Hallo, guten Tag. Mein Name ist Sandra Kotzoven von der Steirischen Gesellschaft für Kulturpolitik. Ich freue mich zur ersten Ausgabe von im Gespräch mit Frauen aus der Kunst- und Kulturszene einzuladen. Meine heutige Gästin ist Mariam Farang. Hello Mariam. Hello. Hi, nice to have you here. We want to switch to English because this interview will do in English, because I don't know Farsi and so we have to do it in English. Mariam and I met personally the first time, I think, in 2019. She had an idea in this time, in this period, for a very nice book, it is just now ready, Mariam Farang, Me and the Persimmon Tree, Paintings and Poems from this Area Home. We as the Styrian Association for Cultural Policy were a cooperation partner for this book and now we are very happy because mariam is here as an artist in residence also and so we start with with our meeting with our speaking um mariam maybe you will uh we have just talked before a little gesprochen. Der Persimmon-Tree, für alle, die es nicht wissen, ist der Kaki-Baum. Warum Persimmon-Tree? Diese Serie begann aus meinem Zimmer und der Persimmon-Tree vor meinem Fenster. of my window and I inspired from the simple objects which surround me like my like my table carpet chairs and glass and also the persimmon tree in front of my window and the fruits of persimmon tree. I made a private space for myself and with watching so around myself, I and got inspired from my place and with my artboard again I give it back to place with my paintings, poems and somehow I watch surround myself behind the camera and also I made a video for this series and this series I did during four years and it is about the story of my daily life and and yeah this is a story of this book. And the poem I wrote very intuitively and spontaneously. It's really quite nice and very interesting book. We have just also talk about that. Maybe you want to read some poems in Farsi and I can translate it in English and also in German. But first, the subtitle is paintings and poems from the serious home. What means home for you? paintings and poems from this area's home. What means home for you? The home is a place which I live in it and I have a, I make a calm situation and silence to inspire from the place and objects surround myself and also somehow the news from outside because I live in a society which always I encounter with the impulsive news and I couldn't seem to be indifferent about the news around myself and somehow if I wanted or I don't want somehow consciously somehow unconsciously uh in my artwork involved uh with the with my with the society which I live. And I met you last week in your atelier in Graz also, and you was quite nice and show me your artwork in Graz. This was very impressive. It's also very, very personally, very soft and strong together. I think that's what I feel about if you if you show me. And it's also a very feministic artwork or not? artwork or not? You know, I follow life and art and my subject my subject it happened by my life what happened inside myself and how I feel as a woman and as a human and how I react and react and speak to of my artwork. And the subjects are depend on my life. Okay. Yeah, very, very strong. I think really very impressive. It was very impressive to be in your atelier. And this week on the 20th of January, there is a video screening, I think, in Graz or not? Yeah. a video screening, I think, in Graz or not? Yeah. This screening, it is about exhibition, which we had last year for the International Women's Day with the support of Austrian Culture Forum in Tehran and the title of this and we are four artists cooperate together, two Iranian artists and two Austrian artists. One of the Iranian, Azam Shadkul, also now she's a resident here. She's a photographer from Tehran and from Austria, Elisa Anderson. She's a photographer from Austria, from Linz. And I'm a painter to be a part of the group from Tehran and Mika'il Schwartz as a painter. She's from Vienna. And we cooperated to each other and each artist made a five minutes movie by themselves to do three questions. One of the question, what does private space mean to you? Another question, how do you encounter yourself in the process of art making and what makes you different from the society you live in? Through these three questions, each artist decides how to show themselves and her idea as a subject of the movie. as a subject of the movie. Yeah, and in the movie, it is about 43 minutes and you see some Skype also dialogue which we had together for this subject. und wir hatten einen Dialog zusammen über diesen Thema. Cool, und ist das am 20. Januar um 6 Uhr, glaube ich. Ja, in in Afro Institute sounds very interesting I will be there thank you but I will come back to this book because you are really a multidiscipline artists maybe you want to read some poem now as you said because it's also one poem it means begegnung, encounter or you want to start I think with another or with with encounter no you can start with poem whatever you want on the page 28 I think you want to start because this is the this is your painting from the front page of the book. Yeah. Yeah. I read in Farsi and you read in German. Perfect. Yes. Rosakaki heißt das Gedicht. Kakis, geboren in der Sonnenfarbe, sind heute rosig. Sounds great. And another you want to read? great. And another you want to read? Yeah, in the process which I which I did is serious. Somehow I saw myself as an object in my painting. That's why I think the 30 page, I read it. Okay. I am grateful and greet you. I and the kaki tree in the pot. I and the kaki tree in the pot. I see myself, I greet. Very nice. And this book, how long do you work on this book? Two years? Or this series? This series I did in four years, I think. Wow. Okay. You want to read another one? The 64. Okay. Okay. Body wazy. Seda ye panjere. Mikhahi mesle bad be rabi. Seda ye sandali. Daran buhi az ashiya. Be bar mine garam. Wind. Der Wind bläst. Fenster knarren. Du würdest gern davonfliegen, wie der Wind. Ich höre den Sessel. Inmitten vieler Dinge. Ich schaue dem Wind zu. Wow, it's quite nice. Really nice. I'm really lucky to have this book. But do you have also books in grad so we can order it or how how can people come to this wonderful book yeah um in the website of also they can order you take the province yeah and I have it I think now I have 50 of the foods here in Krakow perfect so if someone hear this before the 20th of January you can the person can order it by you or can come to your atelier in shambat or not yeah in shambat they can come and visit my artwork and have the book also um what are your next steps in your life as an artist? Because you have so many talents, I think. You can be a performer, a painter, also videos. And what are your next steps in your artist's life? The next step now, I concentrate on my painting in Shamba and I would like to have an exhibition here in Graz with the title of chaos wall and and Maria on the cross. This exhibition mixed with the photographic painting poem and video. and video. And the subjects of this series started about the chaos inside myself. After the series of the book, which I did, I was alone with myself in the home. And this series starts with some stress and unstability of life inside myself and some unknown chaos and the main question I ask myself who I am and and why I don't have enough knowledge about my body and what is the background of my feeling. it depends on my childhood or religion, society, or tradition, this for me the symbol of this chaos inside on the water. And the water for me, a symbol of femininity, a symbol of mom, birth, mom of mother and birth, and symbol of unconscious and chaos, and also border. conscious and chaos and also border. And also I tend to paint on the body and this chaos started, you can see in the end of the book, I think five or six paintings started with the paint on the sea and water and body. I, and also I would like to paint. Yeah. Also, I can't read this poem because it is about what I said. And I start also painting on a body. It looks like I search on myself and also body could be have a meaning and the border between me and my society and the border between life and death and the border between oppression and resistance. I think two years ago I invited to Austria and this is my first travel in Europe. And with the lots of differences between the culture and between the loneliness fearless intimacy and hate all the things which we have inside and this is so interest interesting me. I ask myself, why border? Why war? Why power entities instead of spend money for the culture or love and make a culture they spend time and money for sell the weapons and make a war like this and that's why when I invited by Landstar Mark to have a three-month residency here, I focused on the meaning of refugees in this series which I did in Shambat. And I call, I did a painting in the size of three meters to three meters and I called it the boat. And I would like to show to have a presentation in Shambado in Krakow to show this series with the poem which I wrote for this series and video. Thank you very much for this deep look in your soul and in your brain. It is very expressive. Thank you very much, Mariam. Thank you for inviting me and thank you for supporting me. It is a pleasure and I think that what you said about culture working, why not more people spending much money in culture? Because a friend of mine, I don't know if you know her, she's also a very important culture worker in Graz and not only in Graz. And she said, culture working is also peace working. And that's exactly what I hear in your words. And I think that more people have to know this and have to act about this. That will be perfect. Mariam, you want at least uh read another poem from your book if you want you have to choose i can read it in english and in German because I don't know Fazi but I but the translation is here I choose I think in the page and the page of hundred sea okay and the translation is... The Watchman. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, this is also, it is about chaos, which I explained before. Yeah. رها از بخد رویاه سنگ می شوند درد وجود را فرا می گیرد رها در باد باد مرا به کجا می برید وزن سنگین سنگ شده مرا چگونه تحمل می کنید ترا می سپارم به دریاه سقوط امیغی وجودم را فرا می گیرد در اقناع آقا رهام می شود دریا چگونه وزن سنگین سنگ شده مرا تحمل می کنی؟ چشمهایت را ببند آسوده به خواب موجها می آیند و می روند نرمی شبیه به سانشنهای ساهه آفتا می تابد مهدا می نگرد و باد نوازشت می کند منه هنده لسن زوز کربا فالن Meine Hände lassen los, Körper fallen, Lippen versteinern im Schock des Traums. Mein ganzes Sein überwältigt von Schmerz, frei im Wind. Wind, wohin trägst du mich? Du trägst mein steinschweres Gewicht, wie? Ich lasse dich mich tragen in den Armen des Meeres. Wenn ich tief in mir zusammenfalle, freifließend in Abgrund. Meer, du trägst mein steinernes Gewicht. Wie? Schließe deine Augen. Ruhe in Frieden. Die Wellen kommen und gehen, machen dich weich wie Sandkörner. Die Sonne scheint, der Mond schaut up, as the wind touches you. in German, this really deep, expressive poems. Thank you. Thank you very much. I think. Thank you also for my Association for Culture Policy in Syria. It's a pleasure to work with you. We have a more or less long tradition to work with artists in Iran and in Tehran. I think we have to do a lot together in future. Yeah, for sure. And we see us on the 20th, 6pm in Afro-Asiatisches Institut. Thank you for inviting me. And it's my pleasure to be part of this meeting and to be together. Thank you very much, Mariam. We see us. Bye bye. Bye.