The Conference of the Birds (2022) is a staged performance inspired by the Persian poet Farid-ud-Din Attar's epic poem Manteq ot-teyr. It is based on a close collaboration between the participating artists and includes music, dance, video projections, electroacoustic music, light and costume.
In the poem, all the birds of the world gather for a meeting where they decide to choose the mythical bird Simorgh as their leader, as they have none. Simorgh's dwelling is on Mount Quaf and to get there, the birds have to cross the seven valleys of quest, love, insight, detachment, unity, bewilderment, and finally the valley of poverty and nothingness – each of which challenges the birds in different ways. Hoopoe, the most experienced of them all, becomes their guide, supporting the other birds along the arduous and challenging journey.
Finally, only thirty birds make their way through all the valleys. At the end of the journey, they realise that they are linked, on an existential level, to each other, both in the past and in the future, and that Simorgh has been within them all along.
The music in The Conference of the Birds is based on and inspired by the Swedish-French composer Madeleine Isaksson's (b. 1956) solo work for recorder Les sept vallées (2006), see link below. The adaptation of the recorder part has been carried out by Kerstin Frödin and the electroacoustic part has been developed by Kent Olofsson and Kerstin Frödin in collaboration.
References:
Attar, F. (2011). The Conference of the Birds. (A. Darbandi, & D. Davis, Trans.). Penguin Group.
Attar, F. (2014). Le Cantique des Oiseaux. (L. Anvar, Trans.). Éditions Diane de Selliers.
Isaksson, M. (2006). (Composer). Les sept vallées. Svensk Musik.
Isaksson, M. (Composer). (2022). Les sept vallées. K. Frödin (Artist). Daphne Records (Naxos). [CD-recording].
The documentation of the premiere, which took place in Studio Acusticum's Black Box studio, Piteå in September 2022, is presented in two versions: The full performance (40 minutes) and a short version (10 minutes).
Recording: Kråkkullen Produktion/Anders Westergren
Editing: Creative Motion/Helene Berg (2023)
Music mix: Kent Olofsson
The photos from La vallée du Désir, La vallée de la Connaissance, La vallée de la Plénitude, La vallée de l'Unicité, La vallée de la Perplexité, La vallée de Dénuement et de l'Anéantissement and the Epilogue are taken by Anders Westergren.
The photo from La vallée de l'Amour is taken by Lene Juhl.
The French titles of the valleys are taken from Leili Anvar's translation (Attar, 2014).
Participants:
Musician: Kerstin Frödin
Dancer: Katarina Eriksson
Choreography: Åsa Unander-Scharin
Video scenography: Lene Juhl
Original composition: Madeleine Isaksson
Composition and musical adaptation: Kerstin Frödin
Electroacoustic music & sound design: Kent Olofsson
Costume design: Ingibjörg Jara Sigurðardóttir
Lighting design: Magnus Grönberg
When you begin the Valley of the Quest
Misfortunes will deprive you of all rest,
The years must vanish while you strive and grieve;
There is the heart of all you will achieve –
Renounce the world, your power and all you own,
And in your heart’s blood journey on alone.
(Attar, 2011, p. 181)
The lover chafes, imatient to depart,
And longs to sacrifice his life and heart.
(Attar, 2011, p. 187)
Each soul and body has its level here
And climbs or falls within its proper sphere –
There are so many roads, and each is fit
For that one pilgrim who must follow it.
(Attar, 2011, p.194)
A wintry tempest blows with boisterous haste;
It scours the land and lays the valley waste –
The seven planets seem a fading spark,
The seven seas a pool, and heaven's arc
Is more like dust and death than paradise;
The seven burning hells freeze cold as ice.
(Attar, 2011, p. 199)
My heart is lost, and here I cannot find
That rope by which men live, the rational mind –
The key to thought is lost; to reach this far
Means to despair of who and what you are.
And yet it is to see within the soul –
And at a stroke – the meaning of the Whole.
(Attar, 2011, p. 217)
Whoever sinks within this sea is blessed
And in self-loss obtains eternal rest;
The heart that would be lost in this wide sea
Disperses in profound tranquillity,
And if it should emerge again it knows
The secret ways in which the world arose.
(Attar, 2011, p. 219)
