Salam from Niagara Falls / سلام از آبشار نیاگارا was a 2019 Contact Photography Festival exhibit that took up first- and second-generation Afghan and Iranian home-making in the context of ongoing settler colonialism on Turtle Island. Family photographs taken at Niagara Falls are a staple in many migrant and refugee homes, often evoking newfound relationships to belonging in Canada. Through photo-based practice, Melika Hashemi, Ferozan Nasiri, and Zahra Rajabi refuted the nostalgia associated with Canada as “a nation of immigrants,” drawing from and digitally manipulating personal archives to share experiences with migration, displacement, and settlement. The works were accompanied by a critical intervention on the Tar Sands Expansion by anonymous street-artist Swarm. With the support of Wares Fazelyar and Nima Esmailpour of Taklif Collective, the curatorial statement by Mitra Fakhrashrafi was made available in English, Dari, and Farsi. The zine, predominantly in English, showcases the exhibit.
