Month: June 2025

From prison to Safe Haven and the rebirth of an artist

Since 2011, Pouya has expanded his work to include theatre, juggling the roles of musician, actor and director. His music has gradually transitioned into the more experimental and electronic realms. In May of 2024, he travelled to Norway to partake in Safemuse’s Safe Haven artistic residency program. The first part of his artistic residency was spent in the idyllic coastal town of Hvitsten, organised in collaborations with our local partner Hvitsten Salong. Thereafter, Pouya has spent the second part of his residency in Oslo, in collaboration with our partner Nordic Black Theatre.  

Through the Safe Haven program, Pouya has continued to evolve as a multidisciplinary artist and developing his creative practice through a blend of music, performance and theatre. Since arriving in Norway as an artist-in-residence, he has composed several works and performed at Ultimafestivalen – the largest contemporary music festival in the Nordic region, as well as Hvitsten Salong and at Caféteatret.

— When I arrived Norway and could breathe out after so many years of living in a state of exception and survival mode, I also realised that I was worn-out after having denied and neglected my own needs and wellbeing. I realised the constant fear I had been living under and how worn-out I was. Living in Hvitsten surrounded by beautiful nature, I was for the first time feeling everything I had not had the chance to feel prior to arriving Norway, especially related to my experience in prison and how hard it had actually been, Pouya says.

The residency coordinator in Safemuse Jon Lundell, is one of many that have worked with Pouya since his arrival to Norway and been impressed by his dedication, versatility and courage to explore new artistic directions:

— Pouya have been exploring and digging deeper in composing new music for different scenes in Oslo and Hvitsten; commissioned work that has challenged him to seek new ways of composing and combining digital and analog instruments and sounds. He has also taken the work with his play Prison Episodes further and is developing it with different artists and partners.

In 2015, Pouya released his first album “Lullaby and Down the Quod” based on his own experience as a political prisoner. His second album, “Prison Episodes” (check out the Bandcamp link), which was released in 2019, was inspired by his study of other Iranian prisoners’ experiences. During his residency in Norway, Pouya’s main artistic ambition is to complete his project Prison Episodes which he has been developing over many years. Together with Safemuse, partners and other artists, Pouya is planning a multidisciplinary performance that combines music, dance, theatre and visual technology to tell the story of the tragedy of political prisoners and their subjection to torture, suffering, solicitations and death. On top of that, he has also begun to record a new album, which he hopes to release in 2026.

Pouya says he has learned a lot of things through the Safemuse residency, not just artistically, but about life and himself:

— I love my culture and I cannot cut that string, but now I am in a position to decide how I want to work with it and to tell my story. To have artistic freedom now is a totally new feeling for me. I didn’t know how it would feel. When I look back at this short period I have worked in freedom, I can see that things have started changing in the ways that I think and create art. When you no longer have barriers in your mind, you starts to think differently and your passions start changing. With no imposed limitations, I think my artistic language has already started to change. I feel like the blinds are gone. While I have been working on my newest album, I can see that I am going in new directions that I would never have imagined before.

Safemuse looks forward to continue the collaboration with Pouya and share more about his upcoming events and projects!