Bridging Tehran and Berlin Through the Interplay of Presence and Absence

Sound / VR Performance Installation by Ali Pourahmadian, Universität der Künste Berlin | July, 2024

"In every presence, a trace of absence lingers; in every absence, a hint of presence endures. Once absent, they now emerge—defying time and space, temporality and spatiality. From Tehran to Berlin, their presence manifests not physically, but through a gateway fueled by the dream of a possible future."

The Story Behind the Project

The origin of this collaboration came from a moment of sudden censorship. In Tehran, an exhibition of my work was suddenly shut down by authorities over mandatory hijab enforcement. During the weeks my work was taken down and silenced, Berlin-based artist Ali Pourahmadian reached out to me and a few other Iranian artists whose works had been censored or closed for various reasons.

Ali was preparing a Performance installation, including a Sound and VR installation at the Universität der Künste Berlin. He had built a 3D digital model of the actual gallery space there, but changed the windows to show a view of a bright, open horizon. With the help of a project sponsor that provided a 3D-scanning app, we scanned our physical sculptures in Iran. Ali then took these digital files and placed our works inside his virtual Berlin gallery.

Through Virtual Reality, people could step into the Berlin gallery and experience our censored works both online and on-site. When physical doors were closed to us in Tehran, this virtual bridge allowed our art to travel across borders, finally finding its place and its audience in Berlin.

Featured Works

Five sculptures from the House on Fire series were featured in this installation.