“The Life” is a video-based narrative inspired by four excerpts from Mourning Diary by Roland Barthes.

October 31, 1977

At times, very briefly, there is a moment of emptiness—a kind of numbness—that is not a moment of forgetting. These moments frighten me.

June 24, 1978

The internalization of mourning is almost nonexistent. This means that absolute internalization has become the norm. Yet all reasonable societies prescribe and codify the expression of grief. The disorganization of our society is such that it denies mourning.

November 30, 1977

At each “moment” of suffering, I believe that it is then that I understand my mourning for the first time. In other words: the totality of pain.

November 26, 1977

The internalization of mourning is almost nonexistent. This means that absolute internalization has become the norm. Yet all reasonable societies prescribe and codify the expression of grief. The disorganization of our society is such that it denies mourning.

This project is deeply influenced by Roland Barthes’ writings and his articulation of grief. It resonates strongly with the contemporary and difficult context faced by women in Iran. The movement of smoke functions as a metaphor for fragility—like women dancing in order not to forget their freedom.

This work has been exhibited at Stryx Gallery and T Street Gallery in Birmingham, United Kingdom, and at Sham Art Gallery in Tehran, Iran, in collaboration with Room Art Gallery, Birmingham, UK.

– 2023, Birmingham, United Kingdom | Tehran, Iran

Music: Soheil Peyghambari