The digital sphere opens new ways for networking and expression of art and music in Iran, where the possibilities for live events and meetings are anyway highly restricted. The digital turn, which the Corona pandemic brought about, has created many new tools for online exchange and meetings and somewhat forcibly made the digital literacy of people among the world grow, especially in Iran. However, we know that online can never replace real live events and the face-to-face interchange between people. The 4th Gate of Tehran music festival takes place as a real event in the Hirkani forest in Northern Iran, and as a live broadcast. We give artists and audiences the chance to participate both physically and online. We build the knowledge and capacities of artists and enhance our network by organising an art residency just before the festival. We invite more than 25 musicians and trainers from different places and ethnicities all over Iran to share knowledge and experiences within a safe space. We hold workshops with a focus on the digitisation of the arts, the use of online tools and social media to reach broader audiences and to grow the network of artists within and outside of Iran.

Detailed project description:
What measures and steps are planned to reach your aims?In what ways does the project respond to the new situation created by the pandemic? What impact do you expect the project to have on your organisation’s future prospects?In what way will the sustainability of your organisation’s infrastructure benefit from the project?
We have lived with the Covid 19 virus for over a year now, learning much about ourselves and our surroundings along the way. All over the world, the pandemic has impacted human perspectives in many ways, whereby isolation and fear have not seldom led to traumatic experiences. Art offers insight, therapy and coping mechanisms to better understand the profound changes brought by the pandemic to us as individuals and members of society.
The pandemic has also had an impact on nature and our relationship towards it: The birds flew in freer skies, the trees breathed cleaner air and mother earth rested. For the third Gate of Tehran Festival in 2020 we put our relation to nature in the foreground und furthermore discovered the possibilities and boundaries of online art and music festivals.
We, as Iranian artists, see in the digital art scene a great chance as it opens many new ways for networking and expression of art in Iran, where the possibilities for live events and meetings are anyway highly restricted. The digital turn, which the pandemic brought about, has created many new tools for online exchange and meetings and somewhat forcibly made the digital literacy of people among the world grow, also in Iran. At the same time, we know that online can never replace real live events and the face to face interchange between people.
For the fourth Gate of Tehran festival in 2021, we as House No. 4 want to build on these both global and local experiences: this year’s edition of the festival is to take place as a real event in the middle of nature, namely the UNESCO World Heritage Hirkani forest in Northern Iran, and at the same time as a live broadcast. We want to give artists and audiences the chance to participate both physically and online.
At the same time, we want to build the knowledge and capacities of artists and enhance their network by organising an art residency just before the fourth Gate of Tehran festival 2021. We invite 25 artists and 3 trainers from different places and ethnicities all over Iran to share knowledge and experiences within a safe space. We plan to hold workshops with a focus on the digitisation of the arts, the use of online tools and social media to reach broader audiences and to grow the network of artists within and outside …