Friday
Late 30 January 2004 at 6.30pm-10.00pm
Contemporary
Fashion, Film, Video Art, Poetry, Food and Music
** UK Premiere of new work by
Shirin Neshat and Abbas Kiarostami**
The
V&A and the Iran Heritage Foundation celebrate the creativity of Iranian
culture today, including a special Fashion in Motion catwalk show featuring
contemporary designers. There will be UK premieres of new work by renowned
artist Shirin Neshat and film director Abbas Kiarostami. The evening also
includes music, poetry and drama, with bars and a varied selection of
Iranian foods.
IRANIAN
FASHION IN MOTION
This special Fashion in Motion catwalk show will present the works of
five contemporary Iranian designers Massoud Ansari, Shirin Guild, Maryam
Mahdavi, Shadi Parand and Laya Torkaman from both inside and outside Iran.
The shows will take place in the sculpture gallery.
Times of the shows are 1.30pm, 3.30pm, 7pm and 8.30pm.
VIDEO
ART
UK premiere of film installation by Shirin Neshat
TOOBA, 2003
Tooba is a double screen film installation, shot in Mexico by Darius Khondji.
The poetic film is about a woman who thinks she is a tree and is based
on Shahrnoush Parsipour's character TOOBA in her book "Women Without
Men", a highly acclaimed literary work in contemporary Persian literature.
Sussan Deyhim has created the music.
UK
premiere of film installation by Ghasem Ebrahimian
THE SACRED, THE ABSURD, 2003
Sadeq Hedayat, one of the main figures of 20th century Iranian literature,
committed suicide in Paris in 1951. This film installation is projected
on three screens that resemble the walls of a room and also the parallel
narratives of Hedayat's mind. This installation recounts through imagery
Hedayat's last day and night on April 7th, 1951. Hedayat's day is spent
between his restless
comings
and goings to his apartment and to the neighbourhood café he frequents
and his preparations to lie down, fully clothed, in his bed while listening
to the hissing sound of the kitchen stove. Hedayat's interaction with
the characters reveal his uneasiness with the traditionalist and uncompromising
Iranian culture.
FILM
UK premiere of a film by Abbas Kiarostami
MOON AND THE LAGOON, 2003
The film was shot in northern Iran, close to the Caspian Sea, by Kiarostami
himself. It captures the extraordinary relation between a colony of frogs
and the moon on a rainy night. The frogs form an extraordinary chorus
for expressing their joy and sadness as the moon repeatedly disappears
behind and re-emerges from behind the clouds. It is Kiarostami's exceptional
eye and sensitivity that allows him to show us, in his usual subtle and
minimalist style, another extraordinary detail of the world around us.
UK
premiere of a film by Seifollah Samadian
THE ART OF KILLING, 2002
Shot by Samadian in Northern Iran, the film captures aspects of the life
of a spider and the way it prepares itself to capture its prey. Samadian's
perceptive eye shows us the almost human-like planning of the spider.
POETRY
THE POETRY OF MIMI KHALVATI
Khalvati will read from her acclaimed Selected Poems, published in 2000,
and from her recent collection, The Chine, and new work. This poetry reading
will be complemented by a music recital and accompaniment by Vida Edalat
on the santoor. Born in Iran, Mimi Khalvati has lived most of her life
in Britain. Mimi's poetry reflects her experience of displacement, exile,
the loss of her first language, family and culture.
READING
MAJNOUN , 2003
This event is a reading from Mehrdad Seyf's Majnoun, by cast members from
30Bird Productions. Inspired by the love story of by the 12th century
poet Nizami, Majnoun is a tragic-comedy exploring the imposition of modernisation
on Iran, the nature of love, the veiling and unveiling of women, nationality
and language. With a non-narrative structure, surreal comedy and sculptural
design Majnoun offers a deeper insight into what makes modern Iran.
FOOD
AND MUSIC
A varied selection of warm and cold Iranian foods will be available and
a fusion between contemporary Persian and European music choreographed
by Farhad Farmanfarmaian will be played in the Grand Entrance bar.
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