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Nikta Mohammadi: Windcatcher & Gargoyles

‘Windcatcher & Gargoyles’ in white text on a black background in Farsi and English.

Nikta Mohammadi (she/her) is an artist and producer who works with moving image, performance, writing and sound. Mohammadi’s practice is rooted in her dreams and the splendour of mundane details of day-to-day life. Previously, she has explored themes of dislocation, intimacy and loss with a playful approach to how language is constructed and used in her work.

Mohammadi leads us down and up a twisting, staggered path in the story of Windcatcher & Gargoyles, produced for her PANIC! project. Combining elements from Iranian, Islamic and Gothic horror literature together with local myths and legends from Calderdale, West Yorkshire, Mohammadi has created a new myth that reflects on her life in today’s Britain.

The work takes influence from Zār, a custom originating in cultures of the Horn of Africa and nearby regions of the Middle East, which personifies the wind(s) as a spirit(s) that can possess humans. The story is told through first person narration accompanied by an experiential and emotive soundtrack. Mohammadi has created the work predominantly using photographs which contrast with video, animation, performance and dance sequences.

One of the benefits of living in a valley is that you’re always coming up…"

Nikta Mohammadi, Director: (story, image, cast)

Story: Babak Mirsalari

Image: Tobias Bode

Sound & Music: Babak Mirsalari

Tanbur: Hossein Kouyar

Cast: Nikta Mohammadi, Babak Mirsalari, Mahshid Alavi, Shadi Jaryan, Hossein Kouyar, Alireza Mohammadi

Animation: David McShane

Titles & graphics: Golnoosh Mirsalari

Colour: Halo Jones

Costume: Shaghayegh Fallah

Makeup: Shadi Jaryan

With thanks to: Bella Probyn, Jenny Handley, John Billingsley, Harlan Whittingham, Steven Cairns, Sonia Moran, The Tetley

Discover the other PANIC! bursary artists

This work is presented as part of the PANIC! (Promoting an Artists’ Network in the Crisis) series of bursaries.

Earlier this year, PANIC! awarded a group of artists in Leeds City Region £5,000 and £1,000 bursaries to support the making of a new contemporary visual artwork or project. The bursaries offered space to create a voice and help us think through the new psychological, social and cultural conditions we face today.

You can find the work of artists Edd Carr, Charlotte Cullen, Tyvin Haque, ROMA, Lottie Sadd, and Mathew Wayne Parkin here.

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