Visitors’ programme for contemporary dance artists from Iran

From 21 to 23 March Nona organises NOWRUZ, a festival focusing on performance arts from Teheran curated by Bart Vanvoorden and Bára Sigfúsdóttir (who lives and works in Brussels but has been active in Teheran for the past few years). Next to this festival Flanders Arts Institute / Kunstenpunt and kc nona organize a visitor’s programme for 9 artists from the Iranian dance and performance scene.

The programme will take place from 18 March (day of arrival) to 25 March (day of departure) 2018 and focuses on the exchange of knowledge and expertise in multiple ways: sharing about recent developments of contemporary dance in both Belgium and Iran, about the role of the artist in different contexts. With this programme, we would like to establish contacts between the arts scene in Iran and Belgium and to stimulate possible collaborations.

The programme will allow the participants to:

• participate in 2 dance workshops, one of which in PARTS – gain insight in the (performing) arts scene in Flanders and Brussels
• immerse themselves in the work of colleagues from Belgium and Iran – discover interesting venues
• meet and exchange with Belgian artists and professionals, during a symposium and other occasions

This visitors’ programme is by invitation only. The curators and Flanders Arts Institute have selected 10 artists who are working on a (sustainable) career in the performing arts and who are willing and open to share their expertise with colleagues from in and outside of Tehran.

The programme is developed in collaboration with a number of other partners such as GRIP, P.A.R.T.S., Pianofabriek, STUK and the Royal Conservatory Antwerp.

Artist Talks

In the scope of this visitors’s programme we host a session of artist talks on March 22 at kc Nona. These talks will give an insight into the development of artistic practice in the contemporary dance scene in Iran, the possibilities and challenges for creation and collaboration and the new dynamics in the field.

Programme (15:00 – 18:00)

• Talk 1: Choreographers Sina Saberi, Shirin Farshbaf and Mitra Ziaeikia will talk about how they develop their artistic practice and about ways of sharing their work with the larger community. The topic of education will be addressed as well.
• Talk 2: On the possibilities and challenges of collaboration. We will start from 2 cases: choreographer Bára Sigfúsdóttir and dancer Masoumeh Jalalieh will speak about the project being; choreographer Ehsan Hemat and performer Mostafa Shabkhan will talk about the creation process of I Put a Spell on You.
• Talk 3: Choreographers Alireza Keymanesh and Alireza Mirmohammadi and documentary maker Amir Poosti will speak about how the field organises itself, and about the balance between tradition and innovation.
  

In the evening, there is the possibility to enjoy Iranian food and to go to 2 performances: Damnoosh by Sina Saberi and Metaphor by Shirin Farshbaf. You can also see the short movie Flatland by Alireza Kaymanesh and Amir Poosti and the installation Haft Seen by Nasrin Tork.

Practical

Thursday 22 March 15:00 – 18:00
Kc nona, Begijnenstraat 19, 2800 Mechelen
Language: English
In the evening, there is the possibility to share an Iranian meal (price: 20 euros).

These talks are free but registration is obligatory.

Theatre from Iran

While Nowruz festival will focus on dance and performance, Bozar is organising a festival with a focus on theatre: ‘Welcome to Iran’, that will take place one week earlier, from 15 – 18 March 2018. The festival offers plays of the younger generation of theatre makers, who often tend to link their personal history to that of their country.