Elyas Alavi, Salt and Pomegranate, 2018. Pomegranate, salt, neon, light, suicide bomber’s vest dimensions variable. Courtesy: the aritst and ACE Open, Adelaide.

Poignant and brave, Daydreamer Wolf elevates the voice of Afghani-born artist and award-winning poet Elyas Alavi to new heights. This compelling project, developed for the 2018 Next Wave x ACE Open x Firstdraft co-commission and previously exhibited in Melbourne and Sydney, documents Alavi’s experience as a Hazara refugee and migrant to Australia.

Working across painting, sculpture, documentary video and poetry, Alavi’s practice engages with ideas of family, memory, national identity and displacement. Daydreamer Wolf is his largest body of work to date and offers a timely and highly personal perspective on the trials and realities of the contemporary refugee experience.

At ACE Open, a specially-commissioned installation invites visitors to create their own interpretation of what home means, culminating in a performance led by Alavi to mark the end of the exhibition.

Join the gallery for the opening on 18 May from 4-6pm.