Mehdi Farajpour
Land
scape
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
thoughts as well as in my works. But to be more precise, to me my Persian roots does not mean anything except Persian Poetry which is a real treasure. I am not able to avoid or to ignore the poetry in my works. I grew up with it. The poetry is everywhere in Iran, in the streets, in people’s daily conversation, on the walls of cafes, behind tracks, on top of gates,…I would even say that all Persian traditional art forms (music, calligraphy, miniature painting, carpet art,… are either inspired or directly connected to the poetry. Shortly, it is part of me and it is a part that I like the most and I would love to conserve. Simply because I can’t imagine a life without poetry. Without poetry life is unliveable, clumsy and ugly. Concerning my theatre background: It is also part of me but not in the form that I studied in the university. I created my own theatre form through dance and movement. The same way that I created my own dance style through theatre. What is important to me about theatre is its dramatic aspect, the dramatic moments. I try to create those dramatic moments in my choreographies. When I work on a theatre play (that does not happen very often), I try to dance the words, the text. Like the one I did called BECKETT (premiered in 2008 in South Korea). In that show, I danced the « situation » in which the character of play is living (Krapp). I did not play the character itself. The show was too physical although I did not move a lot of the stage. I was on a chair for 40 minutes our of 45 minutes of the show. remember from time t time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught ». Concerning my Persian roots and my background in theatre, I should say that both are permanently present in my