Moving Pictures at the Zoroastrian Centre - Residency and Expanded Film Events

'Moving Pictures' examines how diaspora faith communities repurpose and adapt former cinemas for worship. These transformed spaces are not just places of faith but evolving cultural heritage sites, reflecting the lived experiences and histories of the people who inhabit them. Honouring this dynamism, the project seeks to develop collaborative practices that authentically represent the community’s presence, social spatial agency, and living heritage.

The residency at the Zoroastrian Centre for Europe, the former Grosvenor Cinema in Rayners Lane, lasted two years (2022-24). A number of community gatherings and workshops were held to explore and reflect upon how best to represent their lived, dynamic practices in relation to the architecture of the former cinema. In close collaboration with the congregation and resident priest, a well-defined framework for filming the Jashan and Boi ceremonies was established, in accordance with the site's customs, utilising the artistic research methodology “site-integrity”. This approach presents ‘place’ as dualistically experienced and represented, as the materiality of site is captured through the projected image, viewed as a “performative” rather than a “representational” tool (Marsh, 2022). The resulting site-specific films explore the creative agency of the Zoroastrian community, shifting the focus away from representational thinking to the lived practices of communities and how people inhabit and embody spaces.

As a result, a series of bespoke filming devices were constructed that captured the religious and social practices from the perspective of the congregation. These films were then projected back into the site, enabling an exact transfer of scale and time as the image mapped the architectural site. Technically, the context of this research lies in the origins of early cinema, with reference to the Lumière Brothers' Cinématographe (a three-in-one device that could record, develop, and project). Through this fieldwork, site-integrity encouraged the generation of grassroots perspectives and insights by actively involving the faith community in the creative process.

Moving Pictures film performance & Workshop - 17th November 2024:
We presented the Moving Pictures film installations at the Zoroastrian centre as part of the 24th Varsi Jashan, held in memory of Mobed Faridoon Bahman Zartoshty, whose support and vision made it possible for the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) to purchase and restore the former Grosvenor Cinema. The event, held as part of Inter Faith Week 2024, brought together faith leaders from other adapted cinemas, Historic England representatives, and community members to reflect on the evolving spiritual and civic role of such buildings. The film installations served not only as artworks but also as catalysts for reflection and dialogue, creating a shared space through which participants could consider questions of heritage, adaptation, belonging, and community stewardship. Through the collective viewing experience, the films prompted discussion about the histories, present uses and future possibilities of former cinemas adapted for worship.

Following the screening and lunch, we organised an afternoon roundtable where Historic England representatives Diana Evans (Head of Places of Worship), Caroline Kendall (Senior Listings Policy Advisor) and Dr David Hampshire (Senior Policy Adviser – Places of Worship) opened discussion with community representatives. Community perspectives on national heritage policy and the lived realities of managing listed faith buildings grounded the conversation in both current practice and future potential. The workshop explored the challenges and opportunities of adapting listed buildings for worship, navigating planning and heritage legislation, increasing public access to repurposed religious buildings, and the role of storytelling and documentation in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage.

The event also strengthened relationships between participating communities and heritage stakeholders, supporting the continued development of the Moving Pictures Network. This work subsequently contributed to the network's submission to the UK Living Heritage Inventory and to Historic England's recognition that former secular buildings adapted for worship are eligible for support through the £92 million Places of Worship Renewal Fund: https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/grants/what-we-fund/places-of-...
creating new opportunities for participating communities to access heritage funding.

Moving Pictures as part of London Migration Film Festival:
The site-specific film performance 'Moving Pictures' at the Zoroastrian Centre was part of the London Migration Film Festival on 26th November 2024. The doors opened at 6pm, and over 50 members of the congregation warmly welcomed the public into the centre, offering tea and samosas. The deputy mayor of Harrow and local councillors attended, along with Laura Moffat from Arts and Christianity. Guests were invited to experience the two simultaneous site-specific film installations in the Zartoshty Brothers Hall and in the Prayer Room. The event included talks and a panel discussion around 'faith, migration and placemaking' with guest speakers Prof Cangbai Wang and artist-curator Dima Karout, chaired by researcher Özlem Köksal. It was supported by CREAM (Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media) and HOMELandS (Hub on Migration, Exile, Languages and Spaces).

As an extension of the project, I collaborated with local resident Robert Douglas Law, whose personal archive documented the changing use of the former Grosvenor Cinema. Drawing on photographs, memories and oral histories accumulated over many decades, a short documentary film, The History of the Zoroastrian Centre for Europe, was produced https://vimeo.com/1069794333. The film not only records the building's architectural and social history but also reflects on what this transition has meant for local residents and the Zoroastrian community, revealing how adaptive reuse can generate new forms of belonging, continuity, and cultural identity while preserving connections to a shared civic past.

The wider research project 'Moving Pictures: Reusing Cinemas as Places of Worship in the Diaspora’ is co-led by architectural historian Kate Jordan and funded by the RIBA www.moving-pictures.info