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OPEN CALL
01 – 30, MAY 2026

Karim Mottaghi

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

Iran

I am lost, look, and find me!

In the Shiite Muslim religion, it is a sacrament to go to cemeteries on Thursdays and Fridays to recite prayers and the Qur'an at their loved ones’ graves. This Thursday and Friday (December 23-24, 2021) it snowed heavily and it was difficult to go to the Vadi-Rahmat Cemetery in Tabriz. On Saturday (December 25, 2021), I went to my mother's grave and the section dedicated to Corona victims. It was difficult for the people present in the cemetery to identify the graves of their loved ones; all of the signs were lost under the snow. Each one somehow removed the snow from the gravestones. As Covid drove them away from their families, the snow also has added to this arrogance of separation, as they struggled to find the graves of their loved ones. They were so anxiously looking for the marks of father, mother, brother, sister and child that they seemed to be looking for a riddle or for " Dead Christ in the Grave" - a painting by Hans Holbein! Based on supposition and suspicion, they removed several graves to find their beloved graves from the photo engraved on the gravestone. If they found it, they would clear all the snow and otherwise leave it. These are the graves of victims whose loved ones have not come to their graves this week. According to a woman crying over her mother’s grave, the content of the looking photos on the gravestones was: I am lost, look, and find me!

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