Tima Jam, the Iranian artist who has lived and studied in both Malaysia and Croatia and has since been in Istanbul for the past five years, is working to establish art organizations in Istanbul, where she is continuing her doctoral studies in art.

Asserting that Istanbul's geographic location serves as both a model for the Arab world and is optimal for its proximity to Europe, the Iranian arist told Anadolu Agency (AA) that "I think that Istanbul is the center of the world. I came here while learning new languages and cultures. Then, I changed my mind [about leaving] and decided to live in Istanbul."

As a doctoral student and the curator of various exhibitions, Jam mostly brings the works of Iranian artists to group exhibitions in various countries worldwide. In July, she organized the exhibitions titled, "A Glance in the Mirror" and "A Glance in the Mirror II" in Istanbul, where she brought 150 works of 66 Iranian artists together with art lovers in the two exhibitions.

Jam told AA that while she has friends from nearly every country worldwide, the people of Turkey have had the most profound influence on her. Noting that she initially planned to stay for three months and then go back to her native Iran when she first arrived in Turkey, Jam said, "I came to learn the language and to learn about cultures. Then, I changed my mind and I choose to stay in Istanbul. Even one of my applications in Amsterdam was accepted but I chose to stay in Istanbul."

Art knows no obstacles

Implying that Turkish and Iranian culture closely resemble each other, the Iranian artist went on to say: "The location of Istanbul is really important. It is a model for Arabian geography and it is also very close to Europe. I think the center of the world is Istanbul. My friends from countries around the world have come to Turkey at least once in their lives. A lot of artists from different countries prefer to stay in Istanbul. Here, we have a chance to discover all sorts of cultures, places and art. I tend to ignore the occasional political problems that arise. There are many good artists in Turkey. I simply approach the situation here with an artistic point of view."

"Nothing should be an obstacle when it comes to art," Jam said. "We are trying to make the world a better place. Some of us do paintings, some of us are musicians, some of us performers. We produce works basically starting from raw humanity and nature. We aim to be together and to share collective experiences. When we are together with artists, we transfer our cultures to one another. There are a lot of things we can learn from each other," she continued.

Tima Jim recently joined the International Euro Kosovo Art Festival, which was organized with the cooperation of the Yunus Emre Institution in Prishtina, the capital of Kosovo. Jam indicated that she has been working with paintings for 18 years.

"All artists have a message and try to convey it. I deal with what the world looks like. I try to look at the world through my art. Every piece of art has a voice and artists try to make the world hear that voice. I hope that people will always look at art and listen to the message it conveys," Jam concluded.