HODA AFSHAR was born in Tehran, Iran (1983), and is now based in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. She completed a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art– Photography in Tehran, and her Ph.D. thesis in Creative Arts at Curtin University. Hoda began her career as a documentary photographer in Iran in 2005, and since 2007 she has been living in Australia where she practices as a visual artist and also lectures in photography and fine art. 

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Through her art practice, Hoda explores the nature and possibilities of documentary image-making. Working across photography and moving-image, she considers the representation of gender, marginality, and displacement. In her work, she employs processes that disrupt traditional image-making practices, play with the presentation of imagery, or merge aspects of conceptual, staged, and documentary photography.

 

Hoda’s work has been widely exhibited both locally and internationally and published online and in print.  In 2023, her first major survey exhibition opened at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney accompanied by a publication. It was in 2021, that her first monograph Speak the Wind was published by MACK in London. Her work is also part of numerous private and public collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, KADIST in Paris, National Gallery of Victoria, Getty Museum Collection in the USA, Art Gallery of South Australia, National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, Art Gallery of NSW and more. Throughout her career, Hoda has been shortlisted for many prestigious art awards, and in 2015 she won Australia’s National Photographic Portrait Prize, in 2018 won Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Australia, and in 2021 she won the people’s choice award of the Ramsay Art Prize, Art Gallery of South Australia. She was also selected as one of the top eight young Australian artists to exhibit at Primavera 2018 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. Hoda is represented by Milani Gallery in Brisbane, Australia.

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Tertiary Education

2019: PhD- Creative Arts, Curtin University of Technology, WA, Australia
2006: Bachelor of Fine Art (Photography) with First Class Honours- Azad University of Art and Architecture – Tehran, Iran

​Additional Professional Education

2009: Fine Art Diploma (Photography/Sculpture), Meadowbank TAFE College, Sydney, Australia
2007: Photojournalism Essential, UTS (University of Technology), Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, Sydney, Australia

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Employment History

2019_2024: Lecturer, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne University

2013_2021: Lecturer, Photography Studies College, Melbourne, Australia

2011: Teaching Assistant/ Tutor: Concepts in Contemporary Art, Curtin University of Technology, WA, Australia

2010: Teaching Assistant/ Tutor: Historical Issues in Art and Design, Curtin University of Technology, WA, Australia
2007- 2010: Freelance Photographer, Sydney, Australia

2005- 2006: Photojournalist, Hamvatan Newspaper, Tehran, Iran​​

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Associations 

2025-2026: Visual arts fellow at the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program (Berliner Künstler Programm), Germany

2024-2026: Recipient of the Creative Australia Fellowship

2024: Sharjah Art Foundation, artist in residence, Sharjah, UAE

2021-2023: Recipient of the Sydney Myer Creative Fellowship

2020_2021: ACME Residency, artist in residence, London, UK

2020-2023: Gertrude Contemporary Studio Artist, Melbourne, Australia

2019- Present: Board member at the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, Australia

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Solo Exhibitions

2024: Hoda Afshar: A Curve is a Broken Line, touring exhibition of the first major survey exhibition by Art Gallery of NSW, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia

2023-2024: Hoda Afshar: A Curve is a Broken Line, first major survey exhibition, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, Australia

2023: Aura, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Australia

2022: Speak the Wind, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Australia

2022: Means Without Ends, Counihan Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2022: Speak the Wind, Monash Gallery of Art & PHOTO 2022 Festival of Photography, Melbourne, Australia

2021: 'Agonistes', Commissioned for PHOTO 2021 Festival of Photography, Melbourne, Australia

2019: 'Remain', Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia

2019: 'Remain', UQ Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia

2019: 'Remain', Mansions of the Future, Lincoln, UK

2019: 'Behold', Perth Centre for Contemporary Photography

2018: 'Behold', Mars Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2018: 'Behold, Horsham Regional Art Gallery in partnership with the Centre of Contemporary Photography, Horsham, Victoria

2017: 'Behold', Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, Australia

2017: ‘In the exodus, I love you more’, Wallflower Photomedia Gallery, Mildura Art Centre, Australia

2016: ‘In the exodus, I love you more’, curated with Pippa Milne, Brightspace Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2016: 'Fables of Change', curated by Alasdair Foster,  'Month of Photography in Minsk'  an international festival of photography in Belarus 

2014: 'Under Western Eyes', Edmund Pearce Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2013: 'In-Between Spaces', curated by Alasdair Foster, Krasnodar Institute of Contemporary Art, PhotoVisa International Festival of Photography, Krasnodar, Russia

2012: 'In-Between Spaces', Edmund Pearce Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2010: 'In-Between Spaces', Mori Gallery, Sydney, Australia

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Group Exhibitions

2024-2025: Hold the World to its Word, Murray Art Museum Albury, Victoria

2024: Cantando Bajito: Chorus, curated by Curated by Roxana Fabius, Beya Othmani, Mindy Seu, and Susana Vargas Cervantes, Ford Foundation, New York

2024: GROW IT, SHOW IT! A Look at Hair from Diane Arbus to TikTok", Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany

2024: L'esprit du gets, Institute of Islamic Cultures, Paris

2024: Acts of Resistance: Photography, Feminisms and the Art of Protest, curated by Fiona Rogers and Sarah Allen, South London Gallery.

2023-2024: The Fold, NGV Triennial, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia

2023-Present: New Photography Gallery collection, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

2023: Paris Photo, Curiosa section curated by Fiona Rogers, Paris, France

2023: Human, Prix Pictet finalist exhibition , Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK

2023: 'A River Flows Downstream, curated by Roï Saade, Middle East Institute, Washington DC, USA

2023: Let the Bād Speak, curated by Exo Art Lab, Turin, Italy

2023:Floating Land, Noosa Art Gallery, Sunshine Coast, Australia

2023: The National 4: Australian Art Now, curated by Jane Devery, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

2023: TarraWarra Biennial 2023: ua usiusi faʻavaʻasavili, curated by Léuli Eshrāghi, Victoria, Australia

2023: Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present, conceived by the late Okwui Enwezor and curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Sharjah 

2023: 20th-century galleries, Art Gallery of NSW collection & Sydney Modern, Sydney

2022: Aichi Triennial 2022, curated by Mami Kataoka, Japan

2022: Our Islands, François Schneider Foundation’s Contemporary Art Centre, France

2022: ART AFTER DARK: REMAIN BY HODA AFSHAR, Bunji Place, Victoria, Australia

2022:Landskrona Foto, International Festival of Photography, curated by Monica Allende, Sweden

2022: When the Wind Blows, curated by Verena Kaspar-Eisert and Liddy Scheffknecht, KUNST HAUS WIEN MUSEUM, Vienna

2022: QUEER: STORIES FROM THE NGV COLLECTION, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2022: AN INVINCIBLE SUMMER, artistic directors:Tim Clark and Walter Guadagnini, Fotografia Europea Festival of Photography in Reggio Emilia, Italy

2022: Destiny Disrupted, curated by Nur Shkembi, Granville Centre Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia

2021_2022: WE CHANGE THE WORLD, Curated by Katharina Prugger, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

2021: IN PROGRESS: Laia Abril - Hoda Afshar - Widline Cadet - Adama Jalloh - Alba Zari, Curated by Aaron Schuman, Bristol Photo Festival, UK

2021: Soul Fury, Bendigo Art Gallery, Curated by Nur Shkembi, Bendigo, Australia

2021: GETXOPHOTO Festival of Photography, curated by Jon Uriarte, Basque Country

2021: Ramsay Art Prize 2021, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia

2021: TRUST at f/stop Festival of Photography, Curated by Susan Bright und Nina Strand, Leipzig, Germany

2021: 'REFRACTED REALITY', Curated by Anna Louise Richardson, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Australia

2020: Group exhibition with Santiago Sierra, Darren Siwes and James Tylor, GAGPROJECTS, Adelaide, Australia

2020: ‘Burning World’, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia

2020: 'f_OCUS',  a selection of works by women from the Moreland Art Collection, Counihan Gallery, Melbourne

2020: 'Interrogating the Borders Between Us' , The Physics Room, Christchurch, New Zealand

2020: 'Between the Sun and the Moon', Lahore Biennale (LB02), Curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Lahore, Pakistan  

2019: 'CIVILIZATION: THE WAY WE LIVE NOW', National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2019: 'REMEDY FOR RAGE', Women in Film and Photography, Objectifs, Singapore

2019: THE END/FUTURE OF HISTORY, Curated by Phuong Ngo, Presented with HYPHENATED PROJECTS as part of DUE WEST FESTIVAL, The Substation Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2019: 'The Shouting Valley', Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand

2019: Spring 1883-Sydney, guest artist, Sarah Scout Presents, Australia

2019: 'Eros', group exhibition, Foxjenssen Gallery, Sydney

2019: 'Beyond Place: Australian Contemporary Photography', Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego CA, USA

2019: 'National Anthem 2019', Buxton Contemporary, Melbourne, Australia

2019: 'Eyes on Australia', part of ‘Eyes on Main Street’ international photography festival, curated by Lucy Stranger, North Carolina, USA

2019: 'In Her Words', Curated by Olivia Poloni, Horsham Regional Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia

2019: A selection of Portraits from 'Remain' on the billboards of The SUBSTATION Gallery, presented by Hyphenated Projects, Melbourne, Australia

2019: 'Just not Australian', Artspace, Sydney

2018: 'PRIMAVERA 2018: Young Australian Artists', Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia

2018: Curating ARTBAR November, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia

2018: The Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, HOTA, Gold Coast, Australia

2018: William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne, Australia

2018: 'All We Can’t See: Illustrating the Nauru Files', Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne

2018: 'The Inner Apartment', Nishi Gallery, Canberra, Australia

2018: LEGACY+… collecting contemporary Hoda Afshar | Pat Brassington | David Rosetzky, curated by Anouska Phizacklea, Monash Gallery of Art (MGA), Melbourne

2018: 'Khalas', Curated by Phillip George & Nur Shkembi, UNSW Galleries, Sydney, Australia

2018: The Art of Collecting, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, Australia

2018: 'Waqt al tagheer: Time of Change', curated by Abdul-Rahman Abdullah & Nur Shkembi, ACE Open, Adelaide, Australia

2017: 'Photography & Place' slideshow, curated by Wawi Navarroza, Angkor Photo Festival, Cambodia

2017: William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne, Australia

2017: A Whole Different Animal, curated by Ros Winkler, Brightspace Gallery, Melbourne

2017: 'The Witching Hour', Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, Australia

2016: 'Instagram's #MyStoryAus exhibition, the voices of fifteen female storytellers in Australia, Melbourne

2016: Obscura Festival, ‘Belonging’, group exhibition of Australian photography, curated by Daniel Boetker-Smith, Penang, Malaysia

2016: Gaffa Photo Festival, ‘Victory’, curated by Christine McFetridge, Sydney, Australia

2016: Australian Photobook of the Year Awards, Photobook Melbourne, Boyd School Studios, Melbourne, Australia

2015: Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Open Finalist,Gold Coast Art Centre, Queensland, Australia

2015: Notional Photographic Portrait Prize, Canberra, Australia

2014: ‘Double Vision’, curated by Konrad Winkler, Brightspace Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2013: Group exhibition, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2013: Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, open finalist, Gold Coast Art Centre, Queensland, Australia

2013: 'Mirror Mirror', curated by Linsey Gosper, Colour Factory Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2012: 'Sub One Thousand', Edmund Pearce Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2012: Group exhibition, Mori Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2012: Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize, finalist, Bridge Street Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2012: 'Alight', Melody Smith Gallery, Perth, Australia
2011: 'Images of Rapid Change', Tink Tank, Curtin University (co-curator/ coordinator, participant), WA, Australia

2011:  'In-Between Spaces', Pingyao International Photography Festival, China
2010: 'Uncover', PCP (Perth Centre For Photography), Perth, Australia
2010: 'Staffroom Show', Moores Building, Fremantle, Western Australia
2008: 'The Carnival', Mori Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2008: 'Greetings from Warburton': A group show of international and Aboriginal artists, Mori Gallery, Sydney, Australia

 

Collections

Victoria and Albert Museum (London), KADIST (Paris), Getty Museum Collection (USA), National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Art Gallery of NSW (Sydney), National Portrait Gallery (Canberra), Mordant Collection,  MUMA Collection (Melbourne), Art Gallery of South Australia (Adelaide), UQ Art Museum (Brisbane). Murdoch University Art Collection (WA), Deakin University Art Collection (Melbourne), Monash Gallery of Art (Melbourne), Art Gallery of Western Australia (Perth), Auckland University Art Collection (Auckland), and numerous private art collections in Australia and outside. 

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Writings/Publications

2023: A Curve is a Broken Line, first major survey exhibition catalogue, published by Art Gallery of NSW

2023: Breathing Space: Iranian Women Photographers, edited by Anahita Ghabaian, Thames & Hudson

2021: Speak the Wind, MACK Publishing, London

2020: Penumbra, part of 'Bleak House' project, Curated by Brad Feuerhelm, published by Void.

2020: Just Images, commissioned essay for View Finding, MGA's 30th-anniversary catalogue celebrating photography, published by Monash Gallery of Art 

2019: Beyond Human: A Conversation Between Hoda Afshar and Behrouz Boochani, commissioned essay, UN Magazine 13.1: 'We Got 'im'

2019: Guest artist for Overland Magazine, Issue 234

2018: Impossible Return by Hoda Afshar, Waqt al-tagheer: Time of Change, catalogue essay, published by ACE Open, Adelaide, Australia

2017: Visibility and Veiling by Hoda Afshar, Seen and Unseen: The Visual Culture of Imperialism, edited book by Sanaz Fotouhi and Esmail Zeini, published by Brill, Netherlands

2017: Reading the Arrival of Demons by Hoda Afshar, dɪˈvan | A Journal of Accounts, Issue #2, published by DIVAN JOURNAL and UNSW Art & Design, Sydney, Australia: https://www.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/about-us/divan-journal

2016: In the Exodus, I love you more: A conversation between Nikos Papastergiadis and Hoda Afshar, Exhibition Catalogue

2016: Max Pinckers – the world as stage of appearances by Hoda Afshar, Der Greif Artist Blog- Organization for Contemporary Photography, Augsburg, Germany: https://dergreif-online.de/artist-blog/max-pinckers-the-world-as-stage-of-appearances/

2016: Broken Reflections / images of Iranian martyrs by Hoda Afshar, Der Greif Artist Blog- Organization for Contemporary Photography, Augsburg, Germany: https://dergreif-online.de/artist-blog/broken-reflections-images-of-iranian-martyrs/

2016: “Close-up”. Abbas Kiarostami by Hoda Afshar, Der Greif Artist Blog- Organization for Contemporary Photography, Augsburg, Germany: https://dergreif-online.de/artist-blog/close-up-abbas-kiarostami/

2016: The Image as Evidence by Hoda Afshar, Der Greif Artist Blog- Organization for Contemporary Photography, Augsburg, Germany: https://dergreif-online.de/artist-blog/the-image-as-evidence/

2016: In the exodus, I love you more, Adventure Handbook online magazine, Australia http://theadventurehandbook.com/in-the-exodus-i-love-you-more/

 

 

Awards and Grants

2024-2026: Recipient of the Creative Australia Fellowship

2024: Foam Paul Huf Award, Finalist 

2024: Asia Pacific Art Awards, Creative Australia, Nominee

2023: Prix Prictet, The global award in photography and sustainability, Finalist

2022: Recipient of Hood Medal 2022, Royal Photographic Society, The United Kingdom

2021: Recipient of the Sidney Myer Creative Fellowships for outstanding talent and exceptional courage

2021: Ramsay Art Prize 2021, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, People's Choice Award, Winner

2020: ACME Residency in London, Australian Council for the Arts

2019: Career Development Grant, Australian Council for the Arts

2019: Prix Prictet, The global award in photography and sustainability, Nominee

2019: Olive Cotton Award for Photographic Portraiture, Finalist

208: William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, Sotheby's Australia People's Choice Award, Winner

2018: The Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Finalist

208: William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, Winner

2018: Shortlisted for Young Artist Award, Melbourne Art Foundation

2017: William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, Finalist

2017: Foam Paul Huf Award, Nominee 

2016: The Pool Grant, Finalist

2016: Australian Photobook of the Year Awards, Finalist

2015: Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Finalist

2015: Notional Photographic Portrait Prize, Winner

2013: Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Finalist

2012: Moran Contemporary Photographic Prizes, Finalist

2011: Australian Postgraduate Award, Office of Research and Development/ Curtin University of Technology

2011: Artflight grant, Department of Culture and the Arts, WA, Australia
2006: Winner of a prize and acknowledgment from the Third Kaveh Golestan Documentary Photography Award, Tehran, Iran
2006: Winner of ‘World Press Photo’ Educational Training Programme Contest, Tehran, Iran

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