Yesterdays scene - now with action!
The actors returned to yesterday’s location at the grave of the poet Hafez Something. They took up the same positions but unlike yesterday they had not only brought additional props but also mobilized a small crowd beforehand. The enactment took its cue from the American live art performance on the Firdos Square in Baghdad in March 2003 where Pentagon directors and set designers brought in a group of exile Iraqis to create a first tableau in the history of a liberated country.
The expectant crowd milled around the two characters, astir with amazement and awe when a white flag with a hole in the middle appeared from the box. Judged from a strictly artistic perspective it was a very poor performance. The two actors hadn’t rehearsed their lines properly and there was confusion as to what exactly was being said; also the interpreter had disappeared. Phrases hovered briefly like soap bubbles in the light and cool October evening – ‘Old Europe is looking towards Iran for rejuvenation’ – ‘a new beginning’. ‘Iran harbours the vision of the future.’ ‘Together we will gather around the hole to see the new appear in our midst.’ A breeze took them out across an ornamental pond, over a wall and into the streets of Shiraz.
Most fortunately the regime came to the rescue. A group of uniformed police (unpaid extras) was attracted by the flag – now attached to a pole -- fluttering high above the crowd. One grabbed the flag. Another announced it was not permitted to raise any flag in Iran.
The scene was now in disarray. The camera man had followed the interpreter into hiding. Going beyond the simple assertion of the banning of flags, the police angrily indulged in a semantic inquiry. According to crowd organizer Jahan they demanded to know what the hole meant, what it represented. One of the crowd called out ‘the future!’ in Farsi. The actors claimed it was just an opening to look through.
One police officer started rolling the flag around the pole. Another hesitated, took the pole from the hands of his colleague and started unfolding it again – maybe to have a better look at it – maybe to signal a will to compromise; the actor Claus was demonstrating an abundance of intercultural goodwill -- smiling all over, shaking hands with the assembled policemen. Heated discussion all around. The point was made that the banner was an art object and thus should be exempted from a stipulation which targets union and association’s flags.
The police clearly didn’t know what to make of it all and settled on the view that we would have to have permission from the Ministry of Culture and Guidance to film and wave flags. In the end the actors were allowed to stay and talk with the extras who had played the part as a jubilant crowd.
The expectant crowd milled around the two characters, astir with amazement and awe when a white flag with a hole in the middle appeared from the box. Judged from a strictly artistic perspective it was a very poor performance. The two actors hadn’t rehearsed their lines properly and there was confusion as to what exactly was being said; also the interpreter had disappeared. Phrases hovered briefly like soap bubbles in the light and cool October evening – ‘Old Europe is looking towards Iran for rejuvenation’ – ‘a new beginning’. ‘Iran harbours the vision of the future.’ ‘Together we will gather around the hole to see the new appear in our midst.’ A breeze took them out across an ornamental pond, over a wall and into the streets of Shiraz.
Most fortunately the regime came to the rescue. A group of uniformed police (unpaid extras) was attracted by the flag – now attached to a pole -- fluttering high above the crowd. One grabbed the flag. Another announced it was not permitted to raise any flag in Iran.
The scene was now in disarray. The camera man had followed the interpreter into hiding. Going beyond the simple assertion of the banning of flags, the police angrily indulged in a semantic inquiry. According to crowd organizer Jahan they demanded to know what the hole meant, what it represented. One of the crowd called out ‘the future!’ in Farsi. The actors claimed it was just an opening to look through.
One police officer started rolling the flag around the pole. Another hesitated, took the pole from the hands of his colleague and started unfolding it again – maybe to have a better look at it – maybe to signal a will to compromise; the actor Claus was demonstrating an abundance of intercultural goodwill -- smiling all over, shaking hands with the assembled policemen. Heated discussion all around. The point was made that the banner was an art object and thus should be exempted from a stipulation which targets union and association’s flags.
The police clearly didn’t know what to make of it all and settled on the view that we would have to have permission from the Ministry of Culture and Guidance to film and wave flags. In the end the actors were allowed to stay and talk with the extras who had played the part as a jubilant crowd.
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