Hoda Afshar
Speak the Wind
















Hoda Afshar illuminates the Strait of Hormuz as a contact zone where the collision of cultures has given rise to hybrid traditions. In these islands off the southern coast of Iran, a distinctive local culture has emerged as the result of many centuries of cultural and economic exchange, the traces of which are seen not only in the material culture of these islands but also in the customs and beliefs of their inhabitants. Central to these is a belief in the existence of winds—generally thought of as harmful—that may possess a person, causing her to experience illness or disease, and a corresponding ritual practice involving incense, music and movement in which an hereditary cult leader speaks with the wind through the afflicted patient in one of many local or foreign tongues in order to negotiate its exit. While their exact origins are unclear, the existence of similar beliefs and practices in many African countries suggests that the cult may have been brought to the south of Iran from southeast Africa through the Arab slave trade. The work offers an enigmatic view of the rituals and lives that play out within the astounding landscape of these islands, using photography and moving image to grapple with the history of documentary photography; its beauty and its limits.