Shirin Neshat directs Verdi's Aida at Opéra Bastille in Paris

Iranian artist Shirin Neshat (b. 1957, Qazvin) makes her debut at the Opéra Bastille in Paris with a new production of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, running until November 4. Neshat first staged this interpretation at the 2017 Salzburg Festival (conducted by Riccardo Muti), revised it in 2022, and now reworks it for the Parisian venue. Her direction focuses on religious fanaticism and the oppression of women, drawing from her personal experience of exile. The minimalist staging uses mobile sets, projection surfaces, and sculptural lighting. The musical direction is by Michele Mariotti and Dmitry Matvienko, sets by Christian Schmidt, lighting by Felice Ross, costumes by Tatyana van Walsum. Neshat describes Aida as a tragedy of power that speaks to war, religion, intolerance, love, and sacrifice. Verdi's opera premiered in 1871 at the Cairo Opera House, commissioned by Viceroy Ismail Pasha amid 19th-century Egyptomania. Neshat won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 1999 and the Silver Lion in 2009 for Women Without Men. She lives and works in New York.