A Kurdish designer held a fashion design and painting exhibition in Budapest, Hungary to show Kurdish culture to the world. Dilan Salih held the colorful painting and fashion design exhibition at the Black-Mountain-Dry Retrein in Budapest on Wednesday. "My message was to share with other nations our colorful culture," Salih told Rudaw English. "They found my artwork as being very colorful and full of life." Salih, 23, was born in Hungary and now lives near the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Her family originally comes from Duhok in the Kurdistan Region. She has taken part in many clothing design competitions and her work has been honored with awards. She said she is welcome in her country as a Hungarian of Kurdish origins. "Hungarians love the Kurds," she said. Her pictures are full of tiny, elaborate details that viewers must discover and delve into. This is accompanied by an oriental charm that make the paintings unique. Salih developed an interest in art at a very young age – drawing pictures and making clothes for her dolls. Salih says she always introduces herself as a Kurd, and often has to explain what that means. “People think being Kurdish is a unique and interesting thing," she said. "It is not difficult, but people need time to understand what does it mean to be a Kurd." Salih hopes to come to the Kurdistan Region in the future where she dreams of opening clothing stores in Erbil and her family's native city of Duhok. Her work has attracted the attention of celebrities who have shared her paintings and drawings on their Instagram accounts, including female World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestlers. Photos submitted by Dilan Salih to Rudaw English
