"It's who is in your life that's important. Not what."
Those are words that inspire Kiano Zamani, who moved to Prince George four months ago.
Zamani, who got his fine arts degree at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, has incorporated these words and ideas into his multi-media exhibition at the Two Rivers Gallery, which takes place until Jan. 31 to remind people of peace, love and unity.
"I like to see a peaceful society and I like to see people understanding themselves and each other and taking care of each other, because that's all we have," he said.
The exhibit involves several elements, including graphics, poetry, paints and audio visuals.
"[I] chose five videos and put them on two screens. The videos are about the same thing - self-understanding and trying to understand what you're doing here," he said.
"It's the type of poetry that makes you think about yourself and the society you're in and life in general."
Zamani hints at a long journey to become the self-aware artist he is today.
"I went through life trying to figure out a lot of things," said Zamani. "Sometimes you fall very hard and sometimes you have to come up.
"I think the most important thing I learned is that everything in society is taken away from you to look outside, so you never have time to look inside, and the most important thing is to believe in yourself - understand that you are beautiful and that will make it easier."
One of Zamani's favourite people is John Lennon.
"Lennon's Imagine song is amazing," he added.
Zamani also sites Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan as his inspirations as well - people he thought were trying to make a difference.
"What really moved me was when I saw everything is going crazy and people are killing each other and so much war is going," said Zamani.
"It's so unnecessary. I don't think anybody wants to fight like that. We can all get along. That pushed me to do research and try to figure out how to change things and then I studied spiritual books so that I could understand what's going on. It's been a long journey and I'm still on it."
Included in the exhibit is also Scared Geometry paintings that encourage relaxation, oneness and peace.
