MCC Tulip Mural: Artist Conversation Hours

During the week of April 12, local Persian artists Farnaz Khosh-Sirat along with Azadeh Khastoo will have a residency at MSA to paint a tulip mural in MCC room 107. Join our artists in discussion during their open conversation hours to engage the artists and learn about their inspiration, process, and artistic vision. While they will be painting throughout the week, they may not be available to answer questions outside of these conversation hours.

About the mural
In Persian folklore, Farhad loved Princess Shirin in a way that English translations of Farsi could never capture. When Farhad thought his beloved had died, he threw himself off of a mountain. From his blood grew red Tulips. This tale has become a symbol of loss yet undeniable hope in Iran. The memory of those we have lost lives in us and in the path they walked. In every step they took, a Tulip sprouts and a garden of Tulips stand.

About the artists
Farnaz Khosh-Sirat is an Iranian interdisciplinary artist based in Chicago, IL, whose work explores the merging of mediums, technology, and culture. Working across video, installation, and sound, her practice is guided by a curiosity for the sublime and notions of paradise. Influenced by Persian classical music, architecture, and intricate pattern work, she creates immersive environments that trace memory, longing, and quiet forms of presence—inviting reflection, intimacy, and contemplation.

Azadeh (Azi) Khastoo is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist, photographer, and socially engaged practitioner. Born in Iran and immigrating to the United States at age 19, her work is shaped by experiences of migration, cultural translation, and belonging, with Iranian cultural references, collective memory, and relational traditions woven throughout her practice. Khastoo holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her artistic practice began in photography with a focus on social issues such as immigration, education, and identity, and has since expanded into performance, installation, and participatory projects rooted in dialogue and human connection, examining relationships between self and self, self and others, and self and place/objects through the body, gesture, and shared action. Her performance work includes Home!!, and she is a co-creator of Knot United, a collaborative performance project with artist Rashel Gordin that engages audiences through rope, movement, and collective action. Khastoo is also a co-founder of 15ē (The 15th Element), an ongoing artist gathering and salon dedicated to collective witnessing and exchange, and the founder of Circle of Trust, a women-centered space for dialogue and mutual support. In parallel with her art practice, she produces handcrafted knitted works under Azi Originals and leads Azadeh Coaching, extending her interest in care, labor, and material intimacy into functional forms and practices that shape both objects and inner landscapes.

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