Mexican artist honors Minab schoolchildren with butterfly artwork
A Mexican artist presented an artwork in memory of children killed in Minab, a southern Iranian city where a US missile strike on a school killed dozens of people, to Iran’s ambassador to Mexico.
Maria Xitcat presented her work, titled ‘Butterflies of Minab’ in a gesture aimed at keeping the victims’ memory alive at Iran’s embassy in Mexico City on October 20, IRNA reported on Wednesday.
She aimed to express solidarity the families of children at the Shajareh Tayyebeh school. It was hit by a US missile strike on February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran, killing 168 people, most of them children.
Made from paper, cardboard and recycled materials, the artwork depicts children transformed into butterflies flying toward a sun in the Iranian sky.
It also features a school, books, school supplies and the inscription “Minab 168,” referring to the death toll reported by Iranian authorities.
Xitcat, who previously worked in cybernetics engineering, said war could destroy bodies and physical objects but could not erase children’s dreams and stories.
She expressed hope that her message of sympathy would reach the bereaved mothers in Minab.
Pasandideh thanked the artist for her gesture, describing the tragedy in Minab as a shared pain for humanity. He said the world must not allow the killing of children and innocent civilians to become commonplace.
Xitcat’s artwork uses recycled materials to convey a message that extends beyond a memorial. It seeks to carry solidarity across borders, from Mexico to the families of the victims in Iran, and to preserve the children’s memory in the public consciousness.