How did this grant contribute to the realization of your project in regard to artistic exchange, local cultural development and/or the promotion of cultural diversity?

I believe that expenses for such trips are a big part of the artists' budget, so when we can win a fund like this we would be able to invest it on our project in order to overcome shortcomings in the terms of credit and it can help us a lot to develop more ideas and to plan for more in the future. Cultural exchange is an inevitable phenomenon when artists from different nationalities and cultures travel back and forth to other localities; for my case and my field of activity, this is evident since different cultures have their own style of dance (best said choreography), therefore when I travelled to France, I became able to learn about they way they look at the same subject (philosophy). Moreover, it was and still is a great opportunity to know artists from other countries (even other than France); I mean to refer to the people who were coming from other countries for the same audition (24 participants overall). Regardless of the language barriers, which is not a great issue in the case of dance (which has it's own language), there were not too much obstacles for us to learn from each others; it surely contribute to the artistic exchange on the first and last steps. I believe cultural diversity becomes possible when artists are able to travel and to bring their experiences to their local scenes for art, this happens both consciously and unconsciously; this can even impact the other artists', too.

How does exchange, networking and international contacts contribute to the development of your artistic and cultural project?

Well, this cultural exchange has a great value because together with other participants, we were able to learn a lot from each other; for my case it was so important to look at the works that I am developing from different angels. In fact, the feedbacks that I received from both the jury team and the participants were priceless. I learned that in the case of performance art, dance, theater and choreography, France has a high position, especially in the terms of philosophy; so the very first effect was that I had is that, I am now considering more and more aspects when I approach Art in the broad sense. This is surely a matter of experience.

Can you elaborate on the learning and knowledge you have gained and shared throughout this experience?

I learned a lot about the interdisciplinary nature of our field of activity, and the creative use of different media, in a way that I was questioning myself it that would fit into the context of choreography and dance or not. It is good to note that this was not my first trip to France, Montpellier and I learned about many techniques on my trips prior to this one but this audition which was my first one, helped me a lot to learn about the interdisciplinary dialogue in which people from different fields and backgrounds work together to develop the work. On the other hand, according to our lives (as Iranians) our taste in art is different (just like people from other nations); this impacts different styles of dance, choreography and music too. I figured out about this from the numerous feedbacks that I received from other participants during the audition. Many of the participants like what I did, as they wrote for me; some other was confused because they were not familiar with what I did; some other liked the notion of accident in my work, while one of other participants told me about how my dancing rhythm patterns was odd to them and it was challenging for them to learn about the meaning that I was implying. Another participant was mentioning how I could handle being calm and anxious at the same time. My work was rather appreciated than to be criticized after all.

Please indicate a link to your current work (website/facebook page)

Here is my facebook profile (which I barely check and have checked year ago) but the social networks that I use includes instagram and vimeo at these addresses.

www.instagram.com/pa_siiin
https://vimeo.com/user75579156
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMAXpH-eozZjdiotlJ12RfQ
https://www.facebook.com/parvin.saljoughi