Edalat Square

Darkness and despair, disguised as piety and righteousness, descend from atop the minarets of the mosques, consuming those who seek hope through the Light of God. On July 19, 2005 in Edalat Square, Iran, Mahmoud Asgari (17) and Ayaz Marhoni (16) were hanged for the crime of lavat (sex between two men in Shari’a or Islamic Law). Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, an estimated 4,000 people have been executed for lavat. Haunted by the circumstances surrounding the execution of Mahmoud and Ayaz, the soul of Edalat Square emerges from the poetic essence of the Sufi mystics—emerging from silence and meditation, melody and prayer. Disturbed by a crisis in Islam, the soul awakens…

Soulbird Music Project was founded in 2007 by New York-based composer and social activist R. Timothy Brady, and Toronto-based film producer and human rights activist Paul Lee. Both Brady and Lee saw the need for art to leave its insular circles, and begin to amplify the causes of organizations that work directly with the struggling and marginalized people around the world. The forums and dialogues that Soulbird facilitates are a significant chance for leading change-agents to brainstorm, to problem-solve, and to figure out ways to support each other, in our fight and struggle for justice.

Edalat Square: Opera in One Act
Music by R. Timothy BradyLibretto by R. Timothy Brady, A. R. Madabushi, and Lou Rodriguez
Copyright © 2007 The Emory Wheel.

When the believer looks with the Light of God, he sees all things:the first and the last, the present and the absent. For how can anything be hidden from the Light of God?

—Jalal al-Din Rumi, Fihi ma fihi (13th c. CE)

For more information: http://soulbird.org/