Sami I
- Research Program Mentor
MFA at School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Expertise
Interdisciplinary Arts, Acting, Film, Theatre, Performance, Documentary, Dance, Creative Writing, Photography
Bio
I am Research-Practitioner in Performance & Theatre from Damascus, Syria, and currently serves as an Assistant Professor at Columbia College Chicago. As an artist, emphasizes interdisciplinarity, with research practices rooted in performance art, devised theatre, documentary techniques, ethnographic research, filmmaking, and choreography. He has contributed as a writer, director, creator, performer, collaborator, and consultant on various projects at cultural institutions across the U.S. and the U.K., spanning large theatres and museums to street performances and other unconventional spaces. Through the lens of performance, I examine the dynamics of presentation and representation, particularly as they pertain to war-torn landscapes, trauma, loss, grief, memory, and the collective cultural consciousness. My academic writing includes the essay "Deconstructing Myths via Performance Strategies" in Deconstructing the Myths of Islamic Art, "Beyond Ruins: Exploring Architectural Nostalgia in Syrian Diaspora Art and the Resilience of Utopian Imaginings," along with several production reviews published in Arab Stages.Project ideas
Solo Performance/Acting Monologues
Creating a solo piece of video, theatre or performance art based on a conceptual idea that explores a personal, social or political subject. The process of the project can be based in writing or on research into any type of source material. This type of project could be helpful to anyone wanting to audition, build an artistic portfolio or applying for grants and scholarships or fellowship in film, theatre, performance or new media arts.
Research into Performance Studies, Dance, Drama, Media & Techniques
Help in writing a research paper and analysis on techniques and traditions used in acting, dance, performance, and film/video. The paper can be conceptual and/or theoretical, with possible case studies as examples.
Documentary Film or Performance
Equipping and providing creative tools to that could guide a documentary process of filmmaking or performance making. The way one approaches a documentary project always influences and determines what is being documented, so understanding what type of approach work best in certain situations, while maintaining ethics, is key to a successful documentary project.