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| the project | ... literature describing imaginary events or people ¬ |
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This project was proposed to InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Center for Web Weavers Workshop in May, 1997. We would like to extend our thanks to Tom Leonhardt, WWW Project Coordinator, and to InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Center in Toronto for technical support and the use of facilities and equipment, and to all participating artists/weavers for their engaging presence. |
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We encouraged Saha to find access to an e-mail account. This took almost four months. Then Mina and Saha just started talking, via e-mail which sometimes arrived and sometimes didn't. We put all the ones that we had together and that makes up the bulk of the site's content. Occasional telephone calls and letters were also exchanged. Once they became comfortable with e-mail as their communication medium, they had to start using a kind of a code language as a safeguard against prying eyes and ears of the mouse in the wall. In the beginning, I (Goli) put a lot of pressure on them to write with this site as the ultimate goal in mind. This alienated me (Mina) and I'm sure it had the same effect on Saha because she stopped writing for a while. Then I (Mina) realized that creating this site was not the goal of our work. Rather, our goal had to be the establishment of regular communication. This still remains our goal. The site is a by-product (sorry, Goli). I say regular communication because the erratic nature of our contacts in the past sixteen years has wore us down. We need to know of each other's safety so we can function. As I write these lines, it's been almost a week since Saha's last e-mail. Every time she disappears like this I experience an unbearable rush of worry and pain. I worry for her safety. Being involved in this project is a big risk to take for someone who is inside Iran. I tried talking to her on the phone several times last night but every time either her mother or her newly-returned husband picked up the phone. So I wait until I hear from her again. It's been hard. |
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This project is a collaboration between Mina Haque, in Toronto, and Saha Gharibian in Tehran. The site is designed by Goli at exisle creations. |
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The original text used in this site was written in English, Farsi (using Persian script) and Farsi (using English alphabet). The latter has been used in its original form with the translation provided in brakets. The Farsi text which was written in Persian script only appears in English translation.
The following lines are from poems by Forough Farrokhzad (1935-1967), a master and the feminist voice of contemporary Iranian poetry: Why should I stop? The path passes through life's vains and It' only the voice that remains (from the poem It's Only the Voice that Remains, in Let Us Have Faith in the Coming of the Cold Season) It always happens before you think (from the poem Let Us Have Faith in the Coming of the Cold Season, in the book by the same title) The Third Line is attributed to Shams Tabrizi, the great Iranian sufi (circa 12th cenutry AD) who was the mentor and inspiration to (and by some accounts the lover of) Molana Jalal el-Din Mohammad Molavi (12th _ 13th century AD), the incomparable master of Iranian mystic poetry, forever an inspiration to seekers of truth and love. All translations are by Mina Haque and Goli. |
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Obviously, all the events and people in this work are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real events, past or present, and real people, dead or alive, is purely coincidental. The artists don't take any responsibility for the contents of this document. |
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With the exception of what's been mentioned in the text, all the material used here are originally produced for this site by the artists. © exisle creations, 1997 |
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This site is a work-in-progress. In the months to come, as the correspondence between Mina and Saha continues, the contents will be added as evidence. We are still hoping to get a computer and a private Internet account for Saha in Iran. exisle creations's upcoming project is a website documenting a series of dialogues about |
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