The second performance of Musicolor (a duet of improvised musical performance and painting on canvas) will go on stage at Vahdat Hall in Tehran on May 22.
“It is an intertextual look at the art of painting and original music of Iran,” said Alireza Mojabi, who is to take over the color section together with musician Keyvan Saket playing the tar (a Persian long-necked instrument), ISNA reported.
Mojabi said at a press conference, that the performance intends to remove artistic boundaries and challenge the two forms of art. “We have absolutely no idea about the other artist’s creation; and we will not coordinate our performances prior to the night.”
Both artists will begin performing simultaneously while the finish line is blurred. “I think it will take two hours to finish based on my previous experience.”
Mojabi will contribute in mixed media style dominated by acrylic on canvas, and his work will be showcased at his next solo exhibition. He believes an artist needs to border on the rebellious to create a fresh work of art and “my work will be imprinted with the plectrum of Saket’s tar.”
Saket, who was also present at the conference, said “it is not the first time for me or Mojabi to perform in this style. I had a similar experience with a watercolor artist in Mashhad.”
He was introduced to both music and painting at a very early age and has always envisaged a large part of his work while composing it. “Music is interlaced with the visual art of paining and traces of it can be detected in most of my pieces.”
New Styles
He also said painting can bring about new styles and perspectives among other forms of art as it has in Europe. A book on “Music and Script” was published recently that discusses how Iranian music is inspired and influenced by Nastaliq Script (one of the main calligraphic hands used in writing the Persian-Arabic script).
“I believe that’s a fairly accurate interpretation,” said the musician on the book. “To me, the note La is blue, the sound of oboe is green, Rast Panjgah (the name of a musical mode or scale in Persian and related systems of music) is gold, Avaz-e-Isfahan (another Persian musical mode) is amber, and Shur (a third musical mode) is also green”.
Vahdat Hall (also known as Roudaki Hall) is on Tehran’s Ostad Shahriyar Street.
