Vádyé Eshgh وادی عشق (Valley of Love) is a major new commission by Second Generation Collective. Founded in 2020 by Iranian-Australian video artist Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson and Gujurati-Irish-Australian performer, film-maker and musician Asha Kiani, the work of Second Generation Collective highlights the lived experiences of Iranian-Australians who fled Iran during the 1979 Revolution and those of their children raised on Noongar boodja.
Vádyé Eshgh وادی عشق (Valley of Love) stems from an excerpt of The Seven Valleys—a book written in Persian by Baháʼu’lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, exploring the metaphorical journey of the soul through different stages of eternal life. Developed in conjunction with creative advisor, renowned WA artist Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, this powerful multi-disciplinary installation offers an emotive and layered reflection on identity, spirituality and displacement, highlighting themes of remembrance, grief and the divine nature of love.
Comprising a major new film and accompanying wall mural by Khashayar Salmanzadeh, Vádyé Eshgh وادی عشق (Valley of Love) traces powerful journeys of fleeing homelands, surrendering to the unknown and reuniting with divine love. Through this new commission, the Collective seeks to highlight and celebrate the profound beauty, complexity and diversity of their heritage—weaving symbolic motifs inspired by ancient Persian and South Asian aesthetics with universal human experiences of displacement, sacrifice and renewal.
The artists of the Second Generation Collective include Ashkaan Hadi, Ashton Namdar, Araan Kousari, Danny Aghaie, Karmel Faithi, Khashayar Salmanzadeh, Mandana Eizadi, Maya-Rose Chauhan, Ramona Zare, Raneen Kousari, Ryan Zare, Asha Kiani and Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson.
Second Generation Collective: Vádyé Eshgh وادی عشق (Valley of Love) is made possible by funding from Creative Australia’s Visual Arts and Crafts Strategy (VACS) Major Commissioning Projects Fund and is the first of the commissions to be awarded to a West Australian-based recipient.
