“What the Land Remembers” shows how moving images can defy official narratives and protect stories that political powers try to erase. At its heart lies the Parking Video Library, an independent counter-archive founded in Tehran in 2004 by artist and curator Amirali Ghasemi. For over two decades, it has safeguarded a fragile collection of Iranian and transnational films—documentaries, experimental works, and personal recordings—created under censorship, risk, and scarcity.

The exhibition traces the evolution of Iranian artistic production from the 1990s to the present day through two thematic constellations:

Revisit — Early Encounters: Restages early analog-to-digital experimental works in their original forms, bearing witness to the resilience of artists working outside official frameworks.

Southwest: Highlights contemporary works focusing on Iran’s oil-rich southwestern region, revealing the ecological and geopolitical impacts of extraction, war, and colonialism.

Participating Artists: Sara Abbasnejad, Sana Ahmadizadeh, Ghazel, Mohammad Hassanzadeh, Anahita Hekmat, Minoo Iranpour, Simin Keramati, Mina Keshavarz, Golriz Kolahi, Anahita Norouzi, Neda Razavipour, Sanaz Sohrabi, Morteza Soorani, Sadegh Tirafkan.