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Royal Hospital Kilmainham
Dublin 8, D08 FW31, Ireland
Phone +353 1 6129900

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Inspired by the novel Why the moon travels by Oein DeBhairduin, this unique performance brings audiences an adaptation of the Persian folk tale ‘Samak the Ayyar, a story which has been formed by word of mouth since 4th century in greater Persia.

Adapted and rewritten by Roxana Manouchehri, an Iranian/Irish visual artist and curator, this performance comprises of multilingual and transcultural contribution of members of the Art Nomads collective.

Samak the Ayyar, the main character of the original story, is a cavalier who lives in a castle with his brave comrades. Their main motive is to help people in need. (similar to Robin Hood or Juraj Janosik or Hatam Tai). Samak and the Ayyars, fight for freedom and give money to the poor by taking it from the rich and tyrannical.

Join us for a storytelling performance which includes fairies, jinns, witches, princes and princesses and even the magical bird, Simurgh (Phoenix).

 


Art Nomads

Art Nomads is a collective of visual artists from migrant and diverse cultural backgrounds based in Ireland. The aim of the group is to come together to put on art exhibitions, create art projects and facilitate talks, workshops and other events in which the primary aim is for a collective creative engagement. Art Nomads is a voluntary and not for profit organisation. As well as staging exhibitions and events, Art Nomads aims to work as a capacity builder and advocate for artists from diverse and minority ethnic backgrounds to gain visibility in the Irish art world.

The group, initially called the Migrant Artist Community, got together in 2019. Their first exhibition ‘Transhumance: The Nomadic Artist: Part of This Land’, was held in February 2020 in Phizzfest: The Space a gallery in Dublin 7. Art Nomads then staged an exhibition online for World Refugee Week in June 2020 in collaboration with Christ Church Cathedral Dublin and Counterpoints Arts UK. In September 2020 Art Nomads worked with curator of collections at IMMA Christina Kennedy to provide a series of participatory workshops ‘Mask, Myth and Multiple Cultures’ to complement their Paula Rego retrospective. In October 2020 the group were featured artists with the Arts and Human Rights Festival run by Smashing Times International Centre for The Arts and Equality. Art Nomads recent activities include, a performance named Rock/Fire/Paper invited by Nha San collective at Documenta 15 in July and an exhibition in Pallas Project in September 2022.


Contributors

Director/ Curator: Roxana Manouchehri

Storyteller : Amir Abu Alrob

Musicians: Shahab & Shayan Coohe

Story collectors: Hina Khan, Tomasz Madajczak, Amna Walayat, Muhammad Achour.

Editing and design: Laragh Pittman, Antonio D’Souza

Laragh Pittman was born was born in London to Irish parents and is a visual artist with MA in Fine Art from from NCAD in Dublin. She uses multiple media to build spaces for dialogue and exploration of the fluid and transcultural nature of life in Ireland today. She is currently working on a visual art project about the transnational nature of the container docks in Dublin Port. Recent work includes: ‘The Invisible City’ drawings, sewn artwork and video shown in CHQ with 5 Lamps Festival; ‘A Perfect Global City’ a project with WEMIN: Migrant Women Empowerment and Integration, an EU project; and ‘The Invisible Museum’ a temporary curated display in Kilmainham Courthouse as part of a socially engaged, participatory project ‘Citizen Artist’ with Common Ground. She is working with Art Nomads as an administrator and sometimes curator.

Roxana Manouchehri, is an Iranian/Irish visual artist and curator. Roxana received an MFA in Fine Art from the Tehran University of Art and has worked and lived in Dublin since 2009. She curated The virtual exhibition for Art Nomads with Smashing Times Arts & Human Rights Festival and ‘Five steps left’ video at MIM Gallery, Santa Monica LA in 2021. She has been teaching art and giving talks and workshops, since 1995 in different universities and museums in Tehran, Seoul and Dublin, including Trinity College, the Chester Beatty collection, Open House Dublin, Mother Tongues Festival and IMMA. She has been in different artist residencies including Chang Dong in Seoul, South Korea, Rauma, Finland, Canserrat, Barcelona and Belmont Mill studios, County Offaly, Ireland. She has had more than 50 group exhibitions internationally and 17 solo exhibitions in Tehran, Seoul, Dubai, Madrid, Munich, London, Brussels, Rauma and Dublin, including the RHA and the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery.  Her works are in some important private and public collections, such as OPW, AIB bank, AXA insurance in Dublin and Asia Art Network in Seoul. She won the Diversity award by solstice art Centre and create in 2021. Roxana is a founder of Transnational Art Ireland which is a series of webinars connecting Iranian artists to curator, artists and galleries out of Iran, especially Ireland 

Antonio D’Souza is an artist and designer . He has a mixed heritage of Goan, Kenyan and British. Having lived in London he obtained a BA Hons degree in Furniture and Product Related Design from Ravensbourne College in 1995. Antonio creates through repurposing gaskets, salvaged from motorcars and motorbikes. A gasket’s original function is to act as a mechanical seal between two surfaces and can only be used once. Gaskets shapes are of interest to him as ones eye is drawn around both their internal and external profiles. The series Biomorphic Gaskets – ‘Calm’ derived from organic shapes and forms observed in the coastal environment. Antonio has exhibited locally and in Dublin and is currently artist in residence in Ardgillan Castle County Dublin.

Shayan Coohe  is an Iranian/Irish musician who started playing the Tombak under the direction of Master Arjang Kamkar at the age of seven and went on to study the Tar (a plucked string instrument which pre-dates the lute and guitar). Shayan continued his studies at the Conservatoire of Music in Tehran. He also plays Daf, Setar and Tanbour and recently graduated from Trinity College Dublin in Music Performance (Clarinet). Shayan has been collaborating with various different musicians and numerous projects with Nava, Tulca, An Droichead, Dj Kormac, The Irish Chamber Orchestra and many more. He has released four albums such as Tapestry, Sojourns Vol1, Just Be and the most recent one ” Toranj”. 

Shahab Coohe is an Iranian/Irish, Multi-Instrumentalist-Composer. Graduated from the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin in BA Violin Performance studied with Michael D’Arcy and Mia Cooper. Shahab has been living in Ireland for the last 9 years. He has been performing alongside his brother for the last 15 years. They have performed concerts based on Persian classical music and contemporary music accordance with the improvisation concept in a number of well-known festivals. He has given Lectures in concern with Middle eastern and Persian classical music and improvisation at Trinity College Dublin and Royal Irish Academy of Music. Shahab also plays in an award-winning Persian Irish Fusion band, Nava. they have released two albums, namely Tapestry and Sojourns. Tapestry was nominated as the best emerging album by RTE Folk Award. In addition, they have been awarded as the winner of IMBOLC International Competition in Northern Ireland.  

Amir AbuAlrob is a Palestinian performer/story teller. In 2013 They joined The Freedom Theatre (TFT), Jenin refugee camp, Palestine and completed 4 years of study in Theatre and Cultural Resistance. They have been a part of the LGBT movement in Palestine. In 2019 they took a course in Character & Scene Study at The Lir, Dublin. They performed in and co-devised The Bed at Cairde Sligo Arts Festival 2020. In 2020 they were the recipient of the AIC bursary award for Collaborative Arts and Cultural Diversity. In 2021, they were the recipient of the One-week residency of the Time At The Well with the Hawk’s Well Theatre Sligo & Cairde Sligo Arts Festival. They were the recipient of Theatre Project Award of the arts council of Ireland, 2021. 

Event Contributors:

Amna Walayat, visual artist from Pakistan on making props and sending links for the story.

Hina Khan, visual artist from Pakistan on making props and sending links for the story.

Tomasz Madajczak multidisciplinary artist from Poland on sending links for the story.

Muhammad Achour, architect from Syria on making props.