A Forbidden Distance - A/V
A Forbidden Distance: Saint Abdullah, Eomac & Rebecca Salvadori
A Forbidden Distance is part of The Crossing, the first artistic creation of TIMES, commissioned by Berlin Atonal, Semibreve, Sónar, and Unsound.
A Forbidden Distance is a collaborative audio-visual work that explores the profound relationship between self-identity and displacement. This unique performance piece brings together Iranian-Canadian brothers Mohammad and Mehdi (Saint Abdullah), Irish sound designer and musician Ian McDonnell (Eomac), and London-based Italo-Australian video artist and filmmaker Rebecca Salvadori in their first artistic collaboration, embodying the very transcendence of borders their work examines. A Forbidden Distance poses biographical questions on the meaning of an individual’s life when faced with the need to move, forced into the nomadic currents of our times.
The audio-visual project itself is an example of collaboration that transcends borders and nationalities—brothers Mohammed and Mehdi Mehrabani-Yeganeh (Saint Abdullah) are Iranian-Canadian, Ian McDonnel (Eomac) as Irish, and London-based filmmaker Rebecca Salvatori is Italian-Australian—all working together for the first time.
Artist Bios
Eomac (IE) Ian McDonnell aka Eomac is an Irish producer and sound designer living in Wicklow near Dublin. The Eomac sound draws from obscure samples and raw sound design in an ongoing exploration of intense, visceral music for body and soul. Alongside his solo releases as Eomac he's also one half of the duos Lakker, noeverything and Lena Andersson.
Rebecca Salvadori (UK) Rebecca Salvadori is a London-based artist working at the intersection between video art and documentary. She has a long experience in filming environments with a focus on non-hierarchical/chronological layering and sequencing of audio to footage. Over the last 15 years, she has consistently engaged with experimental music, with a great interest in finding ways to connect the moving image with sound practices, live performances and alternative forms of storytelling.
Saint Abdullah (IR/CA) Formed by two brothers, Mohammad and Mehdi Mehrabani-Yeganeh, raised primarily in the West, away from their family in Iran, Saint Abdullah is designed somewhat as an introduction to a different palette of sounds, creating a charged and anxious, but still assertive mixture of minimalist dub and Iranian samples. The two are particularly drawn to the sounds associated with Shia Islam, predominant in Iran but usually a minority in the Muslim world.
Performance Format
The live show features all artists on stage, with Saint Abdullah and Eomac performing the music while Salvadori conducts the visual elements. Rather than following traditional audiovisual performance structures, the work creates a distinctive dialogue between its components. Neither a visual accompaniment to music nor a live score to film, the performance establishes a space where each element maintains its own distinct voice while contributing to a unified narrative.
Visual Elements
The visual narrative weaves together intimate home videos of Mohammad's family with artist interviews, spoken word segments, and documentation of the creative process. Through this tapestry of personal and collective experiences, the work tells a compelling story of displacement and fragmentation while simultaneously highlighting the enduring threads of human connection.
Conceptual Framework
At its core, A Forbidden Distance investigates fundamental questions about individual identity in the face of displacement, examining how personal meaning persists and transforms within the nomadic currents of contemporary life. The project itself serves as a living testament to cross-cultural collaboration, with its creators spanning multiple nationalities and backgrounds.
Technical Requirements
- Large-scale stage setup
- Substantial screen installation
- Optional lighting design component
Performance History
The work has been presented at Berlin Atonal, Semibreve Festival and Unsound Festival so far, establishing itself as a significant contribution to contemporary audiovisual performance art.
Ideal places & curatorial concepts potentially fit well with A Forbidden Distance' include:
- Experimental audiovisual works
- Cross-cultural artistic dialogue
- Contemporary performance art
- Electronic music and visual art intersections
interviews
https://stxdyoz.com/in-conversation-with-a-forbidden-distance-berlin-atonal-openless/
https://borshchmagazine.com/on-choosing-hope-with-saint-abdullah-eomac-and-rebecca-salvadori/
booking contact : michelle@potnnia-theron.de
