Impression of Journey
KATHMANDU, JAN 06 –
Soha Embrahimzandi and Somaye Farhan, two independent photographers and filmmakers from Iran, who are travelling around the world on their bicycles, photographing the people they meet and befriend along the way, have gotten together with students from Kathmandu University’s (KU) Centre for Arts and Design to present a joint exhibition of photographs. From Real to Surreal—A Meditative Journey will begin at the Siddhartha Art Gallery, Babar Mahal, on January 12. Rajesh Kazi Shrestha, president of the International Chamber of Commerce, Nepal, will be inaugurating the exhibit on Saturday evening.
Soha and Somaye, who call themselves ‘The Dreammakers,’ have journeyed across Turkey, the Caucasus, Central Asia and China, among other places, over the two years they’ve been on the road, fulfilling their dream of seeing and exploring its far-flung reaches and exploring life itself in the process.
“We are travelling the world with bicycles to make a change! To make a change in our mind, a paradigm shift in yours. If you’ve forgotten your dream, now it’s time to start it!” says the duo in a statement on their website, dreammakers.co.
In September last year, the two photographers reached Nepal, organising—among other things—a ‘dreammaking workshop’ with students at Kathmandu’s Manasalu School, urging the kids there to explore and represent their own dreams in words and images. The collaboration with KU art students Prajwol Bhattarai, Prabal Bikram Shah, Tsewang Lama, Kiran Maharjan, Niroj Maharjan, Mathias Plank, Kiran Rai, Prakash Ranjit, Bikash Tamakhu, Kshitiz Gyawali, Saroj Lamichane, Pramod Thapa and Ramesh Kadayat came about as a means of exploring the outer world as well as the inner world of dreams, wishes and desires for the artists.
For Soha and Somaye, their journey has been more about discovering the secrets of life, the simple joys and truths that make it worth living, than about simply bicycling around the world and recording it in pictures. The photographs certainly say a lot about their journeys across different nations and cultures, but they are also images of introspection. From Real to Surreal—A Meditative Journey will mostly consist of photographs of Kathmandu and its precincts; everyday scenes and objects that can be viewed anew through the lenses and perspectives of the various artists behind the images.
The exhibition will continue at the Siddhartha Art Gallery till January 17
