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.