When Iranian-American theatre director Reza Abdoh died of AIDS-related complications in 1995 at just 32, he left explicit instructions that his work should never be performed again. In the decades that followed, his hallucinatory theatre largely survived at the margins—glimpsed through a small circulation of VHS recordings within experimental theatre circles.

With permission from Reza’s family and community, MoMA PS1 exhibited Reza Abdoh: Bogeyman bringing his life and art into view through a major retrospective exhibition.

For this project, I collaborated with the Creative Director, Editors, and Sound Designer to digitize archival footage and shape it into a four-room, multichannel installation. Working across internal stakeholders (curatorial, design, and technical teams) and external partners (archivists, rights holders, and community collaborators), I helped build an experience that honored Reza’s legacy while engaging members of the queer and Iranian community to ensure the framing held cultural and political nuance with care.