Elyas Alavi interrogates displacement, exile and memory. Daydreamer Wolf looks at Alavi’s own personal experience with exile and war, and offers perspectives on conflicts in Afghanistan and the Middle East, which have shaped the lives of a generation around him. The exhibition will include collaborative performances and poetry readings at both Chapter House Lane and Abbotsford Convent.

The exhibition runs at Chapter House Lane from 3 May – 30 June. Click here to read the exhibition essay by Andy Butler.

Content warning: This exhibition contains depictions of traumatic events, and contains images of people who have died.

Elyas Alavi is a cross-disciplinary artist and poet based in Adelaide. His multifaceted art practice and poetry are driven by ideas of memory, displacement and exile. Born in the Daikundi province of Afghanistan, he lived for many years in Iran following an intensification of war in his homeland, and arrived in Australia in 2007 as a refugee. Alavi holds an MFA from the University of South Australia, and has shown at Nexus Art Gallery, CACSA Project Space, Fontanelle Gallery, Mohsen Gallery (Tehran), IFA Gallery (Kabul). He is also an internationally renowned poet, and has published three books of poetry in Iran and Afghanistan.

Daydreamer Wolf is a Next Wave x ACE Open First Draft co-commission and has been assisted by Abbotsford Convent, Chapter House Lane, Arts South Australia and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, it’s arts and funding body.