Iran • Born in 1980
Fragments of memories

Gohar Dashti was born in Iran not far from the Iraqi border in the year in which war broke out between the two countries, tearing the lives of thousands of families apart until 1988. Dashti’s family was among them. “This conflict had a strong symbolic influence on the emotional existence of my generation,” explains the photographer and filmmaker. In her Today’s Life and War series, she captures moments that reference a duality of life going on despite the ravages of war. “In a fictionalised battlefield, I show a couple in a series of everyday activities. The man and woman embody the power of perseverance, determination and survival.”

This photographic series, which dates back to 2008, won Gohar Dashti international acclaim and has been exhibited by various museums in Europe and the United States. Since this timeless work, which retains its evocative power 15 years on, her approach has evolved along with her style, which is both aesthetic and documentary, her eye constantly seeking new perspectives. This is evident in the other works on show at La Gacilly, testifying to our relationship with our environment. She explains: “People are ephemeral but nature is constant: it will be there long after we are gone.”

Her subtle, intelligent work uses geography as a narrative device to tell the story of the relationship between people and the world in which they live. We are exclusively exhibiting produced in collaboration with Iranian artist Hamed Noori, Near and Far, her latest work completed in 2022 which presents a photographic kaleidoscope inspired by architecture, landscapes and Islamic arts.

JARDIN DES MARAIS