Anahita Norouzi Systema Naturae
Anahita Norouzi, view from the installation Systema Naturae, 2021-2022
Commented visit of the exhibition on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at 2 pm
With a multidisciplinary practice anchored in her lived experience, Anahita Norouzi examines displacement, longing to homelands left behind, and alienation within new, often hostile, environments. But she does so through a proxy—the migrations of plant species—revealing how botanical explorations and scientific research have been entangled in the exploitation of non-Western geographies. By scrutinizing the disastrous legacies of colonialism globally, and especially in Southwest Asia (or the “Middle East”), the artist sheds light on the ways in which hegemonic powers have impacted humans and other species alike, altering entire cultural traditions, demographics, and ecologies.
In her new exhibition Systema Naturae, Norouzi focuses on irises. With a distinctive six-lobed flower, typically rising on long stems, the perennial iris plant is familiar throughout the world’s temperate zones. Some varieties are native to Persia, a source of national pride in Iran, Norouzi’s ancestral homeland—her project was instigated by official stamps celebrating four iris species. Widely cultivated in domestic and botanical gardens, both pure and hybrid breeds are prized by horticulturalists worldwide, where the flower evokes a variety of symbolic associations. But Norouzi is primarily interested in the geopolitics encapsulated in, or perhaps eluded by, depictions of this species.
– Amin Alsaden
Anahita Norouzi wishes to thank Francois Turcot, Amin Alsaden, Vanessa Yanow, James Schidlowsky, Camille Lebee, Jeel Dave, Canada Council for the Arts, and Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. A very special thank you to every single member of the team at OBORO: without your support, this exhibition would not have been possible.
Further readings:
Anahita Norouzi, view from the installation Systema Naturae, 2021-2022
Anahita Norouzi is a multidisciplinary artist, originally from Tehran and active in Montreal since 2015. She holds advanced degrees in Fine Arts and French Literature from Concordia University in Montreal. Her research explores notions of displacement, memory and identity from a psycho-historical point of view.
Norouzi excavates historical narratives in order to consider the global impact of colonialism and how it permeates contemporary culture. Instigated by marginalized or forgotten histories, her work is articulated across a range of materials and mediums including sculpture, installation, photography, video, and performance.
Norouzi has taken part in several individual and collective exhibitions. She is the recipient of the Grantham Foundation Award, the Liz Crockford Artist Fund Award, the Vermont Studio Center Merit, and a finalist for the Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize for pieces shown at the Royal College of Art in London and in Dubai.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.
© Anahita Norouzi, view from the exhibition Systema Naturae, 2023. Photo: Paul Litherland.