Selected video installations
Border Crossing
Border areas are not just physical spaces but existential zones—in this installation the artists takes you through various borders, some are life threatening, others a relief— she creats an experience that is deeply personal and alienating.
The sound, a composition by Jan De Vroede, enters into dialogue with the visual elements.The audience becomes part of the work, engaging in an experience where they can choose what to focus on and for how long.
My Body, Every Body
The video My Body, Every Body features two former traditional Iranian wrestlers who have been living in exile in Belgium for about a decade. They perform the ritual in the basin of an abandoned swimming pool, keeping the tradition alive, far away from home. The setting is reminiscent of the traditional venue, namely a dome structure with an octagonal sunken arena and seating for the audience. All of the actions have a symbolic meaning. The large maces represent weapons from ancient Persia. The spinning of their bodies is drawn from pre-Islamic nature religions and represents the rotation of the Earth around the sun.
Rapture
The video features a group of Kurdish women performing the Zekr or Sema ritual in
a closed hall in Iranian Kurdistan. It is a spiritually significant ceremony in Sufism, accompanied by the rhythm of one or more traditional Dafs (percussion). The ritual is intended to induce a kind of trance, enabling one to detach from the physical world and draw nearer to the spiritual realm.
Thumbs Up
This video montage presents a number of Instagram videos made by Iranian teenager Maedeh Hojabri. The account of the nineteen-year-old girl was immensely popular, with over 600,000 followers. She can be seen dancing to Western and Iranian pop and rap music in her bedroom, often in provocative poses and outfits that defy the regime’s restrictions. As such, Maedeh violated several regulations. She was arrested by the Iranian authorities in July 2018, along with several other young teenage girls.
