V&A Friday Late: Night of Norouz

Delfina Foundation residents Pedram Baldari and Babak Golkar, present new site-specific artworks for the V&A’s Friday Late with MasterCard, in celebration of Norouz (Persian New Year). Co-commissioned in partnership with Magic of Persia, the works will be showcased at the V&A only for this event. Night of Norouz was presented in collaboration with the Iran Heritage Foundation.

About the works

Pedram Baldari: The Case (2012)
The Case was an interactive installation in the V&A’s Raphael Room that resembled a giant Balance Board made up of 86 Maze Ball games. This artwork refers to complex balancing acts in the Iranian political system. The layout of the Maze Ball games, which make up the surface of the artwork, nods toward geometric motifs found in Iran. The audience is invited to participate by standing on The Case; they are challenged to navigate each ball through its own wooden labyrinth in order achieve 86 goals simultaneously!

Babak Golkar: Mechanisms of Disorientation: TOWARDS A FRAGMENTED UNDERSTANDING (2012)
This installation reflected on and distorted notions of space and cultural reflexivity. Babak used the top half of a disco ball rotating on a plinth, reflecting and refracting light and images taken from parts of the V&A Museum. Reflecting on past histories vis-a-vie contemporary objects, Babak drew a parallel between how we observe history in relation to affairs in contemporary culture.