OUR REACH

Artist Development “Photo Australia provided the time and resources to create this ambitious new work. They supported me every step of the way, and that allowed me to work with a large team of experts and collaborators. It was absolutely rewarding to see it presented in such a public setting for PHOTO 2021.” Hoda Afshar

Our Fellowship provides an opportunity for an artist to research and develop a new body of work that responds to the major issues of our time.

In her PHOTO 2021 commission Agonistes, Tehran-born, Melbournebased visual artist Hoda Afshar created two bodies of work – 9 monochrome 3D portraits, towering 3 metres in height along Swanston St, positioned on the lawns of St Paul’s Cathedral; and a 20 minute video work, presented at Missing Persons Gallery, in the Nicholas Building opposite.

Agonistes explores the experiences of whistleblowers who have voiced harms and misconducts being perpetrated in Australian institutions today. PHOTO Australia commissioned Afshar to create this work in mid 2019, providing the resources and time required for a detailed research driven project.

For the portraits, Afshar used 110 cameras functioning instantaneously to capture 3D images of her subjects, and used a 3D printer to convert these into busts. The busts were then photographed and presented as the displayed portraits. Positioned prominently on Swanston St in the heart of Melbourne, this commission brought Afshar’s practice to an incredible number of new audiences, and is her largest and most publicly accessible artwork to date.

Hoda Afshar, Agonistes, St Paul’s Cathedral (exterior). Commissioned by Photo Australia for PHOTO 2021. Supported by the City of Melbourne, Mark Henry and the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria. Photo by J Forsyth.