"A Poet Speaks" is a sound and image installation created by Zahra Partovi for the Sundaram Tagore Gallery. The installation represents a "Temple" to poetry and homage to the words of J.M. Rumi, whose poetic and philosophical ideas have survived 750 years and traveled across many lands.
Upon entering the upstairs gallery one is faced with a temple, and surrounded by sounds & voices. The temple structure is a square wooden lattice 7' x 7' wide and 6' high, which is covered by 3,000 sheets of paper with the words of the poet. The sound installation is bilingual utterances of Rumi's poetry sometimes as a recitation and often in speaking tone. Almost all poetry is spooken by non-professional male and female voices. The selection of poetry, translated by Zahra Partovi, represents the poet's fundamental ideas both lyrical and philosophical.
