We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of New South Wales stands.

Hoda Afshar

A person wearing trousers and no top stands with their hands hanging by their sides

Hoda Afshar Behrouz Boochani – Manus Island from the series Remain 2018 © Hoda Afshar

Behrouz Boochani – Manus Island 2018

from the series Remain

The shadows are deep and impenetrable. We sense the air is hot and heavy. The subtitles tell us where this is: Manus Island, northeast of Papua New Guinea, where hundreds of asylum seekers were detained by the Australian Government from 2013 to 2017. If home is a place of unconditional care, where, as poet Robert Frost wrote, ‘they have to take you in’, then Manus was home’s cruel inversion – an extra-legal space where men were known by their numbers and experienced constant uncertainty. In these photographs, created in collaboration with their subjects, Hoda Afshar makes this non-home visceral. Behrouz Boochani, the Kurdish-Iranian journalist and poet, stares with blazing intensity – a gaze of conscience looking in from the outside.

  • K–6 discussion questions

    • Look at Behrouz Boochani – Manus Island. Have you seen the person from the photograph before? Find out more about Behrouz Boochani, his experiences and his writing. 

    • Think about how the artist has posed his sitter and the use of body language. Consider the gaze of the subject. Describe the clothes and background. Why do you think the artist has chosen to depict Boochani in this way? 

    • Why do you think the curators decided to include this artwork in an exhibition called Dreamhome? How might this photograph explore ideas around finding and making a home?  

  • K–6 activities

    • Take a candid (unposed) photograph of a friend, then ask the same person to pose for the camera in a specific way as you take a second photograph. Compare the two images and describe the similarities and differences. What does each photograph tell you about the person?

    • How would you feel about this photograph if it was in colour and taken outside? Create a series of self-portraits that experiment with location and colour. Notice how these changing conditions affect the way you look and feel.  

  • 7–12 discussion questions

    • Study the photographic portrait of Boochani. How do you respond to the subject’s direct gaze? Analyse this photograph in terms of mood, posture, lighting and composition. 

    • What is your initial response to this work? This portrait is from a series called Remain, which conveys the stories of a group of stateless men who remained on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, after the Australian offshore immigration detention centre closed in October 2017. What emotional response do you think the artist is trying to draw from the audience? 

    • Does this artwork convey a political message? What is it? How does this work highlight the issues of marginalised groups such as refugees in society?  

     

  • 7–12 activities

    • As a class group, research some of the issues around Australia’s border policies. Discuss Afshar’s photograph in this social context. Create a collaborative artwork in response to these issues. 

    • Consider how the personal relationship between the photographer and subject contributes to the sense of intimacy and stillness in this work. Make a portrait of a friend or classmate in which you communicate something of their mood and experience. Consider composition, facial expression, posture, colour and scale.