Meet the performers: Reza Mirabi

Reza Mirabi (Iran/Germany, 1988) is a visual artist, choreographer and dancer. In addition, he is active as a seed keeper in ecological projects in India, where he studied, and in southern Portugal. Listening plays an important role in his work: “For me, listening is a political process to find gaps, to unravel new movements and to consider our contemporary crisis.”

Reza’s family is originally from Rojhilat Kurdistan, which is located in Iran, but he grew up mainly in Germany. “I have many Iranian friends and family, but at the same time I have a complicated relationship with the country. Through my projects with seeds I try to remain with my many questions about diaspora, origin and home. My grandparents were seedkeepers too.”

Reza got to know Roshanak Morrowatian through the Iranian protests in Amsterdam last October. This is also how he joined as a performer for House of Strength.

Strength

“I see the world as stories. Stories told through language, voices, symbols and architecture, but also through the air and the ground. Everything tells stories all the time. We can see them when we listen to the complexity of things. Just sit and listen without having to draw any conclusions. I think there is real power there. Together, we can observe the complexity of the current crisis and from there start questioning and rearranging stories.”

Rituals

“Rituals are everywhere. A conversation, the gathering of people, it is all in a sense already a ritual. In the process of coming together we discover that we are part of a constellation with other people, animals, stones, trees, the sky and more. That’s all that matters and has a strong effect on how we feel, how we move and how we speak.

By noting that we are always part of such a constellation, we bring together different times, memories, traces and feelings. That can be very transformative and stimulate the imagination.”

Inclusion

“Inclusion is related to the process of coming together. For me, it means noticing who hasn’t been invited. By doing that, something is already happening. Who you invite, how you invite, the architecture of a meeting and the language, they all influence how much someone feels welcome.”

Curious about…

“I wonder what the meaning within House of Strength will be to practice an almost religious ritual of a specific culture and history in an artistic setting. Can you take away religious codes and still keep its power and meaning the same?”