Gav-khouni

Gav-khouni is an installation that examines the relationship between place and identity. This is done based on the artist’s lived experience of relocation and the story of the drying up of a river in her hometown. In this paper, this project is explored within theoretical and documentary practice contexts. In doing so, various concepts of identity, place and memory are studied to interpret how relocations can affect a sense of identity. The history of the river and the effects of its damming, abstraction and diversion are discussed to understand its metaphorical presence in the project. Additionally, documentary aspects of the work, influential artists, and the process of the development of the project are explored. The findings of the project reveal the strong bond between place and identity, and they point to the impacts that changes of places have on the identities of people who relate to them.