{"id":36702,"date":"2025-08-14T18:08:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T22:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=36702"},"modified":"2025-08-14T18:08:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T22:08:54","slug":"immersive-experience-lands-at-aurora-cultural-centre-in-sabzeh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/immersive-experience-lands-at-aurora-cultural-centre-in-sabzeh\/","title":{"rendered":"Immersive experience lands at Aurora Cultural Centre in \u201cSabzeh\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An immersive, multi-sensory experience lands at the Aurora Cultural Centre this week, looking at the spirit of growth at renewal through a Persian lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSabzeh\u201d is a new multi-artist exhibition brought together by Parisa Sabet and Laura Friedman, inspired by Omid Fallahazad\u2019s short story of the same name, which opens this Thursday, August 14, in the Homeroom Galleries. It blends traditional media like textiles and dance with contemporary media ranging from video projection to soundscapes, \u201cmeditating on the themes of rebirth and renewal, connection to the past, and the strength found in community,\u201d says the Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt invites the viewer to look inward and reflect on the threads of interconnection that bind us to one another \u2013 and to all living things,\u201d say organizers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Installation of the expansive show began last week and Gallery Manager Samantha Jones says the initial vision of the show evolved as more artists became involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was initially proposed as a meditation labyrinth,\u201d says Jones, who said the further development of the project only dovetailed further with the Centre\u2019s vision. \u201cOur dream for the galleries was to eventually take on projects that included multimedia and new media practices, as well as traditional media. I think in the setting of an old heritage building, you don\u2019t expect to come across new media works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the project was initially proposed, it had traditional practices, but Parisa had also proposed a soundscape, and that really intrigued us because our spaces had been used for concerts before. They’re really great spaces for sound. It’s a project that fell on our lap at the right time, and we were waiting for an artist with the background to really pull it off \u2013 and Parisa is one of those people. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts, a Master of Music and Composition, and a Master of Music, Technology, and Digital Media from the University of Toronto. She is very in-depth into the field, very successful, and would be the right person in Aurora to pull this project off at the Homeroom Galleries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As installation continues, Jones says lighting has never been used in the Cultural Centre in quite the way it is in this show. Friedman has redirected lights to flow through her textile works to create shadows on the wall. The result, she says, is transformative and modern, but it also considers tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story that inspired it all boasts a title that loosely translates to \u201csprouts,\u201d typically grains or legumes, often used as a symbol of growth and renewal in the observance of Nowruz, the Persian New Year \u2013 a time for togetherness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe project itself meditates on the themes of rebirth and renewal, and also connections to the past and the strength that is found in community,\u201d says Jones. \u201cPart of the message is there is strength in the diversity in our community. I think in times of hardship, it\u2019s important for people to physically bond and come together. They\u2019ve really shown that by including artists that are all across different walks of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI encourage everyone to stop by and take part in tending the sabzeh as well. There will be some instructions set up and folks can literally help with growing sabzeh in the exhibition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSabzeh\u201d will formally open this Thursday, August 14, at the Aurora Cultural Centre with an opening reception from 6.30 \u2013 8 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Artist-Poet Gathering will be hosted within the exhibition on Wednesday, August 27, from 7 \u2013 9 p.m. where local artists, poets and other participants are invited to create spontaneous written or visual responses to the various artworks around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closing out the show on Sunday, October 19, will be a closing panel featuring Sabet, Friedmann, participating artists and creatives Bahia Marks, Rah Eleh, and Olya Glotka, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For full information, visit auroraculturalcentre.ca\/sabzeh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An immersive, multi-sensory experience lands at the Aurora Cultural Centre this week, looking at the spirit of growth at renewal through a Persian lens. \u201cSabzeh\u201d is a new multi-artist exhibition brought together by Parisa Sabet and Laura Friedman, inspired by Omid Fallahazad\u2019s short story of the same name, which opens this Thursday, August 14, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-08-14-06.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9xY","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-09 15:49:59","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36702"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36704,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36702\/revisions\/36704"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}