Memory

The first mural of the Slemani Urban Art Festival, by the one and only Guido van Helten. Supported by Art+

Despite a long history of struggles and repression, Kurdish families have remained resilient and held strongly to their traditions and cultural roots. One of the strengths of Kurdish families is their kinship ties and their collective memory that has continued to be celebrated and passed down from one generation to another.
Our first mural is about Kurdish collective memory and identity, which resulted from ethnographic and photographic field research to Sharazur, Hawraman, Dukan, and Qaladze, along with meticulous mural art design by Van Helton.
After a visit to the village of Shiramar, the artist shared several hours of intimate family time with Asrin Edris (the young lady of the Mural), her sister, and her parents. The mural was inspired by the strong connection shared between the two young sisters and their parents while looking through photographs of the family memories, including a photograph of their parents on their wedding day.
Asrin’s mural is a celebration of everyday living Kurdish collective social memory, identity, and the future of the new generation of Kurds who are always reminded of their resilient culture.

" After arriving in early January we begun driving around the surrounding regions of Dukan, Hawraman and back to the city of Slemani in search of inspiration, something to signify the long history of Kurdish collective memory. Our interest in these identifiers led us to local handmade crafts, food culture and meals with families in the countryside. We found characteristic hospitality and warmth during the coldest time of the year. I made thousands of photographs but in the end I found a strong connection to an image from a chance visit with a local family near to the border town of Tarwella, Iraq.

I worked for 8 days in late February/March to get it done with an amazing local artist @tara_a_muhammad we worked together non stop until the last day when a rare thunderstorm came in and compromised the final photo which we had been working so hard to make. The family stopped by on the last day and not without lots of stress, we got the work completed. ": shared Guido on his socials