The future of the past, the past of future
4th 30 Performances, 30 Artists, 30 Days Festival at East ArtGallery, Tehran, Iran
A collaboration with Samira Davarfara
October 2014
What we do not read is not denying its existence.
There is a huge time difference between Iran and the United States. Tehran is in the future although Walnut Creek (where I now live) exists in the past. This performance started with a poem by Bahman Forci about immigration and time. We performed during the exchange of the day and night. In the gallery, there were a lot of white pots.
Samira and I had a conversation through Skype about how we live and the political, social and cultural differences between where we live. While the conversations went in opposite directions we met in the middle to continue the conversation. Shortly after the conversation was over and skype and the lights were both turned off, black lights showed the names of Iranians who have been forgotten and sacrificed themselves for freedom and justice. Throughout the whole performance and conversation, we were both planting as a symbol of hope and growth and people joined Samira in the gallery.
