Abbas Akhavan, variations on a garden

Opening Reception

Thurs 19 Jan, 6.30-9pm

Three solo exhibitions at DRAF explore the distinct practices of Charles Avery, Huma Bhabha and Abbas Akhavan. Each artist explores real and mythical territories, drawing on geographies and anthropologies including the Hebrides archipelago, Southern Pakistan and the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates in present-day Iraq. Their works propose a timely reflection on terrain and identity, migration and cultural diffusion.

variations on a garden is a solo exhibition by Iranian-Canadian artist Abbas Akhavan (b. 1977, Tehran, Iran) in DRAF Studio. The sculptural installation Study for a Monument (2013–15) presents a series of bronze plants laid out on white cotton sheets. These are the forms of native species from the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, the area where the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon are presumed to have been built and which was and subsequently ravaged by Saddam Hussein's 1990s campaign against the Marsh Arabs and the Iraq wars. Texts by Francisco-Fernando Granados and Georgina Jackson accompany the exhibition. Abbas Akhavan. variations on a garden was originally commissioned by Mercer Union, Toronto and curated by Georgina Jackson (on display 12 Sept - 31 Oct 2015). At DRAF, the exhibition is curated by Vincent Honoré (Chief Curator) and Sandra Pusterhofer (Curator). This exhibition is supported by Canada Council for the Arts.

Image: Abbas Akhavan, Study for a Monument, 2013- (detail). Courtesy the artist and Mercer Union, Toronto. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid