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Shiraz, City of Paradise and Dialogue Among Civilizations originating in Iran from former President Khatami

I am an American artist who has painted in Iran and has found a close connection between my work and the Dialogue Among Civilizations.

In my youth I envisioned beautiful magical birds and avidly frequented and lost myself in the woods and flower gardens of my childhood dwellings. I was also entranced with fairy tales, which I feel have also a secret language of an inner world unique to each Culture in the World. I was deeply affected as a child by my Russian heritage. On my seventh birthday, I was ushered into a new world of magnificent art and music: The Bolshoi ballet's debut in America of The Nutcracker Suite at The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City! I attended The High School of Art and Design in New York, Philadelphia College of Art, and The New York Studio School Of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture started by Hans Hoffman.

"Shiraz: City of Paradise" and "The Real Dialogue Among Civilizations" An Art Exhibit by Laurie Blum Sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Iran to the United Nations Invitation

This is a collection of paintings I did at Hafez’s Tomb, The Garden of Paradise, Sa’adi’s Tomb, and other sites in and around Shiraz, Iran, painted on the second trip between February, 2004 - May 2004 and five new paintings from my third trip, October 2004 - January, 2005. At the end of the third trip, The Cultural Institute of Shiraz arranged for me to have a show of my paintings at Hafez’s Tomb. It was a spur of the moment show.