Shafagh is the Persian word for twilight.
Between 2014 and 2019, photographer Klaartje Lambrechts traveled to Iran
several times. She encountered a beautiful country with incredibly
generous people, governed by strict laws yet filled with boundless
possibilities. Many of these possibilities exist within a vast gray zone—
without clear boundaries—a twilight space between what is allowed and
what is possible, between what is visible and what remains hidden.
During these journeys, Lambrechts met a group of contemporary dancers in
Tehran. What began as an encounter gradually evolved into an artistic
project.
On her third visit in the fall of 2019, Lambrechts traveled with two
dancers from Tehran, Masoumeh and Alireza, to the desert regions of
Dasht-e Lut and Bushehr in southern Iran. After the suffocating bustle of
Tehran, she sought the vast silence and desolate atmosphere of the desert
landscape. Among sand dunes, rocks, and salt flats, she created a
conceptual photographic series.
The bodies of the dancers disappear within the fabrics that surround
them. They explore, struggle, and test the limits of their bodies.
Captured by the camera, their contours transform into sculptural forms
within the immense landscape—solidified movements in which tension and
dynamics remain present.
The series becomes both a visual poem about dance and movement in Iran
and a metaphor for contemporary Iranian society, where similar tensions
are constantly felt. The fabrics restrict the dancers, yet they also
offer protection from the outside gaze. Within this layer, they can move
freely, exploring boundaries and possibilities.
A first part of this series was presented in 2020 at Pedrami Gallery. In
this new presentation, Lambrechts shares additional, previously unseen
images and gives the stage to one of the performers, Masoumeh Jalalieh,
for a live dance performance and artist talk.
In these turbulent times, as conflict and repression continue to shape
many parts of the world, the act of creating and sharing art becomes even
more meaningful. By sharing the personal stories behind the photographs—
through conversation, movement, and reflection—we create a space where
artistic expression can remain alive, where performers and artists can
share their voices, and where dialogue, hope, and connection can continue
to exist. - Masoumeh Jalalie

Artists: Klaartje Lambrechts