me

I am Sally Zori (they/them), a transgender Iraqi multi-disciplinary artist born in Baghdad, raised in the United Arab Emirates and across Canada. Today, I live and work on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples—the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō, Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.

My creative journey began at age eleven, when I picked up my first drum, the doumbek (a Middle Eastern goblet drum), and never stopped. By eighteen, I was playing congas, bongos, timbales, drum kit, and guitar. Music became my first language as an artist, carrying me through a 29-year career of performance and touring. I’ve played at international festivals including the Sydney Festival, Dublin Fringe, and PuSh Festival, and one unforgettable New Year’s Eve in 2008, I performed percussion for Aretha Franklin.

During the pandemic, I expanded into theatre as a musician and Musical Director, collaborating on productions such as Da Kink in My Hair (Arts Club) and As You Like It and Julius Caesar (Bard on the Beach). A highlight was serving as Musical Director for Morag: You’re a Long Time Deid, which toured Scotland, Ireland, and England in 2024 following an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe. I’ve also worked in film as a cinematographer on Diamond Belly (directed by Kyle D’Odorico).

Today, I’m shifting my creative practice more fully into photography and cinematography. I call my video works “videographs”—silent, unedited scenes that blend photographic composition with moving image. This practice is deeply personal and political: an act of resistance against the attention economy, inviting viewers to slow down, look longer, and rediscover beauty in the everyday.

To learn more about what I’m involved in, check out my CV