Saman Mahdavi – Curriculum Vitae
Lives and works in Amsterdam
Website: www.samanmahdavi.com
Email: mahdavi.s14@gmail.com
Selected Projects and Performances
2025
My Therapist is a Volcano, solo performance, Fringe Festival, Amsterdam
Oh, Wild Gazelle Where Are You, choreographer, performer and co-creator, in collaboration with
Fariborz Karimi, Plein Theater, Amsterdam
Daddy Party, choreographer, in collaboration with Chupan Atashi, Metro 54, Amsterdam
My Therapist is a Volcano, solo performance, Heaven for Artists, Beirut
My Therapist is a Volcano, solo exhibition, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut
My Therapist is a Volcano, solo performance, Sedakhane, Tehran
Butterfly, choreographer&performer, collaboration with Sara Rashidi, Mezrab, Amsterdam
My Therapist is a Volcano, performer and maker, Frascati, Amsterdam
Swamp, film choreographer, in collaboration with Shreya de Souza, Prospects, Rotterdam
Nieuwe Nieuwsmarkt, writer, Issue 2 of Body Politics, publication, Amsterdam
My Therapist is a Volcano, solo performance and maker, Pelatu Barf, Tehran, Iran
My Therapist is a Volcano, Nowrouz edition photography project, Tehran and Kashan, Iran
2024
Salssasion, choreographer and maker, in collaboration with Ma Collective, Tashweesh Festival,
Beursschouwburg, Brussels
My Therapist is a Volcano, solo, New Radicalism Biennial (A)WAKE, Rotterdam
My Therapist is a Volcano, solo, Motavali, Tehran
Paradise, maker and performer, in collaboration with six other artists, durational seven-hour
performance, C-mine, Genk – performed again at De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam
Oh, Wild Gazelle Where Are You, choreographer, performer and co-creator, in collaboration with
Fariborz Karimi, Cement Festival, Den Bosch
My Therapist is a Volcano, maker and performer, Temple (De Appel), Amsterdam
2023
When the Sea Is Ignited, thermal image exhibition, AHK Cultural Club, Amsterdam
Asfar Storytelling Performance Night, director and curator, Shahre Sookhteh, Sistan, Iran
Walvistraan, dancer and choreographer, in collaboration with Golrokh Nafisi, Framer Framed –
Werkplaats Molenwijk, Amsterdam
Fire Is Not a Metaphor, Fire Is a Manifesto, solo, Barzakh Cultural Space, Beirut, Lebanon
Landscape of [Un]Divine Flames, site-specific performance, Heaven for Artists, Beirut
The View from Here, co-choreographer and performer, in collaboration with Billy Morgan,
Rozenstraat Gallery, Amsterdam
Oh, Wild Gazelle Where Are You, choreographer, performer and co-creator, in collaboration with
Fariborz Karimi, Winter Presentations, DAS Theater, Amsterdam
Thermal Camera Image Research Project, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut
Jin Jiyan Azadi, Continuous Cities, maker and performer, in collaboration with Agne Auzelyte,
Amsterdam University of the Arts, AmsterdamTails of Sisters, performer, poet and co-creator, in collaboration with Parisa Madani, Tanztage
Festival, Sophiensaele, Berlin
SeeeSSes Diary, performer, in collaboration with Antonella Fidpaldi, Come Together Festival,
Frascati, Amsterdam
Carried by Invisible Bodies, poet, performer and maker, in collaboration with Isadora Tomasi, De
Ruimte, Amsterdam
Woman, Life, Freedom, reader and performer, Jina Collective Event, Vrankrijk, Amsterdam
Amulet, performer/actor, in collaboration with Molly Palmer, Het Hem, Amsterdam
Freedom of (Non) Movement, performer, in collaboration with Hilda Moucharrafieh, Longing to
Cross the Horizons, Amsterdam
Fire Is Not a Metaphor, Fire Is a Manifesto, solo, Veem House Performance, Amsterdam
Oh, Wild Gazelle Where Are You, as above in collaboration with Fariborz Karimi, Final Master
Project Presentations, DAS Theater, Amsterdam
2022
Disclosed Reality, collaboration with Fariborz Karimi, Das Theater, Amsterdam
Immortal Cities, maker and performer, Paradise, SNDO, Amsterdam
My First Concert Ever,performer, in collaboration with Jakob Witkowsky, SNDO, Ams
Password, performer, in collaboration with Molly Palmer, Akinci Gallery, Amsterdam
Disclosed Reality, collaboration with Fariborz Karimi (as above), DAS Theater, Amsterdam
From the Moon, director, in collaboration with Negar Ghaffari, ICDCI, Saqqez, Iran
Nowrouz Mobarak, in collaboration with Parisa Madani, Temple Amsterdam, Amsterdam
Pomegranate Garden, maker and performer, SunWet Festival, SNDO, Amsterdam
Sweet Nothings, performer, in collaboration with Billy Morgan, SunWet Festival, SNDO
Nowrouz Mobarak, (as above) in collaboration with Parisa Madani, ISO, Amsterdam
Education
BFA Art-Choreography, SNDO (School for New Dance Development), Amsterdam
BA Theatre – Dramatic Literature, University of the Arts, Tehran, Iran
Awards and Grants
Nominated for Art Janszen Fonds, Amsterdam (2024)
Nominated for Talents Grants, Amsterdam University of the Arts (2024)
Talent Grant, SNDO, Amsterdam (2023)
WeTransfer Supporting Acts Grant for Creative Artists (2023)
Holland Scholarship Grant for Internship Project (2023)
Talent Grant, SNDO, Amsterdam (2021)
Nominated for Holland Scholarship for First-Year Studies in the Netherlands (2020)
Winner of Best Monologue Piece, Monda Festival, Tehran (2016)
Activities
Residency, Color Block, Ponderosa, Germany, 2023
Residency, Barzakh Cultural Space and Alhudood Article, Chouf, Lebanon, 2023
Residency, in collaboration with Jessika Khazrik, research on revolutionary songs from different
countries, Barzakh Cultural Space, Beirut, 2023
Theatre teacher, Sirang Art School, Tehran, 2017
Theatre teacher, Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children, Tehran, 2017