Collection > Seven Globes

Immigration and displacement are salient characteristics of today’s world which occur under the influence of various factors such as military conflicts, economic crises, natural disasters, climate change, etc. They occur voluntarily or by force, temporarily or permanently. It might be said that immigration from one culture to another – or from one place to another place – is an undeniable contemporary condition. These conditions – and their invisible walls – reveal the conflicts between received messages from the various social and environmental contexts of a person’s life.

One of the outcomes of immigration is a greater awareness or self-consciousness; understanding and acknowledging the position of this individual in a new realm, exerting efforts to integrate into this new environment. In this condition, the concept of identity is paramount while living amongst various cultures, ideas and languages. However, the practice of belonging to a group or representing the self in linguistic or visual form raises fundamental questions around reception and socio-cultural conditions. Questions such as: how does the world see you? How do you see yourself? How do you look at others?

These questions aim to uncover residual issues of cultural and racial isolation for developing countries like Iran. They unveil the psychic wounds, illusions and unseen realities of life. In fact, this breakdown of power demystifies historical issues whose consequences only further alienate through traditions that can be deeply connected to a social individual (religion, nationalism, etc.). However, the transitional period of these new custom has begun.

Another outcome of self-consciousness is the mixing of two realities: immigration and alienation. Within this, the foreign home forces an immigrant to accept their host’s rules of life, ultimately leading to a neglect with regard to experiences of the self. To escape from being categorized the other and re-build one’s self in this new world is a key focus here. Yet, this world is far from the mental space of the immigrant; one which ostensibly accepts that there are no racial divisions or borders separating people. Through the creation of these invisible borders and cultural walls, societies act to appropriate the immigrant over the course of their re- settlement.