Girls of the Iranian Diaspora: Reimagining Joy, Rage & the Politics of Beauty

To coincide with the exhibition GIRLS. On Boredom, Rebellion and Being In-Between, MoMu invites you to a series of evenings curated by Belgian-Iranian theatre and filmmaker Sachli Gholamalizad, who previously curated Where We Are for the museum.

The project emerged from the desire to bring together the fragmented voices of the Iranian diaspora. Many of us, as diaspora artists, live across countries, languages, and contexts, often in isolation. Our visibility is frequently shaped by a Western gaze that simplifies or exoticizes complexity.

This curation offers a temporary, intimate community in which the artists determine how they wish to be visible. During the evenings, they bring their work together through performance, movement, sound, and ritual, moving between joy and rage, loss and desire.

Each evening concludes with a conversation among the artists, inviting reflection and dialogue. Girls of the Iranian Diaspora: Reimagining Joy, Rage & the Politics of Beauty explores its own mode of presence, beyond the gaze often directed at us.

Sachli Gholamalizad is a Belgian-Iranian theater and film artist. Her acclaimed trilogy A Reason to Talk, (Not) My Paradise, and Let Us Believe in the Beginning of the Cold Season toured internationally. She previously curated the museum takeover Where We Are at MoMu and develops sound work with Iranian poetry alongside her theater, film, and television projects.

Sadaf Malyar, an artist from the Afghan diaspora, uses food to explore memory, care, and collective experience. Ingredients function as a living archive where migration, femininity, and resilience converge. For Girls of the Iranian Diaspora, she creates evening rituals around light and dark, using food to invite the audience to slow down, connect, and be present.

Maryam Keyhani, based in Berlin, started as a painter and sculptor before turning to hat-making when she could not find headwear that suited her. She developed a theatrical, art-infused fashion practice. Her hats and accessories blur fashion and performance, act as playful protection and small pockets of joy, and have received international recognition.

Shahab Azinmehr, born in 1985 in Tehran, holds a Bachelor in Restoration of Historical Monuments and a Master in Persian Music Performance. Singing led him to the Tar and Setar. He has performed at festivals, concerts, and albums, is a member of the Orpheus XXI ensemble under Jordi Savall, and released his first solo album Showq-e Mastur.

Roshanak Morrowatian is a dancer, performer, and choreographer with a Bachelor in Dance and a Master in Dance Composition from the Folkwang University of the Arts. She worked with Marina Abramović and Pina Bausch and created work for De Nationale Opera and Holland Festival. Her work explores identity, diaspora, memory, and belonging, with the dancing body as an archive and source of resistance.

Katayoun, based in Amsterdam, is an Iranian-Dutch DJ, selector, and curator. She collects Iranian vinyl, cassettes, and CDs, which open doors to other cultural and temporal worlds. Her work treats the archiving of feminist music as a living process of reinterpretation and activation, inviting listeners to discover unheard sounds and new perspectives.