At PICA we recognise that we are situated within the unceded lands of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation. We pay our respects and offer our gratitude to Elders past and present. We acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the importance of their care and continued connection to culture, community and Country.

Always was, always will be.

Galleries are closed today. Our exhibitions are always free.

Second Generation Collective

Enter The Valley of Love

Enter The Valley of Love

To accompany their exhibition Vádyé Eshgh وادی عشق  (Valley of Love), Second Generation Collective presents an afternoon of live music, poetry and reflection by Collective members Alia Golestani, Ranin Kousari and Araan Kousari.

This community event provides insight into the creative process behind the creation of Vádyé Eshgh وادی عشق  (Valley of Love), which draws on the lived experiences of the children of Iranian-Australian migrants as they navigate identity, belonging and the divine nature of love. Join the Collective for afternoon tea, creative reflection and connection.    

Image: Second Generation Collective, Vádyé Eshgh وادی عشق (Valley of Love) 2025, production still. Image courtesy of the artists.

Register below

About the artists

Second Generation Collective was founded in 2020 by Iranian-Australian Baha’i video artist Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson and performer, theatre–maker and musician Asha Kiani in collaboration with emerging artists from the Iranian-Australian community in Boorloo (Perth). Comprising migrants who fled Iran during the 1979 Revolution and their children who have grown up on Noongar boodja, the Collective encourages those who were displaced to document, share and creatively express their stories as a means of healing collective traumas and bridging generational gaps.

Alia Golestani is a musician based in Boorloo/Perth and member of the Second Generation Collective. She is a multi-instrumentalist who has performed in bands and as a solo artist over the past decade.

Social action is the axis around which Ranin Kousari’s artistic practice revolves. Through her work as a photographer and writer on Whadjuk Noongar boodja, Ranin spotlights and advocates for women and migrant communities, shaped by her family’s experience as first and second generation Iranian immigrants. Ranin has written stories for both stage and screen, co-writing theatre show Áváreh آواره & Found (2021) for Blue Room Theatre’s 900 Seconds (of Storytelling). Her screenplay Hopscotch (2024), which explores immigrant solidarity amidst disconnection and rejection from white Australian society was awarded Best Screenplay at Curtin Razor 2024 and made its festival debut at Revelation Film Festival 2025. 

2025 has also seen Ranin at the intersection of sport, art and advocacy, where halftime slices was born. Through her women’s sports media service, Ranin seeks to elevate and continue the conversation around women and girls’ participation within the global sports landscape, a space still rife with gender disparity. Most notably she has photographed the Matildas, the 2024/25 A-League Women, and Ice Hockey Australia’s National Women’s Championships.

Araan Kousari is a Bahá’í, Iranian-Australian community worker who has contributed to multiple Second Generation Collective projects as a creative collaborator and artist, exploring and developing various skill sets and mediums in the process. Previously, these have included music, poetry, drawing and photography, which he pursues as hobbies in his spare time. For Vádyé Eshgh, Araan has digitised archival VHS footage from his parents’ home videos, recorded across Iran, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Australia. These videos showcase their culture, their journey of displacement, and their evolving relationship with the concept of home.

Maya-Rose Chauhan is a writer, creative and dreamer working on Noongar Boodja. She has written for ArtsHub, South Asian Today, SeeSaw Magazine and Portside Review.  In 2019 she wrote and directed her debut theatre show, It’s All Relative as part of the Blue Room theatre’s 600 Seconds of Storytelling and performed with Saga Sisterhood—a transformative performance project for South Asian women- in Melbourne and Perth. Alongside writing, Maya-Rose works with pottery and quilting, creating original works using traditional Gujurati methods and sari fabrics.


Supporters

Enter The Valley of Love is generously supported by PICA’s Community Engagement Partners, City of Perth.