Shaahin Peymani
- Apr 2
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 3
Islands Project (IP): Thank you for joining us for a conversation. Please introduce yourself.
Shaahin Peymani (SP): I’m Shaahin Peymani, a sound artist and composer based in Tehran and Berlin. I studied textile engineering and composition in Tehran, and sound studies and sonic arts at UdK (Berlin
University of the Arts).
IP: That’s a drastic shift. How did it happen?
SP: I studied for a Bachelor of Textile Engineering in Tehran for about five years. Textiles had been my family business for two generations so I took up this course just to follow that. But in the end, I quit the university because I wanted to pursue my personal interest in music and sound, and also the family business unfortunately collapsed due to sanctions and a rough economic situation.
IP: What was happening around you and in Tehran's art scene back then?
SP: Luckily enough, the economic crisis affected me less than many others, but activities and resources were scarce in Tehran's sound art scene. There was a severe lack of funding opportunities and financial support. The art market is quite exclusive to certain groups and media. Occasionally there were restrictions on creativity due to censorship. At the same time, my interest in studying abroad grew, especially in education in contemporary music and sound arts.
IP: In the end, you moved to Berlin in 2018 for an opportunity to study. Later your partner Maryam joined you in 2020 too. You have revealed that your grandmother was German. Was that related to your decision to move to Berlin?
SP: My grandmother came to Tehran before the revolution and built a family with an Iranian husband. So I’ve been a dual national since childhood. But I never really thought of moving to Germany, just because of this ancestral history. I kept asking myself if leaving Iran was the right thing to do. Should I stay to fight? But, because of the sanctions against Iran’s nuclear development, the situation in Iran worsened in 2013-2014 and more people started to leave. Eventually I decided to go to Berlin, because there were no academic courses available in the field of sound.
IP: And what was your experience of migration? How did you feel after your arrival in Berlin?
SP: I of course suffered from the problems which are relevant to all the new immigrants, such as the bureaucratic complexity, but I also had a more personal problem. I was not accustomed to life in Germany and didn't have high language fluency, despite being a German national. It was sort of an identity crisis. I think that this lack of self-confidence further worsened my situation in other aspects, leading to loneliness and financial difficulties. I didn’t really assess my mental condition, but I guess that the overall stress did some damage.
IP: How did you overcome this hardship?
SP: Berlin’s diversity and also the many friends we made here helped me develop a sense of security. The new environment was built mainly through the Iranian art community in Berlin and friends from Iran who had also moved here. For example, Berlin has “The Tehran Contemporary Art”, where artists gather to bring Iranian experimental art and sound.
IP: It’s interesting to note that your works are not only about pure exploration in sounds, but also have connections to social and historical contexts. For example, in your work “Tune Mass Damper” (2023), the sound of a bridge in Tehran was used. Could you talk about this?
SP: The bridge in question is located in Tehran’s Enghelab Street in midtown where the main campuses of three universities are. It has therefore been one of the main spots for most of the rallies and protests in the city, starting all the way from the Islamic revolution in 1979, including the green movement, and the recent “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising. You can find photos of this bridge with people on it among archival images of the protests that happened in Tehran in the last 50 years, either for or against the government.
IP: So it’s a cultural and social symbol of the city?
SP: Yes. Maryam and I recorded the internal vibration sounds of the bridge with a contact microphone and incorporated it into the installation work. In the installation, there was also a projection of some archival footage of the Asian Games, for which the bridge was originally made, for temporary use. After the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in 2022, we added another part which is a single transducer, or vibration speaker, attached to the center of the installation. It transforms sounds of recordings from a specific night during the uprising, vibrating the entire structure of the installation. That night, the Iranian football team lost to the U.S.A. at the World Cup. As a result, people started celebrating the defeat of the team, who are seen as representatives of the Islamic Republic. What’s heard in the recording is the slogan “death to the dictator” being played with a cheering horn, and even though there are no words, almost every Iranian would recognize the slogan because of its rhythm.
IP: You also used the phrase “hearing the unheard” to describe this work, which is quite symbolic. What do you mean by this?
SP: The term “hearing the unheard” refers to the recording and playback of the sound of the bridge's internal vibration, instead of its usual soundscape like traffic. By focusing on this “unheard”, we try to highlight some of the key points in history that happened around this bridge. The act of listening to what otherwise would be neglected can be defined as a sort of resistance.
IP: What is your main focus at the moment?
SP: During my studies from 2018 to 2023, I frequently visited Iran, every six months on average. I’ve mostly been based in Iran since my studies, trying to establish a base. And now, besides working as an artist, I also teach at the School of Sonic Arts in Tehran.
IP: Since the struggle of leaving Iran behind, you’ve re-established life in both bases: Berlin and Teheran.
SP: That’s right.
For more information on Shaahin Peymani, please visit -
Instagram @shaahinpeymani
Website shaahinpeymani.com
The interview was conducted in 2025.
