Fariborz Karimi
wpZimmer resident in 2025
Fariborz Karimi (Tehran, 1990) is a theater maker, performer, and writer based in Amsterdam. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Theater Directing and Acting from Tehran University in 2013 and graduated with a master’s degree from DAS Theater (Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten) in 2023.
Fariborz’s artistic practice explores the intersection of reality and dreams, questioning self-censorship in different contexts, influenced by his personal experiences. His recent works bridge physical spaces through remote collaborations, collective creations, and the use of sound, text, and video to activate the audience’s imagination. He addresses socio-political questions through autobiographical and fictional narratives, blurring the boundaries between dream and reality. His graduation piece, Oh, Wild Gazelle, Where Are You? (2023), was nominated for the AHK Graduation Awards. In 2024, he received the prestigious 3 Package Deal from AFK (Amsterdam Fund for the Arts).
In Iran, Fariborz co-founded Bohemi Theatre Collective, creating performances such as I Can’t Imagine Tomorrow (2015) and Medea (2016-2018). His work has been presented at international festivals and venues including ITs Festival (NL), ITFOK Kerala (India), ACT Bilbao (Spain), BOZAR (Belgium), and Festival Cement (NL).
His projects have been supported by residences like Workspace Brussels (Belgium), HELLERAU (Germany), BUDA (Belgium), and Theater Rotterdam (welcome to our guest house).
Collaborators during wpZimmer residency in February 2025: Mona Ahmadi, Aria Baghestani, Lou Seidel, and Amirhossein Sadeghzadeh
projects
Whispered Dreams
Whispered Dreams began as a series of letters and texts exchanged between Mona (a writer and actress based in Tehran) and Fariborz. They are close friends and members of the same collective that has been active in Tehran since 2011. Starting from these texts, they are revisiting their connection, friendship, and artistic collaboration, considering gender and lived experiences—Fariborz’ in Amsterdam and hers in Tehran. Due to the distance, their collaboration takes place remotely, which presents certain challenges in their creative process and performative setups. This distance is integral to the concept of the work, posing challenges, particularly in relation to audience interaction.
’Friendship’ and ‘Self-censorship’ are the central themes they explore in Whispered Dreams where they question different aspects of friendship and self-censorship as concepts and examine how to translate it into a physical space while engaging audience members.
extra info
Project type: Performance, theatre
Language: English
Duration: 75 min.
Age: 14+
