Refugee

13 August - 24 September 2014

Upper Gallery

A person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.

The definition of a refugee according to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

One million Afghan refugees are registered in Iran, and more live there in an unregistered capacity. Refugee features a selection of the one thousand photos of Afghan families that were recovered by New Zealander Murdoch Stephens from the abandoned Anjirak Afghan Prison in central Iran.

The photos speak of the resilience of families, the suffering that follows war and the humanity that lies behind the statistics of displacement. If a picture says a thousand words, what do one thousand pictures say?

After consultation with people from Afghanistan who are now living in New Zealand, Stephens worked with Pataka Art+Museum to create the touring exhibition featuring a selection of 150 photos reproduced across 11 sweeping panels. A selection of the original photos also accompany the exhibition.

Image: Afghan family, Pedram Pirnia