Sorour Darabi

Sorour Darabi is a transdisciplinary artist and choreographer born in Shiraz and living in Paris since 2013. A graduate of the Master Exerce at ICI-Centre chorégraphique national de Montpellier, his projects have been presented internationally, including at the Palais de Tokyo, Centre Pompidou, La Villette, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Kunstenfestivaldesarts, among others. His work is rooted in research into Persian literature and queer history in Iran, crossing these heritages with contemporary socio-political issues.

At Villa Medici, Sorour Darabi will develop MAJNÛN, a choreographic opera in solo and collective versions, to be presented in 2026 at the Arsenic in Lausanne. Inspired by the figure of Majnûn, an archetype of madness in love in medieval Arab-Persian poetry, the project explores trance, vertigo and poetic excess through body and voice. Drawing on the Khalij heritage of migration and syncretic spiritual traditions, Darabi draws inspiration from Shiite, Sunni and Sufi traditions, invoking possessed bodies, forbidden loves and haunted memories.