“It’s really a story about each one of us, because we’re all searching, we’re all seekers,” Stephens says. “In a way, we’re all seeking the purpose and meaning of our lives; it’s not confined to any particular society or religion; it’s very eclectic.”

In addition to an artist talk, the Persian classical music group, Kereshmeh Ensemble, as well as Iranian Qanun player, Saba Jamali, will also perform.

The search for spirituality

Stephens first came across Attar of Nishapur’s The Conference of the Birds decades ago. As a student of comparative religion and philosophy, he spent time in New York during the Beat era – a literary movement well known for its focus on Eastern religions and spirituality.

The artist’s own search for spirituality took him around the world, including to India. Upon his return to Vancouver, Stephens started a vegetarian restaurant called Golden Lotus. The project then grew into North America’s largest independent organic breakfast foods company – Nature’s Path Organic Foods.

“Although I gave up painting back in 1967, I took up the brushes again a few years ago,” the artist says. “I started work on [this piece]; it’s an interpretation of the last chapter of the Conference of the Birds, where you have 30 birds, and they’re kind of beholding this magnificent peacock-like bird with hundreds of eyes in its tail.”

Attar’s poem portrays a group of birds in search for the king of all birds, the Simorgh. Led by the hoopoe, the wisest bird, the group undertakes a pilgrimage – facing many trials and tribulations – until the last few remaining reach the mountain said to be the residence of the Simorgh.

“The hoopoe gradually convinces them that the vanity they had for their beautiful feathers, or their beautiful singing was really just worldly, but they should go and search for their source,” Stephens says. “The hoopoe also warns them that it’s a perilous journey, and they have to cross seven valleys.”

Stephens will describe these seven valleys, as related to his painting, at the event. His talk will also explain the symbolism in his work. Like the end of Attar’s poem, the artist sees his painting as a reminder to seek answers within oneself.

“Only then were they ready to behold the king of all birds, which is kind of the symbol of the creator, God or however you want to call that great force,” the artist shares. “And they are astonished because when they look into the eyes of the king of all birds, they see only a reflection of themselves.”

A universal message

Stephens’ Conference of the Birds is created with oil paint on a birch wood panel and weighs close to 100 pounds. It first started as a smaller piece. While the larger, final piece was based on the smaller one, the painting’s visual nature evolved.

“Originally, there were many tails, almost like feathers, like long sweeping feathers, and then as I did the painting, it morphed into more like a peacock’s feathers, and each one was an eye,” Stephens shares. “Then, it morphed into birds flying out of the tail, and they kind of represent all those birds that never made it to the goal.”

For the artist, it was important to recognize the sacrifices of those who didn’t complete the journey. He sees these birds as also benefiting from the search – creating a unified worldview where the one becomes the many, and the many becomes one again. The larger piece took the artist over one thousand hours to complete.

Stephens hopes the event will encourage deeper thought amongst its audience; he sees it as an opportunity to reflect on ideas, poetry and music. The goal of the event, for Stephens, is to “uplift and inspire.”

“I hope that they take away a message, a universal message that we’re really kind of all like these birds; we’re all in search of truth, in one form or another, in our lives,” he says.

Participants are required to register; late registrations are accepted. A fully non-profit event, all proceeds will go to the SOS Meditation & Ecology Centre in Richmond, B.C.

For more information on the event, see www.eventbrite.ca/e/conference-of-the-birds-tickets-1302200178789

For more information on Arran Stephens, see www.arransart.org