Influenced by human-geographical narratives, Land/s questions the physicality of borders within nature and instead attempts to make connections between two versions of “home.” Geographic borders and boundaries are imposed by humans and often politically charged. Dashti believes nature transcends the cultural and political issues that can divide us and that we carry an idea of what “home” is with us wherever we go. As an immigrant, she sees that the inherent link between nature and human migration connects the various constructs of “home” and “displacement,” and that we tend to seek familiarity within the unfamiliar. By strategically placing a photograph of a landscape within a separate physical landscape, Dashti is addressing the ways in which immigrants seek out familiarity in nature and reconstruct new hybrid topographies that combine elements from “home” within an unfamiliar space. Dashti’s process essentially creates a portrait of two interpretations of “home,” combining them into a singular, yet layered, representation. 

Artist Bio

Gohar Dashti (Iran, born 1980) is the originating curator of the exhibition Urban Mapping: Public Space Through the Lens of Contemporary Iranian Artists, which is currently on view at SMoCA through Jan 17, 2021. For the past 15 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. She continuously mines life events for connections between the personal and the universal, the political and the fantastic. 

Dashti is an internationally acclaimed photographer who has had exhibitions at prominent museums and galleries around the world, including the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), the Mori Art Museum (Japan), the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (United States), and the Contemporary Art Museum (Tehran), to name a few. She received her master of arts in photography from the Fine Art University of Tehran in 2005.  

Organized by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Curated by Julie Ganas, curator of programming. 

Artist Videos

Watch this behind-the-scenes video that shows the process of creating the “Land/s” series by artist Gohar Dashti.

Press play to watch.

Artist talk between Julie Ganas, curator of programming and the exhibition Land/s; and artist Gohar Dashti and curator of Urban Mapping.

Press play to watch a recording of SMoCA’s virtual artist talk with Gohar Dashti on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020.