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.

Antonean Diaz, a multidisciplinary artist of Belizean and Persian heritage, works in painting, sculpture, and performance. Raised in Iran and now living in Paris, she explores personal history, cultural duality, and diasporic memory. Her work combines classical techniques with experimental, symbolic imagery that is intimate, dreamlike, and reflective.

Ozi Ozar, born in Tehran, is a queer theater-maker and professional, living in Berlin and Frankfurt. They studied theater and film directing in Tehran and dramaturgy in Frankfurt. Ozi’s work combines comedy, interactive theater, and social media platforms as a stage, exploring identity, queerness, and political discourses. They are part of the Woman* Life Freedom Collective.

Meshkat Mosavat, better known as Meshcut, comes from the underground scene of Tehran and is now active in Paris. She blends vocals and synthesizers into dreamy, raw electronic soundscapes. Her performance is intimate, hypnotic, and charged with a subtle tension that slowly seeps under the skin.