Transcending language and borders: How the NIRMA Project is expanding Nashville’s identity as Music City

On the evening of Nov. 6, the gallery rooms and halls of the Curb Center at Vanderbilt will resound with a global melody. There will be the pluck and ring of a setar and the charm of a santoor as the Nashville Immigrant and Refugee Music and Art Project will visit to perform their showcase "Melodies of Crossing: An Immersive Night of Global Music Across Rooms." A collective of immigrant and refugee musicians from Iran, Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Egypt, Venezuela and Nashville will settle into the Curb Center's gallery space at 1801 Edgehill Ave. and play music from their native lands.

Founded in 2024 by interdisciplinary artist and Vanderbilt University Assistant Professor of Art Raheleh Filsoofi and multi-instrumentalist and composer Reza Filsoofi, the NIRMA Project is a community-based initiative that celebrates the cultural presence and creative voices of immigrant and refugee communities in Middle Tennessee-particularly within Nashville. Rooted in the belief that art and music transcend language and borders, NIRMA builds spaces of belonging through performance, workshops, exhibition and dialogue.

Emerging from the Filsoofis' long-standing artistic collaboration that bridges sound, clay and performance, NIRMA reimagines Nashville's cultural landscape as one shaped by movement, migration and shared humanity. With cultural and artistic roots that range from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, to South and East Asian traditions, NIRMA performers collectively expand the city's sonic and visual vocabulary and add a greater diversity of sound and substance to Nashville's identity as Music City. As Nashville grows as a hub for immigrants and refugees seeking new beginnings, the NIRMA Project's mission is to foster collaboration and shared authorship among artists to cultivate spaces of cultural and artistic dialogue by bridging differences to build solidarity.

NIRMA's programming has included a Nowruz Celebration at the Frist Art Museum, clay and music workshops in collaboration with the Nashville International Center for Empowerment, an all-day music and performance event at the Parthenon, and many other programs hosted at the Engine for Art, Democracy and Justice, the Darkhorse Theater, and the Global Education Center. NIRMA is also developing a digital platform to introduce and connect immigrant and refugee artists across Tennessee; it will offer an accessible database for curators, institutions and event organizers to find artists for performances, exhibitions and collaborative projects.

Born in Tehran, Iran, Raheleh and Reza Filsoofi have been invested in finding creative ways to bridge cultural differences since they immigrated to the United States in the 2000s. In 2017, Raheleh Filsoofi installed Imagined Boundaries, two separate exhibitions that debuted concurrently at the Abad Gallery in Tehran, Iran, and the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Florida. For a few hours on the night of Imagined Boundaries' opening, audiences in the United States and Iran were connected by these two installations. The Resonance of the Lands, a collaboration of Reza and Raheleh Filsoofi with several immigrant and refugee communities in Nashville, used clay sourced from locations across Nashville to create more than 30 ceramic instruments, inspired by the Darbuka and drums of the Middle East and Africa.

With "Melodies of Crossing: An Immersive Night of Global Music Across Rooms," the Filsoofis continue their legacy of connection with the NIRMA Project by showcasing musical performances by immigrants and refugees from a variety of lands and cultures in one room. At its core, the NIRMA Project is a living framework that amplifies the voices of immigrant and refugee artists, strengthens cultural empathy and reinforces Nashville's role as a city shaped by migration, resilience and the shared language of art. Come experience this shared language on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, at the Curb Center. RSVP at https://anchorlink.vanderbilt.edu/event/11804881.