Marzieh Azhini

I am a performance artist, scholar, and wanderer — both within and beyond academia. I earned my bachelor's degree in physics from Sharif University of Technology (Tehran), followed by a master's in Astrophysics at the Universität zu Köln (Cologne). After graduation, I returned to Iran to pursue a second master's in Dramatic Literature at Soore University (Tehran), and later continued my journey in Austria, where I completed a third master’s in Gender Studies at Central European University (Vienna).

Over time, my academic and artistic interests converged at the intersection of performance art and gender studies. Since 2022, I have been actively involved in Iran’s informal theatre scene and served as a visiting lecturer in the Department of Dramatic Literature at Shiraz University of Arts (2022–2024).

I am currently pursuing a PhD in Media Studies and Theatre at the Universität zu Köln. My dissertation, Blending Styles, Shattering Systems: Performance Forms and Styles and Their Impact on Contemporary Iranian Informal Critical Theatre, investigates how informal performance groups in Iran employ diverse theatrical styles to create critical work. In this context, "informal theatre" refers to performances staged publicly by artists who intentionally bypass state approval. Drawing on performance analysis and interviews, the project examines how physical, dance-based, interactive, documentary, and interdisciplinary forms are used to engage critically with power, language, gender, the body, and systems of oppression. Through a combination of performance analysis, interviews, and autoethnography, the study conceptualizes informality not only as a creative approach but also as a socio-political stance – a mode of resistance and assertion of agency.

Contact

E-Mail: mazhini2@smail.uni-koeln.de