TITLE: Wearing the Dead

Wearing the Dead is a work in which both costume and body wears heritage. Where the costume produces its own dance. In this performance, the costume is a journey, a bridge between a culture that I inherited and fantasise about: Iran. I can’t visit Iran, because if I go there, I will be obliged to do a military training.

The costumes are inspired by the vibrations of traditional Iranian songs and the Iranian exhibition in Le Louvre. I created these costumes like a second skin to be worn to understand how we build an identity: Inspired by the past but still present in our current life, created this impossible dialogue, activating the choreography of memory. Wearing these costumes is a way for me to be part of a shared history, re-embodying a living memory that isn’t mine but that still lies in me.

The costume triggers movement. By its nature, its design, the costume itself is the creator of movement. The dramaturgy build itself in a ritual: To undress, dressing and wearing the costumes, to embody stories/history through a choreography, coming back to the naked self, meditating and drinking tea—it’s a trip, a journey that I want to share.

Wearing my costumes is a way to reincarnate my Iranian origins. Two things connect me to them: the customs and the food that my father transmitted to me and my brothers. It’s our only cultural inheritance. As for his mother tongue, he buried it, forgot it; it was the only way to be integrated. The only custom that took place at home was the Iranian New Year, which happened in the first days of spring, called Nowrouz. To honor the new year, a table, becoming an altar, must receive symbols. These symbols are seven objects starting with the letter “S”. They are different objects and foods from the daily life of Iranian culture and they take on a strong symbolic meaning for Nowrouz: Sib (the apple) is the knowledge, Senjed (mountain ash) means abundance, Serkeh (vinegar) calls for rebirth, Samanou (sweet wheat dough) symbolises spring, Sir (garlic) brings health, Sumaq (a spice) gives patience, Sékeh (a gold or silver coin) brings wealth to the household. Like these symbols, my costumes refer to this custom. To wear them is to reconnect with a culture that is out of my reach, it is to dance in the past, to embody memories of my family through bodies and costumes.