The Story Behind the Curtain is an interactive installation that explores the mechanisms through which stories survive, evolve, and become dominant over time. The project originates from a central question: Why do certain stories endure throughout history while others fade away? Is the survival of a narrative determined by power, by the storyteller, or by the audience? The work proposes that all three are active participants in the construction and preservation of collective narratives.

The project draws inspiration from the Persian traditions of Pardeh-khani and Naqqali, forms of oral storytelling in which narratives are performed through large painted curtains depicting characters and scenes. These traditions serve as a framework for investigating how visual representation, performance, and audience engagement shape historical memory.

The installation consists of a projection screen and a series of modified magic lanterns. Initially, the lanterns project a set of characters onto the screen, establishing a dominant narrative. Embedded sensors continuously measure the position of each lantern and transmit this information to a central computer. The system interprets these data as the relative scale and prominence of each character within the composition.

Based on the changing visual hierarchy of the projected figures, the installation generates and plays different narrative variations. As participants move the lanterns, they actively reshape the balance of power between characters and, consequently, the story being told.

However, narrative agency is not without cost. Each lantern is physically connected to a weighted mechanism. The more visual space and influence a participant assigns to a character, the heavier the burden they must sustain. In this way, the installation materializes the relationship between power and responsibility, asking participants to experience the effort required to maintain an alternative narrative.

If a participant can sustain their chosen configuration until the end of the narrative, a new story is completed and temporarily brought into existence. Yet these stories remain fragile and ephemeral. They survive only as long as the participant can physically uphold them. Once the lanterns return to their original positions, the dominant narrative reasserts itself, echoing the persistence of established histories and collective memories across generations.

The Story Behind the Curtain invites audiences to reflect on authorship, power, memory, and the labor required to challenge dominant narratives. Through participation, viewers become both storytellers and custodians of stories, confronting the forces that determine which narratives are remembered and which are forgotten.