Presented as part of the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, Land/s, by U.S.-based Iranian photographer Gohar Dashti, investigates the power of nature to make people feel at home, no matter where they find themselves on Earth.
Each photo in the series showcases a mobile billboard situated in a different spectacular landscape in Iran. Though the photos on the billboards closely resemble the topographies they have been set against, each one was taken more than 10,000 kilometres away, in the U.S.
By inserting American imagery into Iranian landscapes, Dashti reveals the wilderness as a refuge for people longing for “home” while building a new life in a foreign land. Land/s is a reminder of how nature connects us to our homelands, childhoods, cultures, and histories.
Rustic landscapes meet formal gardens
While Land/s focuses on the rustic beauty of the wilderness, the series will be displayed across the meticulously landscaped environs of the Aga Khan Park. Transplanting this fusion of far-flung places into the Museum’s more manicured outdoor sanctuary space reveals the similarities between the Iranian and American landscapes as well as the differences Dashti draws our attention to with her distinctive photographic style.
BIO
Gohar Dashti received her Master’s of Art in photography from the Art University of Tehran in 2005. For the past 16 years, she has been making large-scale photography with a particular focus on social issues. Her work references history and contemporary culture, as well as the convergence of anthropological and sociological perspectives. Employing a unique, quasi-theatrical aesthetic, she brings to bear a diverse intellectual and cultural experience to illuminate and elaborate upon her perception of the world around her.
Dashti has received numerous art fellowships, and her works have found homes in the renowned galleries around the world, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Curator: Marianne Fenton
Presented in partnership with
