Imagine you could never return home
What would you do, where would you go if you could go back for just 1 minute?
Shahre Farang explores the memories of home by Iranians now living in exile in the UK.
Created by Iranian artist Farhad Berahman, this project seeks to show a different perspective on this forced migration, a more personal side to the anonymous view we see in the media in the UK. Farhad asked asylum seekers to describe what they would do if they could return home briefly; these visual memories were then recreated and documented by a network of photographers based in Iran.
The structure is custom made by skilled craftsmen and is a unique design based on a traditional Shahre Farang. A Shahre Farang is an Iranian version of a portable peep box traditionally taken around the country by wandering storytellers. The name in Persian means ‘European city’ and in these travelling structures photography of far off cities like London, Paris and Rome were brought to the masses who experienced it as exotic entertainment.
Presented in Dorset by b-side as part of Refugee Week 2017, toured to Bridport and Dorchester markets, Poole Museum and The Festival of Learning at Bournemouth University.
