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Alireza Abbasy

zine, Spoken word, schrijven, performance, Literair, fotografie, cross-over, Audiovisueel, Artistiek onderzoek

Alireza Abbasy is a Rotterdam-based interdisciplinary artist, writer and curator, working on non-Western modes of thinking, the notions of nothingness and meditative practices and resisting and transforming racial oppression. Apart from his education and career in art, he has a solid background in Engineering. He received his PhD in Technology Management (2012) from Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands. He holds a Master in Fine Arts (2019) from AKV St. Joost, Den Bosch, the Netherlands. Alireza is the co-founder and editor of Sarmad Platform.

Comb the Mind - performance/installation
"Comb the Mind" - performance/installation - Still from the performance “Comb the Mind” (1 hour) at the opening of our summer program “Wat Doen Jullie? Oh, Niks!”. 2024, VierVaart Kunsruimte, Groede (Zeeland) Duo performance consists of two elements: 1. a transparent sphere in which Ying Liu sits and combs the wool collected from the sheep at VierVaart. 2. a walking meditation in a circle around the sphere, performed by Alireza Abbasy. The audience is encouraged to join or leave the walk at any point.
The Circle
The Circle - The circle which was shaped organically as a result of the walking meditation for 1 hour during the "Comb the Mind" performance. 2024, VierVaart Kunstruimte, Groede, Zeeland
Space of Heech
Space of Heech - Installation “Space of Heech” (“Heech” means “nothing” in Persian) at Limestone Books, Maastricht, 2024.
Mini-retreat
Mini-retreat - “Mini Retreat” Lying-down meditation, at Limestone Books, Maastricht in collaboration with Suzanne Weenik, 2024
Solo walking meditation, 6 hours
Solo walking meditation, 6 hours (part of WALK #2) - Left: The route of my walking meditation. Right: Zeeland by Frederick de Wit. c. 1705. The walking meditation was performed on Breskens beach, from which many slave ships could be seen during 17-19th centuries, leaving Middelburg or Vlissingen heading to West Africa to pick up “slaves”, then to the “New World”, and then back to Zeeland, loaded with coffee, tobacco, cotton and other colonial goods. Now, several cargo ships can be seen every hour going to or leaving Vlissingen. This work was part of WALK #2, which was a collection of WALKS in Zeeland, as a land which had long-lasting direct engagement in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Zeeland ports were "specialized" in slave trade. The publication I made discusses these connections extensively.
WALK #3
WALK #3 - Maastricht, Saint Servaas Cathedral and Monastery, 2024 Apart from the Maas river and its role in the flow of colonial goods to and from the port city of Rotterdam, Maastricht as a Catholic stronghold (and Limburg more generally) played a key role in the training of Catholic missionaries who were sent to the Dutch colonies. The role of missionaries in the advancement if the colonial project is very well documented. Maastricht seminaries and monasteries have an undeniable connection with Dutch colonialism. This 3rd iteration of the project WALK focused on that. The site chosen for the WALK was Saint Servaas Cathedral and Monastery.
WALK #3
WALK #3 - WALK #3 Maastricht, Sint Servaas Cathedral & Monastary, 2024
WALK #3
WALK #3 - WALK #3 Maastricht, Sint Servaas Cathedral & Monastary, 2024
WALK #3 publication (Maastricht)
WALK #3 publication (Maastricht) - Walking meditation in relation to the colonial legacy of Maastricht
WALK #2 publication
WALK #2 publication - sample pages from WALK #2 publication: Walking Meditation in Relation to the Colonial Legacy of Zeeland
Cover of WALK #2 publication (the Breskens beach line)
Cover of WALK #2 publication (the Breskens beach line)
Collective Contemplation #Prospects 2023 - Three Collective Contemplation sessions during Prospects 2023 were held together with Ying Liu. The first session honours the women-led Jina revolution in Iran, best known for the slogan “Woman-Life- Freedom”. The 2nd session is done together with guests from Rainbow Soulclub initiative in Amsterdam. And in the third session, invited artists currently exhibiting work at Prospects joined us.
Mark the Nails - Site-specific work at "...ism Project Space" in Den Haag, as part of the exhibition Collective Contemplation. The 17th century building, renovated many times, embodies the traces of several generations. In this work, I marked all the nails that I could find in the floor and on the walls of the building. More than 500 nails were marked. The concept of the exhibition was "motional meditation" (as opposed to "sitting meditation), to silence the mind and abandon the artistic "self", by constantly and repetitively engaging with a material.
Book Launch – Sarmad Fiction Writing Club 2022 Anthology - The launch of the second annual anthology of the Fiction Writing Club, held in December 2023 in Rotterdam. The book contains the written works of fiction of 22 (visual) artists/writers, selected from two rounds of the club in 2022.
Sarmad Fiction Club - 2021 Anthology - In 2021, I initiated and curated the project Sarmad Fiction Writing Club at Sarmad Platform. This is a club for (visual) artists who would like to write fiction as part of their artistic practice. In each round of this non-hierarchical community, each member can submit a piece of "flash fiction" (any fictional story under 600 words). The stories are collected and shared with all club members, who would read them and vote for their favorite works. The works with the highest votes receive a prize. This is an ongoing project and we just published the first anthology of the club in Dec 2021.
Black Mama - Installation, Dimension: 6 x 3.5 x 2 m Material: Building foil (Polyethylene), solidified luminescent paint, uv torch Ruimte Caesuur, Middelburg Black Mama was an installation which intends to engage with darkness, as a healing force, as the alternative reality in which the solid self disappears and the individual is relieved of the paralyzing grip of the mind. This work is inspired by the work of Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, author, artist and ordained Zen priest. The writings in this installation are free translations (into Persian, Chinese and Dutch) of passages from two of her books, “Opening to darkness”, 2023 and “The deepest peace: contemplations from a season of stillness”, 2020. The meditative quality of the act of manual translation into our mother tongues played a crucial role in the development of this work.

Space of Heech

Datum:
Locatie: Maastricht
In samenwerking met: Limestone Books

Wat Doen Jullie? Oh, Niks

Datum:
Locatie: VierVaart Projectruimte
In samenwerking met: VierVaart Projectruimte

a summer program of installation/exhibition, performances and workshops on the themes of nothingness and emptiness, particularly the concept of "niksen"

Sub/dominiun at Chateau Shatto

Datum:
Locatie: USA
In samenwerking met: SoiL Thornton

A group exhibition "Sub/dominiun" at Chateau Shatto, LA, included my work "After the meeting"

http://chateaushatto.com/exhibition/sub-dominium-curated-by-soil-thornton/

Sarmad Fiction Writing Club

Datum:
Locatie: online
In samenwerking met: Sarmad Platform

Sarmad Fiction Writing Club is a project that I initiated on Sarmad Platformis. A community for writing and sharing fiction, particularly for (visual) artists. Up until now, this clud has inluded more than 50 visual artists within and beyond the Netherlands, published 20 stories contributed by the club members.
To us, "fiction" is any piece of creative (non-factual) writing that makes you turn the pages and read on, simple. This club is all about “flash fiction” (very short pieces of fiction).

https://sarmadmagazine.com/about-fiction-writing-club-2

Fiction-ing Comfort

Datum:
Locatie: Showroom MAMA, Rotterdam

“Eyn Eyn Eyn stories”, Four pieces of fantastical stories, verbalized as sound-works “Toilet-Paper-Heads”, video work and an illustrated book of fiction, for Fictioning Comfort exhibition

https://thisismama.nl/en/story-en/eyneyneyn/

Editorial text of Sarmad Book Five, “Home”

Datum:
Locatie: Rotterdam
In samenwerking met: WorkNot!

Sarmad book five "Home" is a collection of essays, images, drawings and videos, Sarmad has edited and produced a series of publications on the theme of home and exhaustion for the exhibition Fictioning Comfort.

https://sarmadmagazine.com/Sarmad-Book-Five-Home

Prince, a Dialogue for One Voice

Datum:
Locatie: TENT Rotterdam
In samenwerking met: Sarmad Magazine

The piece was performed at TENT Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in December 2019, as Sarmad Platform's 10th Session in the project “Un-Making Image”

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