As part of the European Month of Photography 2023, Anahita Contemporary Gallery invites you to the opening reception of “Cast out of heaven // رانده شده‌ها از بهشت“ by Iranian artist and storyteller Hashem Shakeri.

Shakeri's works impressively show the challenges and resilience of Iranians in everyday life. His photographs in the series The Haunted (2018) and Cast Out of Heaven (2016-) tell of the alienation of people in Iran under the pressure of economic constraints. The series Stranger To Ourselves (2018-) shows the isolation of women in exile, trapped in a melancholic in-between state. Shakeri's works from the series The Baron In The Trees (2020) capture the resilience of Iranians during the Covid19 pandemic, who retained small freedoms despite lockdown. The photographs in the series An Elegy for the Death of Hamun (2018-) powerfully document the consequences of climate change, which is causing many residents in rural regions such as Sistan and Baluchistan to lose their livelihoods. The difficult living conditions of girls and women there are also reflected in Shakeri's work.