Season 2, EPISODE 4: RAHELEH FILSOOFI :|: immense, boundless, and limitless

This episode features a conversation with host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Raheleh Filsoofi.

Raheleh is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Born in Tehran and raised during the post-Islamic Revolution era and eight years of war with Iraq that followed, she is a keen observer of the world, integrating the subtleties of experiences within her performances and art.

When we spoke, Raheleh was in her third week of an artist residency at MacDowell in New Hampshire. She had recently completed an incredible year that included multiple significant exhibitions and performances, and as part of her residency she was taking time to reflect on the work she had completed in the past year.

Be sure to listen to the end of our conversation where she shares part of her newest poem.

To learn more about Raheleh follow her on Instagram @rahafilsoofi and check out her website www.rahelehfilsoofi.com

Notes from the show:
Fragile handle with care: https://www.rahelehfilsoofi.com/blank
Bite: https://www.rahelehfilsoofi.com/bite
Say Their Names: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0d0IJMTdE4

Podcast: www.theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com Instagram: @theartistinmeisdeadpodcast
Host Information: www.rhondawillers.com Instagram: @r_willers

Studio Mix #15 :|: Raheleh Filsoofi
Reza Filsoofi: Whispers of Persia
Bamboo Water Fountain 24/7
Best Oud Instrumentals (Mixed by Billy Esteban)
National Arab Orchestra - Ahwak - Chadi Kassem
Erkan Ogur

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2kQf78hfOk3QVxHKFasYWO

Raheleh Filsoofi’s Biography:
Filsoofi is collector of soil and sound, an itinerant artist, and a feminist curator. Her geographical, disciplinary and conceptual practice take on critical narratives about movement, immigration, and social activism. Clay and sound are the nexus of her practice and act as expressive mediums, with their cryptic and architectural qualities engendering new narratives through diverse aesthetic strategies such as multimedia installations and immersive sound performances. Her art disrupts the borders that exist between us and seeks a more inclusive world, illuminating and challenging policies and politics.

Her current and recent exhibitions include Imagined Boundaries, an interactive multimedia installation at Gibbes Museum in Charleston, SC (2023-2024), and Only Sound Remains, an interactive multimedia installation at the Sharjah Biennial 15, Thinking Historically in the Present in Sharjah, UAE (2023).

Filsoofi’s Imagined Boundaries, a multimedia installation, consisting of two separate exhibitions, debuted concurrently in a solo exhibition at the Abad Gallery in Tehran and group exhibition Dual Frequency at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Florida in 2017. The installation in each country connected audiences in the U.S. and Iran for few hours in the night of the show opening.

Raheleh's project, 'Listening: The Fourth String,' in collaboration with musician Reza Filsoofi, introduces an interactive instrument and platform called ShahTár. Through public performances, it highlights the contributions of the silenced Iranian musician and Sufi, Moshtagh Ali Shah, to music while emphasizing the power of listening to drive community engagement and promote social change.

She has been the 2022 Winner of the 1858 Contemporary Southern Art Award and the recipient of the 2021 Southern Prize Tennessee State Fellowship. She is an Assistant Professor of Ceramics in the Department of Art at Vanderbilt University and holds the secondary appointment at the Blair School of Music. She received her M.F.A. in Fine Arts from Florida Atlantic University and a B.F.A. in Ceramics from Al-Zahra University in Tehran, Iran.

Episode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com