Whether it be spiritual ceremonies, seasonal festivities or rituals of initiation and transition – customs and rites count among humanity’s oldest practices. They foster temporary communities, help structure emotions and enable forms of belonging that often defy rational explanation. Conversely, they also reveal how closely collective practices may be connected to marginalization, disciplinary power and violence. In her latest series of works, the German-Iranian artist Yalda Afsah navigates precisely within this area of tension. She explores rituals and their role as social and physical choreographies, in the scope of which universal questions of power, identity and community come to the fore. In her solo exhibition at the Kunsthaus Hamburg, she is for the first time presenting the films JARRAMPLAS (2024), PAN (2026) and HEAT (2026) together. Based on research into local ritual practices in Spain, Bulgaria and Taiwan, the works examine how societal orders and collective experiences manifest themselves in performative acts.
The exhibition opening takes place as part of Crossing Currents, the first Hamburg Art Week. From 9 pm, F0vian will be playing a mix of warm, fragmented textures, obscure trip-hop and eclectic string sounds in the foyer.
