, according to Diana Argabrite, the museum’s Director of Arts and Schools Program. Some of those artists include Seyed Alavi, Doris Bittar, Ala Ebtekar, Taraneh Hemami and Saira Wasim.

According to Argabrite, the exhibition will feature diverse modern art that will educate viewers of the issues facing Muslims all over the world.

“I think the community will enjoy the diversity of the art if they aren’t familiar with Islamic Cultures,” she said. “They will gain a deeper understanding of the religious and secular differences. There are Muslims from many different countries that express different issues.”

Invoking Peace artwork created by artists from all over the world and includes a variety of genre such as sculpture and ceramics, digital art, site-specific installations, classical and experimental calligraphy and paintings to product designs for cultural needs. It will also include artists from the successful traveling art show Legacy of Qu’ran: Messages of Peace, responds to select verses from the Qur'an. These members of the Bay Area Muslim artist community include engineers and calligraphy masters, graphic and product designers, community activists and leaders.

Members of the De Anza student body have also stepped in to participate in the celebration, students from the college’s Gallery Exhibition Design course, a class in which Argabrite also teaches, have helped with the design of the exhibition and painted a mural at the gallery entrance.

Argabrite expects the art show to educate the community of Islamic culture and people of all ages will benefit from its resources.

“I would call it a shared call for peace,” she said. “The show is really going to be well-visited and used by the community, and we’re really going to be squeezing every bit of educational value out of it as we can.”

Invoking Peace will be open Feb. 3 to March 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and from 10 a.m. to 1p.m. on March 3 with a community art station.

For more information on the exhibit and to make a tour group appointment, please call the Euphrat Museum at 408-864-5464.