2008 New Pioneers Awards
In 1988, Sashar Zarif immigrated to Canada from Turkey as a Stateless Refugee of the United Nations. With the assistance of his parents he had escaped from Iran through the mountains and sought asylum in Turkey. After three years in a refugee camp in Turkey, he arrived in Canada alone. One of the most difficult things about immigrating to Canada was not seeing either of his parents for 13 years. Sashar has lived in many different countries, including India, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. He arrived in Canada carrying the traditions of those cultures and bearing the mental and physical burdens of imprisonment and torture he had witnessed and suffered as a teenager. In Canada, Sashar faced financial hardship and isolation. Despite being alone in this country, he managed not only to make up – while working – the three years of schooling he had missed, but finished high school with an A average. He was then offered admission to a very prestigious engineering school – the University of Waterloo. But in the end, engineering lost out to dance. For as long as he can remember, Sashar has been a dancer — and an activist. As an artist, he has a commitment to “contribute to social and individual expression concerning pressing cultural issues: issues that impact the health of our society, our environment and our individuality — including the well-being of our souls.” His belief that the artist can create works that “express and promote the human urge towards living in harmony” has led …
