Music:
MENTRIX
A bold, female energy shines across the Mentrix universe.
Mentrix writes and performs evocative electronic music, indebted to the propulsive rhythms and folkloric tonalities of her native Iran. Born in 1981 in Tehran, the self-taught multi-instrumentalist was drawn to daf drumming through the teachings of Islamic Sufism. Having grown up between Iran and France, Mentrix (real name Samar Rad) effortlessly incorporates a wide-ranging, dynamic sonic palette on each of her recorded works.
Having began as a featured artist, lending her idiosyncratic vocal performances to a handful of close colleagues, Rad quickly shifted focus to recording original material of her own. Inspired, flowing studio sessions gradually birthed songs launching her exploration into Middle-Eastern musical timbres and textures – a process which has resulted in “My Enemy My Love”, the singer-songwriter’s debut album to be released next year. Featuring sacred rudiments, odes to ancient rituals and collaborations with both Eastern and Western musicians, “My Enemy My Love” is a future-leaning ode to origin – a breakthrough for Rad and her Mentrix project.
Art:
SAMIRA HODAEI
Born in Iran in 1981, Samira Hodaei graduated from Alzahra Art University in 2007. Her tapestry-like paintings have a distinctive look and have been part of solo and group exhibitions in Europe, USA, UAE, Asia, and Australia. Hodaei’s paintings combine graphics and glass paint; a unique blend that distinguishes the artist’s work. After few residencies in Zurich at the Oryx Foundation, Hodaei moved to Berlin in 2017. As an artist in residence in Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Hodaei began to experiment with installations. The dialogue that Hodaei seeks to trigger around and through her work takes a much widerstand with Presence of an Absence. Moving her work from Swiss galleries and international art fairs to the public realm is a first in Iran. Hodaei’s work has been bought by collectors across the world since 2013.
Due to the difficulties in film production under the political conditions of the new age, censorship, the banning of foreign films, and a devastating fire, the once so lively center of cultural exchange now faces imminent demolition. With her highly impressive symbolic reconstruction of the cinema, Hodaei has created a universal space of remembrance in Berlin – a decidedly artistic manifestation against forgetfulness, and for coming together and free exchange between people all over the world.
