Rome’s ambassador to Tehran Giuseppe Perrone on Wednesday unveiled a video-theater project titled “Beyond Borders”, an experimental series co-performed by Iranian and Italian artists, which turns the spotlight on how the novel coronavirus imposes curbs on everyday life.
A trailer and the first part of project “8 1⁄2 Theater Clips: How the Pandemic Changed our Lives” was screened in a custom-arranged ceremony followed by a cozy launch event at the residence of the ambassador in northern Tehran.
“Though, tonight, we are unveiling one of the most amazing and artistic projects so far done [with assistance of the embassy], we are few in numbers due to the observance of health protocols to prevent the spread of the virus,” Perrone said addressing the attendees ranged from foreign diplomats and architects to theater directors, artists and correspondents.
This eight-part film, with the language of performing arts and theater, explains to us how the disease has changed our emotions, habits and lifestyle, and it offers ways to go beyond the imposed boundaries of the epidemic, the envoy said.
Talking about the Italian contributors to the project, Perrone said: “They were very interested in being here tonight, but it was not possible due to the current situation [travel limits imposed by the pandemic], and they sent us a video message...”
Co-produced by the Embassy of Italy in Tehran and the Italian theater company Instabili Vaganti, with the participation of the Iranian director Ali Shams and the performer Danial Kheirikhah, the video-performances are scheduled to be published from August to December on the Embassy's social channels (Twitter, Instagram and YouTube).
Beyond Borders was born the on-line project conceived and directed by Instabili Vaganti, Anna Dora Dorno and Nicola Pianzola, in order to maintain active dialogue between artists from different countries and to photograph the particular historical period we are going through.
The project, according to organizers, launched during the lockdown period, at a time of crisis that prompted the company to transform the limits imposed by the anti-COVID measures into an opportunity, envisages the use of online platforms for the creation and sharing process, in an attempt to overcome not only the geographical borders, marked even more by the pandemic, but also stylistic, gender and thought.
Beyond Borders opens up various collaboration paths that will lead to the creation of a video performance series in which Instabili Vaganti interacts with individual artists from the different countries involved in the project, thanks also to the support of the Italian cultural institutes in the world.
Source: Tehran Times