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Installation view, Firstdraft Galery
https://firstdraft.org.au/program/remnants-of-a-dismantled-state
Remnants of a Dismantled State is a personal, emotional and politically charged exhibition exploring Shahroud Ghahani’s experiences of exile, war and otherness through a feminist lens. Ghahani creates a portal into the memories of her past, a fragmentary connection to an imaginary homeland. Indeed, the country she was born in has changed irrevocably and violently since her forced departure; as such, these ruminations on its past state and beauty are marred by the present.
Beginning with a distorted photograph of her grandparent's house in Tehran, the artist has created a series of allegorical and surrealist images centring the idea of the feminine and the feminine base within a home, family, or culture; to combat the separation from the motherland/s.
With multiple doors and gateways that both close off and open up to pathways and journeys, Ghahani observes that dismantlement can give way to hope and optimism despite exile and otherness.
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,2352,3000,1600,3000/0-0-0/02c4eccf-dd39-4681-93aa-89748144822a/1/1/portrait_shahroud-gigapixel-hq-height-2999px.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=e2b7c0c6b397fbd84e7d92598870cb5f9f8481f3a52c581c5534749fe249b8f6)
My Mother’s mother and the kelp forests between us, 2023
Edition 1/3 + 1Ap 2023, Digital collage, velveteen and mirror,
Full Colour UV digital print, 2900 x 2500 mm
POA
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,508,763,1600,763/0-0-0/3a95b300-5b1d-4c6c-9e01-6760b60341af/1/1/blue_door.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=3c9d7b530e13745fd417da536f90e82e3516a1aa525af52bfb69b3605359e1e9)
Daar, 2023 two cast resin doors in blue and brown, NFS
Ready-made painted blue wooden door 2023, NFS
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,3435,2576,3435,1200/0-0-0/e83dd805-23ff-497e-856b-c51badb83171/1/1/IMG_3173.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=f036036e9565f0c9ddd5056aed16160b76d854fca5f9f47c308f9b781efc1fb5)
Remnants of a Dismantled State, 2023
Single Channel Video, colour, 5:35 minutes
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,2576,3435,1600,3435/0-0-0/89ac440d-87ad-4585-ab43-5aff37ead367/1/1/hand.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=3b2ea65801147b18111a3f2fc5b1917564d780f2cd0d40a072f084073fc02e54)
Hand 1-Toosheh, 2023, high grade cement cast and embroidered fine cotton
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,2429,3643,1600,3643/0-0-0/134f0076-c336-4f26-8047-cd69d5226899/1/1/156A4218+%283%29.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=37235866774f9bea76c235fefb46a6a8ed64d777bfeb4ea97f3899a341cf5a8f)
Black Madonna, Installation, 2023
- Fiberglass bust, stockings, wool thread
- Brass hand-made head-piece, imitation of a gold crown discovered in a
tomb in Tillya Tepe ( The Hill of Gold), Afghanistan, 1st Century A.D.
- Painted high grade cement hand cast, black lace handkerchief, POA
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,1928,3000,1600,3000/0-0-0/b49532d7-ef38-42ae-862c-bc1a01af61c8/1/1/20240120_141010-gigapixel-hq-height-2999px.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=42e8dd39851de5fbba4e79b4f015cfc850a9590c561205d9ce4f4ef5e0ef6bad)
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,2429,3643,1600,3643/0-0-0/a6980539-db1e-4a44-ab95-153017ae4777/1/1/156A4254+%281%29.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=37235866774f9bea76c235fefb46a6a8ed64d777bfeb4ea97f3899a341cf5a8f)
Hand 1-Toosheh, 2023, high grade cement cast and embroidered fine cotton
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,3643,2429,3643,1200/0-0-0/514050dc-b7d3-44f1-bd85-e4d2f4b3c992/1/1/156A4233+%281%29.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=dce85e684a18b2dc0b09bc7f31c168235ceb5eae5b61bd954d7770d35c5e3249)
Instillation view
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,3643,2429,3643,1200/0-0-0/786e8e71-2084-4d38-98c4-ed3d65f9d03d/1/1/156A4245+%281%29.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=dce85e684a18b2dc0b09bc7f31c168235ceb5eae5b61bd954d7770d35c5e3249)
Still from the video
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,3643,2429,3643,1200/0-0-0/a1da5ccb-e208-4403-81c5-bfa30af941af/1/1/156A4219+%281%29.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=dce85e684a18b2dc0b09bc7f31c168235ceb5eae5b61bd954d7770d35c5e3249)
Still from video
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,1799,2670,1600,2670/0-0-0/36ae6fd2-4a3b-4128-a05d-62c723a386d0/1/1/20240120_140753.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=7b755d6c48f6e8f482799dc62b62fa5dc8887822e5476089e3010ce7baf2d46b)
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,3643,2429,3643,1200/0-0-0/aef2a1a6-fb24-432f-9188-015f84b41b07/1/1/mirror.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=dce85e684a18b2dc0b09bc7f31c168235ceb5eae5b61bd954d7770d35c5e3249)
round mirro 30x30cm , as part of the instal
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,2409,3672,1600,3672/0-0-0/8aa32440-a52d-41e2-ba24-f1bfd6df5f57/1/1/IMG_2758.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=4717037dfb9f33b6ff494b5dabef8a235ec85417a2aa09f395a35c4b6974a968)
2500 x 1450 mm
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/5c9f71da-ed44-4e52-b172-017870089fe6/0/0/0/0,0,3643,2429,3643,1200/0-0-0/6db35f44-5723-476e-b203-d0e20a382eaa/1/1/LJB08043+%285%29.jpg?fjkss=exp=2037537603~hmac=dce85e684a18b2dc0b09bc7f31c168235ceb5eae5b61bd954d7770d35c5e3249)
Opening Night at First Draft
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Opening night, First draft