Conquest of the Garden
“A world revealed in slivers of light, like the pages of a book. If, at times, we are jump cutting and feeling fractured, at others we anchor to points deeper than dance theatre. ”
Conquest of the Garden is an interdisciplinary dance presentation on the work of feminist Iranian poet Forough Farrakhzad, challenging preconceptions of Middle Eastern women’s identity in contemporary multicultural Australia.
Working with diverse female artists, Nebahat Erpolat, Hellen Sky, Sahra Davoodi and Victoria Chi, this intercultural and intergenerational project explores the central ideas from Farrakhzad’s poem, subscribing these onto the moving body to uncover the transgressive power of poetry and dance to underpin connection across cultures.
This work investigates questions about women’s roles in our society and centers women’s subjective voices as architects of their own lived experience. The melding of artistic forms through poetry, dance and sound enable experimentation with women’s voices, and a powerful reclamation of female identity.
Choreography by Nebahat Erpolat
Performers: Sahra Davoodi, Hellen Sky, Victoria Chiu, and Nebahat Erpolat.
What people are saying about Conquest of the Garden
“Desire and freedom, tinged with constraint and tragedy was expressed so well in Erpolat’s creation. A hallmark of her choreography is the lack of stable meaning to grasp, multiple perspectives and counter- narratives are explored through the dancer’s bodies and voices.“
— Leila Lois, Australian Arts Review
“My partner and I came and loved your dance work and we spoke about it after the show. We thank you for shining a light to our stories from our culture.”
— Anahita Amouzegar, Iranian visual artist based in Melbourne
“It was a remarkable work that was ambitious and stunning. The level of skill in bringing all the many complex elements together was incredible to see. I enjoyed seeing the strong connection between the women performers and different dynamics that each brought. It compelling to watch the women perform and obvious that they deeply connected to the work and to each other.”
— Carol Brown, Head of VCA Dance at the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, dancer, choreographer, artist-scholar and director from Aotearoa
“My partner John is from a very artistic family (his father wrote, plays, articles and painted – his mother was very fond of dance and music) – he is well versed, in all forms of the arts and is a frequent visitor to galleries and performances. He was drawn into your performance and we continued talking about it throughout the weekend. As Edgar Degas said ‘Art is not what you see but what you make other see’. Your work was open and complex in its form – leaving a lot for interpretation by the audience. In participating in the performance we each saw some of our own life histories”
— Carole Shaw, International Social Development Professional & Lead – Action for Gender Equality Partnerships at Gender Equity Victoria
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body and is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.
Sound Artist: Roland Cox
Stage Design: Collette Burke
Light Design: Richard Paul Varbe
Performed at Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre, 2022