Why collect prayers?

As Assyrian artists, we are uncomfortably aware that Assyrian culture has been isolated to surveys of ancient art history and other niche academic fields. Relegating Assyrian culture to the past not only suggests that we are irrelevant to the present but also promotes the erasure of contemporary Assyrian identities. This project directly confronts that notion.

Esther Elia’s solution is to create a body of work using the words of the living, breathing, thriving Assyrian community as a direct antidote to the wound created by those who forgot we existed. The written submissions are being named “prayers” as a celebration of our religious heritage and using the format of incantation bowls as a remembrance of our rituals around healing and protection. Realizing the significance of this concept, Diana Atureta is partnering closely to design a structure for building this prayer repository through Assyrian Circles gatherings and laying the groundwork for bringing the idea to life in as many facets as possible.