Jahan Rezakhanlou ✿ An ancient futurist
Jahan Rezakhanlou enjoys stirring the pot of cultures from his home in Naarm.
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“My role is to connect the ancient mythology and the future.” Björk
Jahan Rezakhanlou is a Swiss-Iranian sound artist and freelance journalist currently living in Naarm, Australia. His writing explores various different themes examining the intersections between art, urbanism, and activism, and generally exploring various cultural narratives from around the world. He has a keen interest in Japanese and Hong Kong culture.
Naarm, otherwise known as Melbourne is a young and emerging city that is still trying to work out its place in the world, much like Jahan himself. It’s isolated from the rest of the world which helps harbour a unique sense of local urban community where many different cultures can combine in their own ways, providing Jahan with a platform to explore the intersections between various different cultural narratives and what binds them together, whilst using traditions to connect to the future.
Jahan’s absolute favourite writer and researcher is the musical trailblazer, Francis Bebey, a pioneer in the world of merging tradition with futurism as a form of artistic decolonization.
Follow jahan.xanlu, listen Soundcloud and visit jahanxanlu.wordpress.com/
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My lockdown Tonbak: A homemade industrial musical heritage - Through re-igniting the spirit of Industrial music alongside the emerging experimental Iranian music, Jahan Rezakhanlou innovated homemade Iranian percussion during the COVID lockdowns.
Biohacking a fermented community - Jahan Rezakhanlou observes the lessons of fermentation and biohacking learned from the communal artwork and workshops of Maya Minder.
Towards an Indigenous Australian Iranian cuisine - Jahan Rezakhanlou deconstructs the idea of "authenticity" in Iranian cuisine by experimenting with Indigenous Australian ingredients in Melbourne-Naarm, straying away from either tokenistic fusion labels or the home-grown demands of "authentic" foreign food in the West.
The Outback through Afghan eyes - Jahan Rezakhanlou writes about the painting and poetry of Hazara artist Elyas Alavi as an estuary that connects the experience of Afghan cameleers with Indigenous Australians.
Polishing: An overlooked craft - Jahan Rezakhanlou reveals the wonders of polishing in Japan, Uzbekistan and India.