Aida Foroutan

B. 1976, painter/art historian, lived in Iran, Sweden & UK, MA Theatre Studies, PhD Art History, now Lecturer in Persian Literature U. of Manchester.

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Happy Birthday Everyone! 😁 https://www.instagram.com/p/CCAqPdbA9vC/?igshid=wyyovget52ty

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Give the #Coronavirus the sanitized Finger بیلاخ بهداشتی به #ویروس_کرونا #Irispseudacorus #زنبق_مردابی (at Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-FvZEpgM_N/?igshid=1ac2ndxm736qn

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نوروز خجسته Amnesty International: “Thinking of you at #Nowrouz time ✨ Now more than ever—in times of a global pandemic—let's be socially distant but together.” https://www.instagram.com/p/B99DYq6AYeL/?igshid=je9dn331hqxa

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My dear friends, I still have to go to work, so I can’t self isolate, but I know many of you are going through it and it’s not an easy journey. We are all trying to push the fear away and keep ourselves safe physically and mentally. It’s harder for some of us, finding themselves very lonely - I know I do sometimes. That’s why I thought it’s a good opportunity to break the habit of not just picking the phone and calling someone for a chat. We are so used to texts these days, but it’s a chilly medium. If you have my phone number, give me a call if you’d like a chat - can be just a quick hi and goodbye or longer. If I don’t answer it’s because I’m at work, but I’ll call you back. There’s even FaceTime and WhatsApp if you really wanna go wild! 🤩 Image: Phone Conversation, Svetlana Kurmaz, Oil on Canvas, 100x80 cm, 2014 دوستان عزیزم، من هنوز هم باید سر کار بروم، و امکان خود قرنطینگی در حال حاضر موجود نیست، ولی می‌دانم که بسیاری از شما خود را ایزوله کرده‌اید، و می‌دانم که کار آسانی نیست. همه ما به نوعی در تلاش هستیم تا بر هراس‌هایمان غلبه کرده و سلامت جسمی و روحی خود را حفظ کنیم. این امر برای برخی از ما که خود را تنها احساس می‌کنند سخت‌تر از دیگران است – خود من گاهی احساس تنهایی می‌کنم. به همین جهت فکر کردم که شاید این فرصت خوبی باشد که عادت قدیمی تماس تلفنی برای گپ‌های دوستانه را زنده کنیم. ما این روزها خیلی به فرستادن پیام و پیامک‌ عادت کرده‌ایم، که بسیار سرد و بی‌روح‌اند. اگر شماره تلفن من را دارید و اگر مایل هستید، برای گپی کوتاه با من حتما تماس بگیرید - می‌توانیم به سلام و خداحافظی مختصر اکتفا کرده، و یا طولانی‌تر صحبت کنیم. اگر جواب ندادم به احتمال زیاد سر کار هستم، و در اسرع وقت با شما تماس خواهم گرفت. از طریق واتساپ یا فیس‌تایم هم می‌توانیم ارتباطمان را برقرار کنیم. https://www.instagram.com/p/B91TIxuA_zO/?igshid=rw3ym6d6px39

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6:30 am this morning. Can you spot the moon? https://www.instagram.com/p/B9m1PiSgHor/?igshid=7r0ay1decwkx

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Happy International Women’s Day to all of you awesome, strong, and hard working women. (at Planet Earth) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9dyEoYA12C/?igshid=jgxy4otp3iqa

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On Saturday (15 February) we celebrated the life of Nejad Ahmadzadeh (31 December 1925-6 December 2019), the founder of the National Ballet Academy of Iran (1956) and the first General Manager of the Roudaki Hall Opera House (1967). The day was filled with many amazing and entertaining anecdotes about him, told to us by his sons Nader and Hormoz, and his grandsons Jordan and Alex — it felt as if he was present in the room. He was a great man and his cultural legacy, together with that of his wife Aida, joint cultural legacy is most valuable and precious to the arts of Iran. I hope younger generations of Iranians will treasure this legacy. Yesterday, as we sat remembering him, I was thinking how, since the Iranian Revolution, Iranians working in cultural sectors have become alienated from their pioneers, some of whom, like Nejad, had to leave Iran and go into exile. Although dance as an art form is still banned in Iran, I make this plea, that when you go to Roudaki Hall, which is now renamed “Vahdat”, please remember Nejad, as we all owe him great debt of gratitude and respect for what we may sometimes take for granted. It would all have been so different without his amazing efforts and achievements, and those of others like him — a fact that Revolutionaries have tried to disguise and conceal. Please read the book Roudaki Hall 67-79, and also that of his wife Aida, My Life as A Persian Ballerina, to learn more about two extraordinary artistic lives. (at The Lowry) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8pKguwgp5l/?igshid=19bag1120q6gw

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The weather for love هوای عاشقی #هوای_عاشقی #theweatherforlove (at Manchester, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8bsxAIAZt7/?igshid=nxytzeqaq9vi

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This photo is not taken by me, but by my beloved brother Peyman, who always sends me photos of the beautiful Alborz mountains whenever he goes skiing. This is a breathtaking picture of Damavand, wearing a fluffy hat of clouds (or is it a halo?), taken from Dizin ski resort. Apart from the photos I feature in (and I don’t take selfies), I only put the ones I have taken them myself – but this picture has a very special meaning to me. In the old days, when the pollution wasn’t as bad as it is now in Tehran, I could often see Damavad, especially during my university days as I was sitting in a taxi going Eastbound every morning. Damavand was always magnificent and I felt my heart beating faster and I could feel warm blood running through my veins whenever I greeted it. Around 21-22 years ago, as I was preparing to leave Iran for good I had one of my most beautiful dreams – that dream has kept me alive throughout all the hardships of being a migrant and a human. In my dream I was standing next to my brother holding hands and we were both little (regardless of our age gap in reality), and there was a worldly and gracious old lady sitting on an old fashioned comfortable high armchair looking out of the window. It was similar to those 19th century Persian tall windows. At first I was mesmerised just looking at her and her gaze, and couldn’t see what was beyond the window. The lady told us, look at Damavand and remember it. Be as solid as Damavand! ‎‏‎!همچون دماوند استوار باش ‎‏What I saw in my dream was very much like this image. Then in the blinking of an eye I was sitting on that armchair and I was that old lady. ‎‏It has been a hell of a time for me and many of my countrymen, as Iran is going through a lot, but I soothe myself to remember it’s volatile history that hasn’t seen peaceful days for thousands of years. In these hopeless times, in which my fear of war keeps me awake at night, I console myself with the real beauties of Iran’s culture and nature beyond its ugly politics. This keeps me sane and alive. If you haven’t seen Damavand, I hope you will – words are not enough to describe its glory. ‎‏#Damavand #DamavandMountain #Dizin #DizinSkiResort ‎#دماوند (at Dizin, Tehran, Iran) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7uKpnOgCfr/?igshid=1m75cggy9km10

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I saw a flock of wild geese flying across my window as I was setting off this evening and told myself “this is an auspicious sign!” THE MANCHESTER OPEN exhibition opened tonight, and I was lucky to have one painting in it; I repeat –one painting– in the exhibition. It was funny – I was so overwhelmed that I went around the exhibition twice and couldn’t find my own painting. 500 works had been selected out of over 2000 entries, from artists age 8 to 93, from all around #GreaterManchester. This was the first time I’ve ever seen people queuing up to see an exhibition by local living artists. Artists were also given a certificate, which I think is a sweet idea... because in a way it confirms our existence in a world that otherwise rather denies us! I had chats with some of the amazing artists, and I realised how important such exhibitions are; some were over the moon to be acknowledged as artists after a lifetime of being ignored. For me as an outsider, and after 13 years living here, this was the first time I’ve felt acknowledged as a Mancunian. It’s wonderful to be a tiny thread in the Greater Manchester cultural tapestry.    A little note about my baby on display that even I lost in the crowd: ‘Disappearance’ is one of the toughest and saddest of all the paintings I’ve ever created, so that my fingers grew numb and cold in the process of making it, as it portrays a hanged woman: She is hanging from a window frame (a window as if looking out into outer space); her body is a morbid, not a lively, blue. The central image is a graphic representation, which has unfortunately been seen far too often in recent decades. It is a death, an execution or a suicide, but it is a twisted body, with the body back and front in the same plane showing a contorted reality of death.  As you all know there have been many deaths in my tragic homeland recently and, even though I made this work years ago, it is still very relevant.  Finally, thanks to @AnneLouiseKershaw and the team @homemcr – you did an amazing job in creating a space for the artistic community in Manchester.  #manchesteropen #manchesteropen2020 (at HOMEmcr) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7cCB-OgmIc/?igshid=5fdv9byjnsgv

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‏از رنجی خسته‌ام ‏که ازآنِ من نیست ‏بر خاکی نشسته‌ام ‏که ازآنِ من نیست ‏با نامی زیسته‌ام ‏که ازآنِ من نیست ‏از دردی گریسته‌ام ‏که ازآنِ من نیست... ‏ به مرگی جان می‌سپارم ‏که ازآنِ من نیست. ‏#شاملو ‎#سقوط_هواپیمای_اوکراینی ‎#تسلیت #Condolences #PS752 #PS752Scandal #UkranianPlaneCrash ‏‌‎ (at Iran) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7LaBPygtsq/?igshid=tmgvwpltvyj0

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Wishing you a perfectly symmetrical and peaceful New Year 2020! May it end as happily as it starts! #HappyNewYear2020 #Symmetrical #Peaceful #NewYear #HappyNewDecade #Happy2020 #HappyNewYear #2020 (at Barcelona, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6wZghHgXcz/?igshid=14fwfmhfnedmm

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Dancing my sparkly socks off with my colleagues at the Christmas party hosted by my workplace. I love this time of year, when most people seem to allow themselves to be slightly silly and have fun without their usual serious reservations about fun 🥳 (at AJ Bell Stadium) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6MTUvIAtzd/?igshid=19x25p83mnvhx

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This is a photo of a dance workshop I was running ‭at the Friezland Hall, organised by ‬Global Grooves. We were collaborating with some wonderful Future Leaders participants, and some distinguished musicians. Initially we were divided into three groups of Persian musicians and trumpet players (melody), drummers, and dancers. Here, we all got together and tried to create something completely new on what we practised earlier. It was an amazing experience to work with highly talented dancers and it was possibly my last artistic activity in 2019.‭ I’m looking forward to further developments of what we achieved on that session, and hopefully some gigs for next year. ‬ Thanks to Holly, Jordan and everyone else for the very productive day. Image by Dionne Cyprus. Courtesy Holly Prest / Future Leaders / Global Grooves. #FutureLeaders #GlobalGrooves #music #dance #workshop (at Saddleworth) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6JHp_FgOPP/?igshid=4yyquxlx0cc9

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Meet Snowy - Tintin is under my hat. #Snowy #Tintin https://www.instagram.com/p/B5SaX79AbjX/?igshid=1p3j67rgej3t8

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Have you got a your own very personal heroine? Have you had the chance of spending a lovely afternoon over coffee and cookies in her company. Well, I hope you have or will, but I was fortunate enough to meet my heroine once again after 10 years and I was hoping time would freeze so I could listen and soak her up and learn more and more. Haideh Ahmadzadeh, aka Aida, was a pioneering Persian Ballerina. Born in 1930, she is a living treasure, living in Manchester. Her stories are mesmerizing, and her presence is inspiring. She and her devoted husband, Nejad, founded a Ballet Academy, the Iranian National Ballet Company and Iranian Folk Dance, Music and Song Group before the Iranian Revolution. Her persistence in her career is a lesson to anyone; “...adjust yourself and do not moan”. I’ll try to remind myself of that when I feel like moaning. I will tell you more about her literally “magical” path, but for the moment just look her up. Thanks to Aida’s son, Hormoz, for making today possible. It was unforgettable. #PersianBallerina #PersianDance #dance #ballet #ballerina (at Manchester, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4lEvEGgywC/?igshid=1llizwofaw7f9

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This week we had a student visit to the exhibition followed by discussions organised by Dr Jana Wendler. It was a thought-provoking encounter and enabled us as artists to reflect on the exhibition, together with the curators and this group of undergraduate students. I would be interested to know what they got out of the conversations. It definitely made me think from a different view that I am grateful for. #BeyondFaith #WhitworthArtGallery #theWhitworth @whitworthlearn @whitworthart Photos by Shabs (at Whitworth Art Gallery) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4HbFHlg9lh/?igshid=25t7s4g05onp