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Beyond Borders

Bowerbird
Mantra for two Pianos, 1972, Shiraz Arts Festival. Pictured: pianists Alfons Kontarsky and Aloys Kontarsky. Photo courtesy of Stockhausen-Stiftung für Musik / Archaeology of the Final Decade Archives.
Mantra for two Pianos, 1972, Shiraz Arts Festival. Pictured: pianists Alfons Kontarsky and Aloys Kontarsky. Photo courtesy of Stockhausen-Stiftung für Musik / Archaeology of the Final Decade Archives.
Orghast Part II, 1971, Shiraz Arts Festival. Photo courtesy of the Archaeology of the Final Decade Archives.
Orghast Part II, 1971, Shiraz Arts Festival. Photo courtesy of the Archaeology of the Final Decade Archives.
Caligula, 1974, Kargah-e Namayesh – Persepolis, Shiraz Arts Festival. Photo by Mehdi Khonsari, courtesy of the Archaeology of the Final Decade Archives.
Caligula, 1974, Kargah-e Namayesh – Persepolis, Shiraz Arts Festival. Photo by Mehdi Khonsari, courtesy of the Archaeology of the Final Decade Archives.

An exhibition and series of live performances and film screenings revisit the multicultural Shiraz Arts Festival, which was held annually in Iran from 1967 to 1977. With music, theater, dance, and film programming, the festival showcased classical, folk, and avant-garde artists spanning generations, languages, and cultures. Building on Center-supported research on effective ways to present this under-recognized history, the project examines the festival’s artistic achievements along with the social and political complexities of its time. The exhibition is bookended by a performance-installation “spectacle” featuring an interpretation of Iannis Xanakis’ electroacoustic composition Persepolis and a closing concert “fête” inclusive of a wide variety of performers.

The total grant amount represents project funding plus an additional 20% in unrestricted general operating support.

Recipient
Bowerbird

Bowerbird

Bowerbird is a presenting organization that expands public understanding of experimental music. Since 2006, the organization has produced over 600 events throughout the Philadelphia region, featuring music, dance, film, and related art forms.

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News

$9.5 Million From The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage to Support 30 Philadelphia Organizations and 12 Artist Fellowships

Sep 19, 2022
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Larry W. Cook, Untitled.
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Nels Cline in performance at Royce Hall, Los Angeles. Photo by Phinn Sriployrung.

Guitarist Nels Cline on Musical Lineage
Video Tradition & Translation
Walking with Trane, Urban Bush Women. Photo by Gennia Cui.
Questions of Practice: Choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar on Art and Social Justice
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Sonia Sanchez. Photo by Erika Vonie.
Celebrating Poet Sonia Sanchez, plus Pew Fellows Earn Guggenheim Fellowships, Peabody Award, and More
Pew Fellows Candice Iloh and Armando Veve. Photos by Neal Santos.

Fellow to Fellow: Candice Iloh and Armando Veve Find Inspiration in Each Other’s Mediums
Interview Cross-Disciplinary Practices
Enrique Bostelmann, Portrait of Cora Flores, 1980, part of Mirages series.

Projects in Process: Discoveries in the Archives with Berman Museum and Japan America Society
Essay Legacy & Archives
Sinta Penyami Storms, 2022 Philadelphia's Cultural Treasures fellow.
Four Philadelphia’s Cultural Treasures Fellows on Care and Community Impact
EgoPo Classic Theater, rehearsal for Ramayana with Papermoon Puppet Theatre and Kalanari Theatre Movement, 2023, Java, Indonesia. Photo courtesy of EgoPo. 

Projects in Process: Wilma Theater and EgoPo on Creative Collaborations
Essay Co-Authorship & Collaboration