Pari Eskandari

For Pop-Kultur 2024, Pari Eskandari has developed a poetic journey through her emotional and intellectual world. This includes the Iranian-born artist opening up about her experience migrating, showing the often very challenging dynamic among early cultural influences, traditional family structures, and her own dreams and desires. Pari Eskandari reflects this visually on stage in an interactive 3D world (designed by Frieder Weiss) in which she reveals insights into her artistic identity, becoming a sort of supernatural, winged mythical creature that fights demons. The narrative combines moments of childlike innocence and feelings of shame with scenarios of mystical seduction, sexual provocation, and rebellious nature. In her music, Pari Eskandari collages traditional West Asian harmonies (full of mystical depth) with samples and contemporary drum sounds, often processed with effects to create an intense sonic experience that brilliantly underscores the content. Performing the various characters musically enables Eskandari to confront existing stereotypes – the artist is clearly calling for a new form of femininity by creating a radical act of emotional liberation.
Pari Eskandari also has a lot going on besides her work for Pop-Kultur, as she has recorded two singles (»Drehmoment« and »Chador«) with Tricky, released on his label False Idols.