When talking is forbidden so art is the only way to speak indirectly about freedom and tolerance. So I did not want to paint the colours of Kurdistan but instead deep sorrows of people and our thirst of freedom.

Dana Bekas Danishmand Painter Dana Bekas Danismand was born in Kurdistan of Iran in 1980. Dana Bekas was in prison for his art and escaped from Iran to Finland. Danishmand´s paintings tell about the society of Iran. He paints also portraits. Danishmand has had seven own exhibitions in Finland. He has studied in Hyvinkää Art School in Finland. Dana Bekas Danishmand tells about his art: “ Drawing was my best company in my childhood. I was born in 1980 in the city of Kermanshahi. My childhood was the time of war and misery, time of the war of Iraq and Iran. And it was the time of the holy war against Kurds in Iran. When talking is forbidden so art is the only way to speak indirectly about freedom and tolerance. So I did not want to paint the colours of Kurdistan but instead deep sorrows of people and our thirst of freedom. I wanted to free my soul with help of art. I want to see all the colours of rainbow and not borders, which set bounds to the light, which illuminates the whole world. I have broken borders by my drawings and that is why I had to live in a small cell where my only company was my own shadow. After I had come to Finland 1999 I was free at last and I could touch forbidden borders.