Profile

Vali’s theatre and interior designs are distinguished by their painterly quality, their fusion of old and new, and a dramatic use of light. His sophisticated designs develop from a concept, and strive to balance functionality with a conceptual approach to each space and its meanings. He is presently design consultant on the restoration of Renaissance interiors of Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome and has worked extensively for private clients in the UK and the United States.

His theatre credits include design for ‘Spectre’ at the ICA, and ‘Veiled’ at the Riverside Studios for Francois Testory. His designs for ‘Lacombe Lucien’, ‘An Inspector Calls’ and ‘Le Petit Prince’ for Tour de Force Theatre Company toured Germany to critical acclaim. He both directed and designed ‘…of the blood river’ in Sadler’s Wells Mosaics. He recently designed set and costumes for ‘The Maids’ at the Southwark Playhouse. He has worked on two short films: Jeremy Altar’s ‘The Godson’ in Los Angeles and as assistant to Es Devlin for director David Jackson in London.

Vali is also a translator from Persian to English. He has translated Hafez poetry for Shared Experience Theatre Company in Martin Sherman’s adaptation of ‘A Passage to India’, acted as interpreter for Abbas Kiarostami in discussion with Mike Leigh, Ben Gibson,director of the London Film School, Michel Fordon of Cahiers du Cinema, and TimeOut’s Geoff Andrew in NFT's Guardian interview, as well as translated plays by A.R.Koohestani : ‘Dance on Glasses’, and ‘Amid the Clouds’ in association with the Royal Court Theatre.

Vali has also contributed articles to The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/saturday_review/story/0,,534814,00.html and http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,538650,00.html) and is currently working on a film script.

Vali was born in Tehran and came to England as a teenager. Before doing courses in writing, fine arts and theatre design (Slade School of Art), Vali acquired two academic degrees: Archaeology and Linguistics (School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS) and Psychoanalytic Psychology (University College, London/Anna Freud Centre).