Kaveh Ayreek
An award-nominated writer and interdisciplinary artist based in Bergen, with roughly seventeen years of continuous work in the performing arts — twelve years in Afghanistan (from 2009) and five years in Norway. His practice spans theatre, film, performance art, puppet theatre, and photography, exploring identity, the body, gender, human rights, and social justice — often rooted in lived experience and Afghan sociopolitical reality. Writing, primarily in Persian, is at the core of his artistic practice. He is an ICORN City of Refuge writer in the municipality of Bergen.
Honors & pioneering work
- Nominated for the VSTLND audience award at Pernilleprisen (2025)
- Founder of the Mime Theater Group, Kabul (2013)
- Pioneer: Afghanistan's first pantomime theatre, first shadow theatre, and first string-puppet theatre
- Work translated and performed internationally (France, Belgium)
- Invited artist at European performance festivals
- Group exhibition "Kharmohra – Afghanistan at the Risk of Art" at MUCEM, Marseille (2019–2020)
Norwegian Writers' Association (2026) · Ordinary member, Norwegian Dramatists' Guild (2026)
Practice
Timeline
- 2025
Birth at Ground Zero & Wheat
Birth at Ground Zero staged in Bergen; Wheat performed at Prøverommet and nominated for the Pernilleprisen audience award.
View work - 2024
Silent City & photo exhibition
Silent City staged in Bergen and at Figurfestspillene; Between Sleep and Wakefulness performed in Copenhagen; a youth film workshop in Northern Norway; a photo exhibition at the Bergen Performance Festival (2023–2024).
View work - 2023
Performance & visual projects, Bergen
Performance and visual art projects in Bergen; language practice through Pulsen på Bergen.
- 2022
For Fright, Roots, Wounds
Three performance works: For Fright (SPIKERBOX Festival, Oslo), Roots (Live Action 17, Gothenburg), and Wounds (Norwegian PEN's 100th anniversary program).
View work - 2022
La Valise Vide published in French
The Empty Suitcase, originally staged in 2015, published in French translation by Éditions L'espace d'un instant.
View work - 2019–2020
Kharmohra, MUCEM Marseille
Group exhibition "Kharmohra – Afghanistan at the Risk of Art" at MUCEM, Marseille.
- 2021
2 Women & Afghan film seminars
Short film 2 Women (writer/director); organized Afghan film seminars.
View work - 2020
More Homeless Than the Wind & Beautiful Life with Peace
Documentary More Homeless Than the Wind; theatre production Beautiful Life with Peace (director/writer, both).
View work - 2019
The Weaver, Towards Breaking Hymen Myth, Dosti
Documentary The Weaver; theatre Towards Breaking Hymen Myth; puppet theatre Dosti (UNHCR project).
View work - 2018
Siah Moy & Jalali, Shirin, Rokhshana
Afghanistan's first string-puppet theatre production, staged in Kabul by the Mim Theatre Group; Shirin: The Legend of the Forty Girls, Afghanistan's first shadow theatre; Rokhshana, a shadow theatre piece on fate, silence, and patriarchy.
View work - 2017–2018
Theatre director & facilitator, international projects
Theatre director and facilitator on international projects (UNESCO/NGOs); theatre for migrant communities.
- 2016
Mohajeran
Mohajeran, a theatre production about migration and displacement (writer/director/performer).
- 2015
Puzzle Death, Mosaferan, The Empty Suitcase
Theatre productions Puzzle Death and Mosaferan; The Empty Suitcase (translated into French).
View work - 2013–2014
Afghanistan's first pantomime tour
First pantomime theatre tour of Afghanistan (50 schools); street performances about violence and social issues.
- 2009–2012
Film director & TV host
Worked as a film director and television programme host.