The Team
Esther Elia
Co-Founder, Artist
Artist Esther Elia is currently working on her Masters of Fine Arts in Painting at the University of New Mexico. Her work is rooted in storytelling and examining how our stories keep us rooted in homeland even as the connection has been temporarily severed. Her work has been displayed at the deYoung Museum, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, Facebook, Minnesota Street Project, and in Reconstructed Mag. Her ambition is to create an archive of Assyrian work, and contribute to a contemporary Assyrian aesthetic and art movement.
Diana Atureta
Co-Founder, Operations Lead
Artist Diana Atureta is currently based in Toronto. She has a Business degree from the Schulich School of Business, and works in the business industry, while simultaneously experimenting and developing her art style. Diana’s work has been collected locally and internationally since 2015, and has been exhibited at the Toronto Public Library Galleries and the Diaspora in Bloom x Assyrian Arts Institute Pop Up Gallery in Tucson, Arizona in 2021. Her visual art reflects themes of empowerment, creativity, and her heritage. She is a fluent speaker of Assyrian (in the Eastern Standard dialect) and aspires to learn the Western and Deshta (specifically Alqosh) dialects. She founded Assyrian Circles in April 2020, an online community speaking the Assyrian language in a safe, conversational space. —Contact directly for projects or to inquire about art works.
This could be you!
This project is currently looking for:
-Translators
-People who can collect prayers for submission from their community
-Experienced clay artists/makers
-Calligraphers
Please reach out if you or someone you know would like to be involved in this project by emailing Esther Elia at helloestherelia@gmail.com