“Bear the Burden of Borders” is a mixed media artwork highlighting the plight of kolbars, Kurdish porters who risk their lives in the Zagros Mountains to carry sanctioned items into Iran.

Sahar Tarighi, master’s candidate in the Department of Art and Design, created two artworks over the summer of 2023 that explore universal themes of human rights, racism, borders and political boundaries.

Originally from Iranian Kurdistan, Tarighi wanted to bring attention to the plight of kolbars. These Kurdish porters traverse the Zagros Mountains between Iraq and Iran carrying items that are readily available on the Iraqi side of the border, such as appliances, but are sanctioned in Iran. The journey is treacherous and often results in injury or death for the kolbars. 

“It’s all talking about land, power and authority figures, patriarchy and monarchy. Stuff that we are struggling with is just universal,” Taghiri said. She aims to serve her people through her art, “to bring more attention, to raise awareness, to amplify their voices.”

Dakota Stevens, a curatorial-track doctoral candidate in art history, also has a goal to raise awareness through engaged scholarship. Stevens’ dissertation is on indigenous-authored murals across North America.

In the course of his research, he identified the need for a searchable archive that maps murals created by indigenous artists. 

“There’s not a ton of recognition of indigenous muralists,” Stevens said. “My practice is all about working with and engaging the communities.”

In 2022, the summer scholarship program enabled Stevens to create a proof of concept for the site, and he hopes to someday hire programmers to make the site a user-generated platform, allowing artists to submit their own biographies and interpretations of their work.