Alireza Ostovar: Broken Instrument

Den Sorte Diamant

10th June 18.00

Programme

Alireza Ostovar: Saz-e Shekaste (Broken Instrument)

The concert has been moved indoors because of the weather. The concert is free for the audience

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Saz-e Shekaste (Broken Instrument) is a music performance by artist Ali Ostovar. Exploring the theme of remembrance, it incorporates a range of objects relating to his childhood in his home country, Iran. The first part of the work’s title refers to a song by legendary Iranian singer Delkash, a favorite of Ostovar’s father, who passed his fascination with traditional Iranian music onto his son. The second part refers to an Iranian Sehtar, which Ostovar carried around Europe for twelve years trying to find someone who was able to repair it. Even after buying a new one, he’s kept it. In this way, the performance questions what it means to hold onto the past. 

Through a texturally varied sonic landscape of live-electronics, cassette players, and a synthesizer, Ostovar recreates a series of deeply personal memories. How do we know if our own memories are to be trusted? Can we ever retrieve those memories which have gradually been lost to the cavernous emptyness of time or in the dark continent of our unconscious? And what about all the things that we would, perhaps, rather forget? Questions such as these are interrogated throughout the haunting piece, which explores the unreliability, instability, and malleability of our memories through a playful engagement with time, frequencies, and tone colors.

Ostovar’s compositions often focus on transcultural themes and social issues and Saz-e Shekaste (Broken Instrument) is no different. Weaving together spiritual insights, Iranian traditions, and electronic elements into compelling narratives, Ostovar is interested in the relationship between art and technology, and the interaction between man and machine. His work is a testament to the power of art as a bridge between cultures and a medium for introspection and transformation.

 

Venue

Den Sorte Diamant

Søren Kierkegaards Plads 1 1221 København K

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Artists

Ali(reza) Ostovar

Interdisciplinary artist based in Berlin. He is known for his electroacoustic music, sound colors, performances, and audio-visual art. He completed his master’s degree in “Integrative Composition” at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen in 2018.