Lytton's Kumain
Azadeh Hamzeii
25 January — 9 February 2020
Opening Reception: 24th January 2020, 6 – 9pm
In Lytton’s Kumain, Azadeh Hamzeii subverts gender roles in the male oriented Islamic mystic practices found in Sufism. While conscious of the political implications, Hamzeii presents a ritualised act stripped of its ceremony and grandiosity. Lytton’s Kumain is an investigation of the limits of ritual, tradition and controlled religious expression.
With a focus on the dialogues between the individual and the universal, Azadeh Hamzeii mines her personal history and cultural background as an Iranian based in Meanjin (Brisbane). Drawing from a range of subjects and materials including votive offerings, beeswax, fishing hooks and her father’s old film negatives, Hamzeii investigates the localised significance of objects and the potential to elevate their meaning, creating a broader human narrative. She is alumni of Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, held a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Diploma of Photography from Tehran University, Fine Arts Department.
Exhibition documentation: Charlie Hillhouse