Aryo Khakpour is a multidisciplinary artist working across film, performance, theatre, and installation. Born and raised in Tehran, he has been involved in multiple theatre, dance, and film productions in Vancouver since 2006. He cofounded The Biting School in 2013, which was the company-in-residence at PuSh International Festival and The Dance Centre 2018 – 2020.
In his practice, he explores dynamics of power, implications of ideologies, repetition of mythologies, and cultural adaptation. He is an intersectional feminist; and he interrogates patriarchy and its harmful effects on people. His practice is heavily physical and surrealistic; it moves from theatre to performance art to dance to film and back to theatre; it deals with pain and pleasure; it is sex-positive; and it aims to queer the status quo. He was trained in devised practices of non-hierarchical collective creation; that is his favourite way of creating.
He is the recipient of the 2024-25 Theatre Replacement Accelerator Lab Fellowship, which focuses on international touring within the context of experimental theatre and interdisciplinary performance. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors for Leaky Heaven Performance and the MENA Film Festival.
