Aliaskar Abarkas

Aliaskar Abarkas (b. 1994, Iran) is an Iranian artist based in London. He makes choreographic and sound works that people perform together: whistling choirs, workshops, scores, live performances, sound installations and films. A project often starts from a simple gesture, such as a sound, a score or a shared activity.

Abarkas holds a BA in Visual Cultures from the University of Tehran. His MA, in the Theory of Contemporary Art and Politics, is from Goldsmiths, University of London. His work often responds to historical sources. In Rome in 2024 he led The Community Whistling Choir, built from Persian and Arabic manuscripts at the Biblioteca Casanatense. At Scuola Piccola Zattere, Venice, in 2025 he worked from Vivaldi's The Contest Between Harmony and Invention. Between the Shelves (2026) is a performance made from fragments in the 421 Reading Room.

In London his work has been presented at the Barbican Centre and Whitechapel Gallery. Abroad it has appeared at CAPC in Bordeaux and Short Theatre in Rome. He was resident at Cubitt, London, from 2024 to 2025 and received the Castro International Fellowship Award in 2024. He is an associate artist at Sadler's Wells / Rose Choreographic School for 2024 to 2026. His work was included in the Busan Biennale 2026.