A talk with Yalda Yazdani and Valerie-Siba Rousparast
The current Islamic Republic in Iran, established 1979, does forbid women to sing solo in public, to perform on stage at concerts. To this day, neither female singers nor female musicians are shown on Iranian TV. The ethnomusicologist and curator, Yalda Yazdani has been investigating the situation of the Iranian singers since 2009. In her research, she is paying special attention to different areas of the country and documenting the role of music in women's everyday life as well as their creative strategies to undermine governmental regulations.
Together with author and director Valerie-Siba Rousparast, Yalda Yazdani presents excerpts of the feature documentary The Female Voice of Iran, which was produced in collaboration with Andreas Rochholl and Sebastian Leitner. Rousparast and Yazdani discuss the protest strategies that are embedded in the musical practices of the female voices of Iran and collective forms of resistance that shape the revolution in Iran right now.
with
Valerie-Siba Rousparast
Yalda Yazdani
Protesting 2022
It is precisely in revolutions, says Hedwig Richter, that the classic gender roles are redefined: Women sew the blouses for freedom fighters, embroider their flags, and heal their wounds. What gendered forms of activism shape the present? How much room do solidarity-based modes of relating have in resistance? To whom is authority ascribed in protest, and what scopes of action and forms of revolution can digitality enable? In the following events, the team of INSERT FEMALE ARTIST, together with Burg Hülshoff – Center for Literature (CfL), wants to enter into a conversation with authors, experts, and the audience in different formats about the limits, resources, and ways of relating to revolutions of the present.