Hoda Afshar A Curve is a Broken Line

A person wearing a bright red headscarf sits on a large white bag on a pale-coloured ground in front of a pale wall — Hoda Afshar *Untitled #88* from the series *Speak the wind* 2015–22 © Hoda Afshar

The first major solo exhibition by one of Australia’s most innovative and unflinching photomedia artists

Hoda Afshar A Curve is a Broken Line

2 September 2023 – 21 January 2024

Art Gallery of New South Wales

South Building

Lower level 2

🛈 Find out what you need to know before visiting

Through her photographs and moving image works, Iranian-born, Melbourne-based Hoda Afshar examines the politics of image-making. Deeply researched yet emotionally sensitive, her work can be seen as a form of activism as much as an artistic inquiry.

Afshar uses the camera to give visibility to those who have been denied it, resolutely insisting on the humanity of her subjects. She makes us contend with violence and brutality, not through blunt imagery but through evocation. Her work is anchored in empathy yet also radical in the way it wrestles with injustice.

This exhibition will feature photography and film from the past decade to present a comprehensive overview of Afshar’s recent practice, including a newly commissioned series. Amassed together in dialogue for the first time in a major public institution, these works offer a poignant reminder of the power of images and their coercive potential.

A young person, wearing a hat, stands with their hands in their trouser pockets on a rocky road on a hillside

Hoda Afshar Portrait #3 2014 from the series In the exodus, I love you more 2014–ongoing © Hoda Afshar

A pair of hands, missing one index finger, of someone in a pale long-sleeved garment on a wrinkled blue ground cover

Hoda Afshar Crease 2014 from the series In the exodus, I love you more 2014–ongoing © Hoda Afshar

Two people in head coverings and long robes sit on a rocky outcrop under a grey misty sky

Hoda Afshar Grace 2014 from the series In the exodus, I love you more 2014–ongoing © Hoda Afshar

A person sitting on a tree branch with a bucket next to them. Their face is obscured by another branch

Hoda Afshar Untitled #18 from the series Speak the wind 2015–22 © Hoda Afshar

A person swathed in fabric over their head and body wears a red face covering revealing only their eyes

Hoda Afshar Untitled #2 from the series Speak the wind 2015–22 © Hoda Afshar

A figure within a long billowing piece of fabric within a desert landscape in half light

Hoda Afshar Untitled #11 from the series Speak the wind 2015–22 © Hoda Afshar

Hoda Afshar Untitled #7 from the series Behold 2016 © 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

Two people on on the sea shore. One lies with their head in the other's lap

The head and neck bust of a short-haired person with blank eyes

Image of a front and back cover of the book Hoda Afsher : A curve is a broken line, showing a person plaiting the hair of another with only their hands and torso showing.

Buy the book

This richly illustrated publication features Hoda Afshar’s work from 2004 to 2023 as well as new writing from a range of contributors, bringing critical insights to her photography and film.

Buy now

Major partner

Art Gallery of New South Wales support partner

Atelier