＃Pray ̲for ̲Action

Prayer is a spiritual communication with an object of worship. People pray for many reasons. But whether religious or not, we can be thankful by appreciating life's blessings more. As we know, being grateful improves mental health over time. But, when prayer becomes a way to ask for help from a divine being, it could transform into a form of escaping responsibilities. It might give us a false feeling of effort and prevent us from taking actual impactful actions. Most of the time, Maryam and I discuss the events that are happening back home in Iran, and while we express our concerns, we always end our conversation with a form of prayer (Inshallah). This phrase is a way to wish and hope for better days to come in most middle-eastern cultures. Both of us have witnessed how our parent's generation always carried prayer beads with them most of the time. Now in modern days, those praying beads have transformed into a digitized form and "#"s in social media. After each undesirable crisis, people around the world show their emotions by #Pray_for_…. Just like with beads, these hashtags become less and less mindful and just an automatic act that people do.The situation we are in now (with COVID-19) encouraged us to make this artwork to emphasize the importance of taking the initiative. This installation is our way of being active because we believe every effort counts, while we doubt if every prayer counts too!