Neda Saeedi’s Garden of Eden Moving: A Petrified Tribe looks at events of modern history in relation to the Bachtiaris tribe, and the how its nomadic culture and way of life dramatically changed when the Iranian state elected to contain them within the boundaries of Shooshtar-e Noe. The town was constructed around the industrial production of sugar with fields of sugarcane planted directly adjacent to it. This is where other local people, as well as the nomads residing throughout the region, were to work. Saeedi works with highly symbolic materials. Control, the significance of the cattle and the double nature of the sugar are all central to the work, which touches equally on issues of pollution and ecology, and the formal aspects of architectures of confinement.

How did the project Garden of Eden Moving: A Petrified Tribe start?

The project started almost 2 years ago when during a trip to south Iran, I visited the city of Shushtar-e- Nou. The first thing that struck me was the design of the city, which to me appeared highly controlled and suffocating. Knowing the city was a very “successful” and prize-winning architectural and urban planning project, I started to do some research to find out more about the background of this development project. The work looks at events of modern history in relation to the Bachtiaris tribe, and how its nomadic culture and way of life dramatically changed when the Iranian state elected to contain them within the boundaries of Shooshtar-e Noe in the 70’s. The town was constructed around the industrial production of sugar with fields of sugarcane planted directly adjacent to it. This is where other local people, as well as the nomads residing throughout the region, were to work. In my artistic research I am interested in urban landscapes, and the relationship between the human body and architecture: the value, materiality, power/powerlessness and ownership of the body in relation to the construction of a building or the expansion of urban development projects. For that reason this specific place and its history and the different parties involved in it caught my attention.

What do we see in the exhibition, and what is the role of the materials that you have included in the installation?

As the point of departure of my installations is actual physical places and the circumstances around their crystallisation, the materiality of the sculptures is often borrowed from the aspects of the (hi)story I am about to narrate. The medium of installation allows me to unfold the multi-layered images and narratives as an experience while at the same time condensing them into a singular form where the complexity of the content is retained, but displayed in a tangible way. The specific materiality and form of each piece tells a part of the story. In this case, for instance, the sculptures are made out of sugar, whichis the material that formed the basis for the city, and even the entire development project. Control, the significance of the cattle and the double nature of sugar are all central to the work, which touches equally on issues of pollution and ecology, and the formal aspects of architectures of confinement. Also concrete has a potent appearance in my installation which of course has a strong tie to the era of modernisation and industrialisation.

What are your thoughts on art’s potential in relation to hidden or forgotten histories? What is your work “doing”, do you think?

In my opinion art has the power to put a spotlight on certain parts of history that have been hidden or oppressed throughout time, and conventional and institutional historiography. Also as it has the capacity to exit the sphere of academia and talk to people directly. Of course it doesn’t have the power to solve the problems it addresses, but rather to raise awareness, curiosity and interest. In my work I try not to romanticise the past, but rather to foreground that part of history in order to highlight its consequences. Because this is not a singular case that happened decades ago in Iran, but a formula that has been repeated in different parts of the world in different ways. Spending time in Norrbotten was important to me in order to get see how the situation I address is mirrored in this particular geographical context.