Emilia Sánchez González: Tell us about your journey to build Gilgamesh Art & Culture Foundation. After building an established and fruitful career in Iran, what prompted you to relocate to California?
HJ: My grandparents, parents, and I have all faced pain as Assyrians. We are always migrating from city to city, from country to country. And after establishing my career as an active and successful artist in Iran, I had to leave the country for many reasons: religious dictatorship, censorship, being questioned and threatened by the government after every concert and performance, being defined as a minority and a second citizen, and many other reasons. Would you believe, once I was kidnapped by secret agents just for being an artist!
Finally, I moved to the U.S. Even though this country is not perfect either, and I have to face many challenges as an immigrant, I love and respect the freedom that I have here, and I try to use this opportunity to help build a better future for all of us on this earth.
ESG: How does the Gilgamesh Foundation connect with Assyrian communities throughout the United States and around the world?
HJ: Most of our activities are virtual and technology gives us the opportunity to be able to reach out to Assyrians from every corner of the world. During the pandemic, we organized many virtual activities such as an international composition competition and concerts with various artists from around the world. We have also planned in-person events in different cities across California.
ESG: Could you share some milestones that the foundation has achieved in your aim of empowering and representing the richness of Iranian and Assyrian culture?
HJ: Sure—we’ve had amazing achievements during these past seven years. We organized the Gilgamesh International Composition Competition for the past two years in which composers from around the world submitted creative compositions inspired by the Epic of Gilgamesh and Assyrian culture. We’ve also had very successful performances across California, international virtual performances, film presentations, art exhibitions, and published books.
ESG: You perform with traditional musical instruments like the qanoun, and the duduk, and also sing in the Assyrian language. Which other elements of Assyrian heritage do you highlight?
HJ: The repertoire I have selected for this concert at the Getty Villa is from various Assyrian composers from the last 100 years, such as Sooren Alexander, Vania David, and Paulus Khofri. Some of the songs are composed by me as well. So we have both historic and contemporary Assyrian music. We include acting, dance, and storytelling in this project to help our American audience learn about our history, challenges in modern life, and the unknown future that is awaiting us as a people.
ESG: How do you approach the relation between the ancient and the modern in your performances?
HJ: Assyrian visual arts and ancient archaeological sites have always inspired me aesthetically, mathematically, and philosophically, and they influence my musical compositions. As stateless people who migrate here and there continuously, generation by generation, Assyrians have many challenges that affect our art. There is a huge gap between today and the past but I believe we need to redefine Assyrian art by being inspired by the past, to look at the present.
ESG: Any exciting projects on the horizon?
HJ: One of my dreams is to compose a contemporary opera based on the Epic of Gilgamesh, an Akkadian (ancient Mesopotamian) poem, which is considered the first great work of literature in the world. Many have done such a thing before, but I want to create something different that reflects my vision. It is a huge production and would need to be sponsored. So I’m waiting for the right time to start.
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