Elegy of Embers, 2023

This installation serves as a harrowing tribute to the devastating event at Shahr-e-No. The piece is anchored by a canvas that hangs, torn and tattered, from behind—a poignant representation of the fragmented histories and the violence endured by the women caught in the flames of revolution.

The canvas, though fragmented, commands the space, each tear a testament to the chaos and fury of the inferno that consumed lives and narratives alike. Amidst the scattered pieces of burned photographs and newspaper clippings, the relics of a reality charred by injustice, the canvas stands as a symbol of a history that refuses to be fully destroyed or obscured.

In the foreground, two brooms, entwined with the sprawling strings, sweep the shattered glass inward. This act is a metaphor for the collective effort to gather and make sense of the remnants of the past, to pull together the shards of a story that the regime would rather have scattered to the winds. The brooms, tools of cleaning, here become instruments of memory, ensuring that every piece is accounted for, every fragment honored.

The strings, totaling 1584 meters, correspond to the abjad numerical value of the defiant poem from Hafiz “که در طریقت ما کافریست رنجیدن” , meanig “In our path, suffering is heresy”.They connect the elements of the installation, weaving a web of remembrance that holds the torn canvas and the narrative it represents.

“Elegy of Embers” is more than an installation; it is a sacred space of reckoning and remembrance. It is a call to witness, to confront the pain of the past, and to recognize the resilience required to not only remember the atrocities but to engage with them, to pull them into the light, and to refuse to let them be swept away. Through this work, the echoes of Shahr-e-No’s tragedy are not only heard but felt, a resonant reminder that even amidst ruin, the quest for truth and justice endures.