Welcome to my online archive, a collection of all the works I have created. Some pieces are thoughtfully documented, while others are quickly captured on a personal device. Although much of my work is ephemeral, its documentation will persist here for as long as these images and videos endure.
A Letter to Samad
This performance took place in October 2021 at the New System Exhibition.
As with most of my projects, I failed to properly document this performance. However, I was able to collect some fragments.
A Letter to Samad is an amalgam of theater games, storytelling, and rituals I grew up with in Iran.
How can grief be translated when it is removed from its birthplace, geography, and culture? How can one share the complexity of grief? How does one share pain without being deemed a victim?
A Letter to Samad does not answer these questions, but instead creates a space to explore them with the audience. After all, “The theater is a capacity possessed by human beings—and not only by animals—to observe themselves in action.” —Augusto Boal.
The performance began by inviting the audience to participate in theater games, then continued with the reading and performing of a series of letters written by the artist. At the end of the performance, fresh halva and hot tea were offered to the participants.
Here are some videos:
Collaborating with Negin Rahbar, Delaram Mesgaran, and Ali Khalili, Yazdani designed the performance centered around food, grief, and community.
During the performance, the artist offered freshly steamed beets, homemade halva, fresh hot tea, and letters from a wheeled cart for guests' consumption.
The letters were performed for any individual who orders food.
These letters were written for lost loved ones by Iranian authors.
Performers:
Kristin Bergquist
Alexandra Mendez
To learn more about the installation, please click here.
Puppet Theater, ICA, Portland, Maine.
Performers:
Ellanor Milkowski Dahlgren, Raven Zeh, Kerry Anderson, Prudence Ho, Anoushe Shojae-Chaghoravand
Musicians:
Aya Wakita, Brian Downs, Kayley Clark
Director: Golaleh Yazdani
Photo credit: Joel Tsui
Performers:
Anoushe Shojae-Chaghoravand, Crickett Cote, Jordan Carey
Director: Golaleh Yazdani
Photo credit: Kun Hyung Yoo
How to translate grief when it is removed from its birthed geography and culture?
How to share the complexity of the grief?
How does one share their pain without being deemed a victim?
Halva (in Iran) is a cultural element that is embedded with pain and loss. Halva is a sweet dense paste made of flour and butter, mixed with a syrup of sugar, saffron, rosewater, and cardamom. In Iran it is usually served at funerals or during Ramadan(fasting) month, garnished with shredded coconut or slivered almonds.
The audience was allowed to take a piece if they wanted to. The tray was replenished a couple of times throughout the entire show.
