My name is Jackie Jafari and I chose beautiful Australia as my country of residence. I came to this country 22 years ago as a political refugee with my family and started a new life here in Melbourne.

Australia is a very different place to where I come from in many aspects. As a woman, the dress code (or lack thereof) was very interesting to me, as my country of origin requires women to cover up their whole body and head.

My love and passion for art and music grows bigger day by day, to the point where I decided to launch a new organisation for Persian Art in Aug 2013.

My main vision for the Art Centre was to reconnect the Persian-Australian community with Persian art, as well as introducing Persian Art to other cultures and communities as Persian art is very rich.

My children grew up here, studied and got married in Australia and my family started to grow. Slowly I got to know a few Iranians and got involved within the community, I started my own small business here to support my family.

Our first solo experience was Music and Dance of Persia, which took place at the Federation Square in March 2014. Prior to that, we have been involved with Love and Devotion, Viva Festival, Persian Fair, Harmony Festival and many small cultural events.