Sébastien Cuvelier

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— Live

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About me

Paradise City2017-2020
“The ability to weave a complex story without showing anything directly is a rare ability. It offers the reader of such works a chance to read the subliminal by-lines of work like Paradise City and to divert the call for objective narrative-building for something looser, more cerebral. It asks the reader to help activate the work.”

— Brad Feuerhelm, American Suburb X
Paradise City is a personal search through both the contemporary and ancient landscapes of Iran to locate an elusive, dreamlike version of paradise. My journeys to Iran were inspired by a manuscript written on my late uncle’s journey to Persepolis over 50 years ago.

The sheer concept of paradise is inherently Iranian. The word paradise comes from old Persian paridaida – meaning walled garden. It is therefore only natural that this word resonates in all corners of a country where history is full of nostalgia, people are deeply romantic and flowers are everywhere. The country’s young and connected population has had to constantly adjust its way of living since the 1979 revolution, in order to circumvent the limitations imposed by the Government. They seek paradise, but are unsure where to look.

I attempted to reflect this pursuit of paradise through metaphorical, fleeting and illusive images – each appearing like a piece of an intangible jigsaw combining what once was or could be, with the present. Paradise City shows glimpses of contemporary Iran through the eyes of the people I met – at times romanticised, nostalgic or even utopian.

Exhibitions
Centre Le Lierre, Thionville, 2023-2024
Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi, Sep 2022
Imago Lisboa, Lisbon, Oct 2021
FOMU, Antwerp, Jun-Sep 2021
Bienne Photography Festival, Biel/Bienne, May 2021
Visage(s) d'Europe, Paris, May 2021
Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, May 2021
Les Boutographies, Montpellier, May 2019
Centre d'art Nei Liicht, Dudelange, May 2018

Book
Paradise City, GOST, 2020