Gomrâh (BE) 2025-2026
The Farsi word Gomrâh means lost or the lost ones. Gomrâh have been developing a new ritual for mourning the losses that come with moving far away, and from grieving lost ones from afar.
The three members of Gomrâh found each other in Belgium during the pandemic and immediately became friends. An actor, a musician, and a designer/photographer, they all shared a sense of lostness – not only in living far from their families, but, like most young artists, also in finding their footing in a European art scene.
While living in Europe, they have each lost friends and family members in Iran, without being able to grieve as part of a community.
This rift sits at the heart of their first collective project, Mourning in the Wrong Language. How do you carry loss in solitude? How do you grieve in a place that doesn’t carry the collective memory of your loss? And what role can art play in creating spaces for remembrance where new rituals can emerge?
Contact: gomrah.collective@gmail.com
Parcitipating artists
Armin Mola (BE)
Armin Mola (he/him) is a rapper and theater maker about to graduate from the master’s programme in Drama at KASK / School of Arts in Ghent. His work engages with diverse cultures and communities as it moves between theatre, music, and performance art, always with emotional depth and a strong focus on social themes through personal narratives. Armin has been working as an actor for TV, film and the stage. For the past year, his multidisciplinary piece I Love and Hate You Iran has been performed over 60 times in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Sarshar Ghozat (BE)
Sarshar Ghozat (he/him) is a classically trained pianist and composer. He began his musical education in Budapest, continued at the Vienna Conservatory, and is currently completing his master degree in Classical Piano at KASK. Parallel to his studies, he has been performing as a concert pianist across Europe, as well as composing music for film, theatre, dance and his own solo projects. Bridging tradition and experimentation, his practice reflects a commitment to musical excellence while exploring contemporary forms and personal narratives.
Sadegh Zonouzi (BE)
Sadegh Zonouzi (he/him) is a multidisciplinary artist, an avid amateur tanbur player and the production leader of Gomrâh’s team. He has spent the last ten years developing a versatile practice as a graphic designer, photographer and has studied interior architecture at KU Leuven and Sint-Lucas in Ghent. Working on various commissions as a designer at interior design firm Salut Les Artistes and as an artdirector and photographer at 3D visualisation firm 3d-eye has allowed him to hone his skills. Sadegh has an experimental, research-based approach without any predetermined medium-finality: a project which starts out in a photographer’s darkroom might end up materialising as an object.
Taken residency at
Kunstplaats Vonk
Kunstplaats Vonk is a studio and residency space for visual and performance arts in Hasselt and Genk, Belgium. At their 3 buildings they support artists with artistic feedback, an international network, presentation opportunities, studio-space and a financial contribution (for the residencies).
UP
The purpose of UP is to develop and upskill the independent performing arts throughout Denmark. We define the free and independent performing arts as individuals, collectives and companies who work professionally with performance and primarily for and with independent performance groups, project supported companies, and lesser established theatres. Often without permanent access to a stage or a venue.
INITIUM
Foundation INITIUM is a production platform for contemporary art and culture projects. At INITIUM, our mission is to facilitate community development through the transformative power of arts and culture. We collaborate with communities to create and develop innovative theatre productions and art projects that reflect their unique stories, perspectives and experiences. Through these collaborative endeavours, we strive to promote social change and inspire a more inclusive and vibrant society.
Who is Gomrâh?
Gomrâh is a Ghent-based collective of three artists with Iranian roots: rapper and theatre maker Armin Mola, pianist and composer Sarshar Ghozat, and interior designer-photographer Sadegh Zonouzi. Together, we explore themes of grief, migration, and artistic expression through music, theatre, and visual art.
What is your aim with Moving Identities?
Our aim is to explore the different ways in which people grieve. What mourning rituals exist in our present context? Each of us has experienced loss – moments when we were unable to say goodbye. How do we relate to grief when loss unfolds thousands of kilometers away? How do we mourn in exile, in diaspora, in a state of continuous distance?
Which methods will you use?
We work with an open and inquisitive mindset, not limiting ourselves to familiar methods or disciplines. On one hand, we engage in dialogue with voices exploring loss and grief; on the other, we experiment on the stage, questioning and exchanging our artistic practices. By allowing our disciplines to merge and letting go of our habitual approaches, we create space for new forms of meaning-making.
What are you most excited about in this programme ahead of you?
What makes Moving Identities exceptional is the space it provides for research, experimentation, and reflection. In an art landscape often driven by production and tangible outcomes, it is a rare privilege to have time – time to explore, to slow down, to fail, and to start anew. This is an opportunity we intend to fully embrace: the freedom to investigate without the immediate pressure of concrete output.
How does your current project relate to your previous/other works? Is it similar or different?
In the past, each of us has explored the theme of loss in our own way, often in a more intuitive or implicit manner. Loss has woven itself as an underlying thread throughout our work. With Gomrâh, we now aim to approach it explicitly and deliberately, allowing us to investigate it systematically and shape it artistically.
