Remain

In this video artwork, Hoda Afshar addresses Australia’s contentious border protection policy and the human rights of asylum seekers. Afshar travelled to Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and followed a group of stateless men who remained on the island following the closure of the infamous immigration detention centre on the island in October 2017. At once deeply confronting and stunningly beautiful, Remain 2018, is exemplary of Afshar’s practice in the way it blends her strong political views with a poetic vision. Here is an excerpt taken from the work.

Remain (2018) revolves around an offshore immigration detention centre operated by Australian border control on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, where asylum seekers are left to languish in a stateless limbo as they await legal status. Following a group of refugees who remained on the island after the closure of the detention facility in 2017, the film juxtaposes their stories of loss, violence and abuse with the lushness of the island’s lowland tropical rainforest landscape.