event
MYRIAM EL HAÏK & GOLNAR SHAHYAR
improv session
Monday, 20/04/2026, 7 pm
Venue: philomena+, Heinestraße 40, 1020 Vienna
as part of the Salam Music Festival and the multi-part exhibition project Against the Playbook, curated by Aline Lenzhofer
Myriam El Haïk, Egorythms, 2026
The day after her exhibition opening and performance of OHrGrün/VerT d’OreiLLE, Myriam El Haïk continues her subversive play with language in an improv session—this time together with Iranian-Canadian singer and composer Golnar Shahyar. The focus is on theatricality, timbre, tempo, and rhythm of words—their sequences, shifts, and translations into images and music. Based on French and Moroccan-Arabic language fragments from Myriam El Haïk’s works OHrGrün/VerT d’OreiLLe and Egorythms, a game of associations, combinations, and transpositions unfolds.
Both artists resist the “yoke” of fixed meanings and question the power of linguistic rules—not unlike the logic of algorithms. Golnar Shahyar’s practice, which lies between improvisation, composition, and transcultural reflection, meets Myriam El Haïk’s conceptual work with language and notation. “Working with Golnar is an opportunity to open up these two pieces to her remarkable voice and personality,” says Myriam El Haïk. The result is an immediate, playful dialogue that defends the right to imagination and hybrid worlds.
artists
MYRIAM EL HAÏK
is a French-Moroccan artist, composer and performer. Her artistic language is based on simple signs, patterns, or actions. The links between music and visual art take center stage in her work. She develops systems of visual notations, transposing her repetitive and minimalist musical compositions into drawings, performances, videos, installations, sculptures, and even furniture and games.
GOLNAR SHAHYAR
is an Iranian-Canadian vocalist, composer, and cultural activist whose genre-defying work spans jazz, folk, classical, and experimental music. Praised for her emotional depth and innovation, her album Tear Drop was nominated for the German Jazz Award 2023. A sought-after performer and educator, she has appeared at venues like Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and taught at institutions including MDW Vienna and the Sibelius Academy. She is also a co-founder of We:Shape and advocates for equity and structural change in the arts, combining music, education, and activism into a transformative artistic practice.
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