Where is paradise?: The Thirty Seventh Environmental Art Festival
Report by Ahmad Nadalian, RiverArt
Paradise - Polour
Polour is a village in the province of Tehran, Iran. The village is also a starting point for an excursion to the Damavand Mountain.
Paradise is our happiness
Paradise is my home
I share this space with many artists
Our Paradise has a window to see a different world
I can see the sunset on top of Damavand. The tresses of clouds caress the mountains.
Polour (View Larger Map)
Where can think of Heaven
Last year a Dutch writer named Maya Raskar came to our center and stayed with us for two weeks.
Unknown Destination is the title of one of Maya's books
Maya said that Christians believe heaven has an earthly position.
She had an old version of the Bible from Seventeenth century that belongs to her ancestors. It had a map and around Susa southwest of Iran.
Maya wants to write a novel about paradise.
She found our center when she searched the word paradise on the Internet.
Maya decided to start her research at a location that is beside the highest mountain of Iran, Damavand, that has a mythical background.
Sometime my mother bakes bread with dairy farmers in Polour.
Last spring, Theresa and David came to our Paradise.
They are originally from Germany but live in Dubai.
They want to travel the world with this car. Iran is the first country they drove to and paradise is the first center they visited.
Photo by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Wernery
The purpose of this trip is to collect evidence that the release of plastics can harm the environment.
Photo by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Wernery
The result of plastic left in the environment that is eaten by the animal.
Before I carved the goddess, this location was collecting waste.
In Tehran in Sangsar the building of paradise in Theresa
My mother pours water behind them and drops some coins on the day they left the center. This is an old tradition to wish the travelers a good journey.
She prays for them
Another guest that came to our paradise in August 2012 is Samira De Smith. She is from Netherlands.
Samira has studied in different areas: Anthropology, Philosophy, Sociology, Economics and Art.
Her works include installations, performances and video art. In Paradise she arranged an installation. One night she stayed with seven shepherds in the mountains and filmed their life.
Her body was itching the next day. Many insects had attacked her.
She had to wash all her clothes.
In our paradise we can see big leaves
My friend Kambiz Sabri immortalized the leave
Many guests came to Paradise is during spring and summer.
They install their art in the environment
Painting inside of toilet
Earrings with sheep dung
A painting by the daughter of Dr. Shad
Mr. Ziai who teaches at Islamic Art University of Tabriz made some pottery in a wood burning kiln
The artists drew on the curtains
They painted the doors
Many artists gradually came to Paradise. Three artists come from Bandar Abbas were Franeh, Masoumeh and Soroush.
Preparing an adhesive with natural colors without the use of industrial materials
Franeh Jalili is painting with organic colors of rocks
Performance by Masoumeh Zakeri
Works by Sourosh from Bandar Abbass
Works by Sourosh
Tara Goudarzi, Atefeh Khas and Shahnaz Zarkesh with, two artists from Yazd and Shiraz
Some members of Mana group
They want to have lunch an eco (eco-village)
The members of Open 5 asked them to participate in a performance.
Works by the artists from Shiraz
Work by Mahdieh Dehghani
Works by Mrs. Tamjidi and Maral
Works by Maral
... Payvand News - 10/19/12 ... --
