Wednesday March 30 * 7pm * Outdoors at Rhizome

Rhizome's March artist-in-residence Niki Afsar presents a work-in-progress showing:

mesl bolbol/like a nightingale

this excerpt of mesl bolbol/like a nightingale is an early iteration of what will be a devised performance piece. the artist combines the language of their own movement and English poetry with excerpts of poems, film audio, and recordings in their heritage language of Farsi in an attempt to create a brief space between the many aspects of their identity. shielded from the audience by fabric and shattered mirrors, they attempt to stumble upon something between/beyond language where desire lives, where transfiguration is possible, and where they can be free to be many things.

this showing will take place outside, please bring warm clothes and blankets. tea will be served. maximum running time is 30 min, and the artist invites viewers to stay afterward to view displayed mirror work and share thoughts and ~reflections~.

niki afsar is a nonbinary/femme, iranian-american writer and interdisclipinary artist. since 2015 they have lived and worked in new york city, tehran, the washington dc area, and western massachusetts. their work explores ideas of fluidity and longing within language, hybrid/myriad identities, and mental health. they experiment with a number of mediums including devised movement and performance; poetry and text; live singing and sound making; and mirror work. nikiafsar.com