A Hidden World

James Fairfax Theatre

Canberra International Music Festival and Rubiks Collective present Gemma Peacocke’s Waves & Lines at the National Gallery’s James Fairfax Theatre.

Waves & Lines is a multimedia song cycle for soprano, electronics, and chamber ensemble based on a tradition of Afghan women’s folk poetry. Collected in the book I Am the Beggar of the World: Landays From Contemporary Afghanistan, the poems offer a surprising and vivid glimpse into the lives of women existing under the watch of an ultraconservative regime. Exploring the distance, anonymity, and strange intimacy of phone calls, text messages, and radio broadcasts in which the poems are shared, the song cycle features fixed electronics, projections and the stunning vocals of Persian born, Melbourne based performer Gelareh Pour.

The performance is followed by a panel discussion led by Genevieve Jacobs AM with Virginia Haussegger AM, Gelareh Pour and Professor Amin Saikal.

Artists:

Gelareh Pour

Rubiks Collective:

Kaylie Melville, percussion

Jacob Abela, keyboards

Hamish Gullick, bass

Accompanying projections by Anchuli Felicia King