About the Project

The multimedia project "72 Courtship in Kaliningrad #1, 2009" is part of Shahram Entekhabi's ongoing exploration of satire and tradition through video and performance art. The project takes inspiration from the traditions of arranged marriages prevalent in traditional Asian societies, as well as the belief in Islam that paradise awaits with seventy-two "Huris" or virgins. Entekhabi's work offers an ironic perspective on these concepts.

In this project, a newspaper advertisement announced a casting at the National Center for Contemporary Arts in Kaliningrad to find seventy-two women to portray brides. Entekhabi then staged a traditional courtship scenario, where he assumed the role of the groom, surrounded by his fake parents. He was served tea by seventy-two different women, symbolizing the meeting of potential partners.

The project extends into the urban space of Kaliningrad, as Entekhabi and his seventy-two brides visit the grave of Immanuel Kant, a prominent figure from old Koenigsberg. This visit serves as a backdrop for wedding photographs, challenging traditional wedding customs and offering a critical reflection on cultural perceptions.

Entekhabi's approach combines critical engagement and humor to question elements from his own cultural background while challenging stereotypes associated with Muslims in Western societies.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to the following individuals and organizations for their support:
Valentina Vasilyevna and Kronid Vassilievitch Ryabkov, Tatiana Souvorova – director of the Kaliningrad Museum of Amber, Galina Zabolotskaya – director of the Kaliningrad Regional Art
Gallery, Dmitry Bulatov, Irina Pokrant, Irina Tchesnokova, Ekaterina Shamova – staff members of the KB NCCA.
as well as: Natalia Andreeva, Lyudmila Pavlenko, Victoria Saakova, Alexandra Toropova, Zinaida Shershun, and all those individuals without whom the project would have been impossible.

A special thanks to the seventy-two participants, the beautiful inhabitants of Kaliningrad:

A special thanks to the seventy-two participants, the beautiful inhabitants of Kaliningrad: Zinaida Shershun, Alexandra Trifonova, Angelina Bychina, Svetlana Podnebesnaya, Svetlana Sedova, Irina Chesnokova, Yulia Bardoun, Ekaterina Shamova, Anastasia Karpenko, Elena Tsvetaeva, Inna Nikonova, Maria Mankevich, Oksana Boytsova, Elena Boytsova, Maria Zhirova, Galina Kuzmich, Vera Kazakova, Olga Goryacheva, Ksenia Timofeyeva, Vladislava Shamsulina, Yana Baldina, Varvara Muntyan, Elena Lipchanskaya, Natalia Shabanina, Ilona Tarasova, Nina Makarova, Anastasia Pozlyak, Karina Gurina, Zhanna Malygina, Elena Gromova, Sun Hao, Polina Gagarina, Valeria Voynova, Olga Kurochkina, Lada Dudorova, Karina Pavlovskaya, Elizaveta Barsukova, Liza Kaysarova, Irina Solovieva, Alexandra Toropova, Viktoria Vasilieva, Darina Bagan, Alla Firyusheva, Ekaterina Gladkaya, Viktoria Dyvulskaya, Evgenia Chugreyeva, Alexandra Yuricyna, Lidia Lobanova, Yulia Astakhova, Svetlana Kirsanova, Ekaterina Sokur, Inna Kocheryan, Olga Abramova, Ekaterina Karpenko, Elena Matskevichene, Olga Kharina, Daria Malysheva, Ekaterina Novitskaya, Kristina Dannikova, Anastasia Zaguzina, Daria Egorova, Elena Basharimova, Ne Hajim, Elena Antonovich, Alexandra Leonenko, Svetlana Zatsepilina, Alina Kozlova, Olga Fedorova, Elena Udaltsova, Iena Braynina, Albina Neminuschaya, Yana Kutovaya.

A coproduction with the National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA), Kaliningrad and Moscow, Russia.

      (Part of the "72 "Virgins" Project)      
Curators: Elena Tsvetaeva and Yulia Bardun
Coordination: Anastasiya Karpenko
Cameras: Danil Akimov, Yulia Bardun, Oleg Blyablyas, Yury Shvetsov Photography: Alexander Lyubin, Egor Sachko, Olga Kharina
Photography: Alexander Lyubin, Egor Sachko, and Olga Kharina
Translation: Yulia Bardun, Ekaterina Shamova