Vis and Ramin Performance: Ancient Persian Love Story/ پرفورمنس ویس و رامین

فارسی [Färsi]

Artisthinktive Iran art

This podcast is a conversation with Iranian conceptual artist and sculptor Ramin Etemadi-Bozorg regarding his performance titled “Vis and Ramin” in Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Art. By referring to the ancient Persian love story of Vis and Ramin, Etemadi-Bozorg intends to contemporize a mythical-romantic narrative about passionate love composed by 11th century classical Persian poet Fakhruddin As’ad Gurgani.The artist attempts to relate the romantic epic to the present-day context of Iran. In doing so, Ramin Etemadi-Bozorg attempts to set the ground for today’s audiences to correspond with the world of myths through taking an active role in his performance, instead of being idle observers. It seems, in Etemadi’s performance, the modern dichotomous understanding of logos versus mythos(myth), which is considered as an antagonistic and non-reconciliatory way of thinking has been challenged, since he makes a reconciliation between the world of myth and today’s logo-enteric tendency of modern audiences.