Swept Away Like Leaves

FIRI | SWEPT AWAY LIKE LEAVES

Caught between the desire for familiarity and the lack of stability, home becomes a ubiquitous construct in Firi Rahman's Swept Away Like Leaves. Taking its name from a verse in Agha Shahid Ali's A Country Without A Post Office, a poem that echoes the sentiments of loss and longing for a place that exists only in memory, Firi Rahman’s new body of work is a commentary on experiences of refugees and migrants who exist in an ambiguous & uprooted zone of belonging and non-belonging, as they try to comprehend the meaning of home.

The series draws from the artist's observation of parakeets in the Parisian skies. Introduced along the routes of luxury trade as exotic species, they have come to inhabit the foreign landscapes of Europe. Removed from their natural habitats these creatures are slowly adapting to new environments, but as their populations increase…