Illustrator, cartoonist, and former professor of visual arts at the University of Tehran, Ali Jamshidifar has been a refugee in France since 2015. Since then, he has been actively following news about migrants. He has offered his services to various associations, creating posters and leading drawing workshops. He has also led several workshops for JRS, Emmaus, and Cartooning for Peace with young people in middle schools and prisons.
Residency project:
After becoming aware of the difficulties that some young French people face, particularly those whose families come from Muslim countries, Ali Jamshidifar wanted to develop a project that would explore, in a fun way, the questions that young people may ask themselves about their own origins and the phenomenon of migration. How can we experience interculturality in France? Is it really better for a Muslim to live in a Muslim country? Do Christianity and Islam offer two opposing worldviews, or can they enrich each other? The idea is to discuss these abstract questions using concrete examples and testimonials from everyday life, where everyone can speak freely and joyfully.