Emira Zadissa and Ramona Zadissa
Iran, Sweden, UK
Elmira and Ramona are sisters and collaborators who were born in Iran, grew up in Sweden and now live in the UK. They work as a team in an interdisciplinary manner and call themselves ‘Artivists’, a term that defines their practice at the intersection of arts and politics.
The spectrum of their work covers illustration, participatory art events and storytelling as a means for social change. They have co-founded a number of cultural organisations with the aim of questioning norms and structures in the established arts and cultural spheres. They have published a children's storybook and have been granted several arts and cultural scholarships in Sweden where they resided for over twenty years, prior to coming to the UK.
Their experience of being refugees and migrants as well as identifying themselves as queers, has left an imprint on their body of work, which addresses different aspects of these identities.
Description for photos as per category
Brexit stories (5 images)
Brexit stories highlight some of the mechanisms which racialises bodies. It aims to create a broader understanding of the stigmatisation many people face because of their race, ethnicity, religion and origins. The project is a contribution to portraying a turbulent time in the history of the UK and Europe.
To drop anchor (1 image)
To drop anchor focuses on the journeys that have constructed the identities of the artivists.
Breaking noon (8 images)
Breaking Noon is a photo documentary of the lives of women in rural areas of Iran. Women who were often the sole breadwinner of their family, making traditional bread.