Reflections on Land and Water Workshop with Azarmidokhot Elahi

Artist Azarmidokhot Elahi will be leading her Reflections on Land and Water Workshop. This is for people aged 18 and above.

Through writing and hands-on crafting, this participatory workshop invites visitors to engage in a shared experience of reflection, dialogue, and creative exchange. Working with natural materials like handmade paper, soil, coconut husk, tumeric, and natural pigments, participants will respond to the themes of land and water, expressing their own cultural memories, values, and connections. Creating a space for intercultural dialogue, shared stories, and meaningful human connection, the works will be created on cards, placed inside envelopes, and anonymously gifted to another participant — an unknown friend. Each card will carry a message in a language that comes from the heart, creating a personal connection between two people who may never have met.

🗓️ 11am-12pm. Saturday, 7th of November 2026

📍Chrissie Cotter Gallery. 31A Pidcock St, Camperdown NSW 2050. Find info about access here

✨ This workshop is free however registrations are essential. Please register via this Humanitix webpage.

This free workshop is part of CuriousWorks' HOLDING SPACE 2026 – Rituals of Reciprocity – Land and Water program. HOLDING SPACE is funded by the NSW Government through the Multicultural NSW COMPACT Program. Our project collaborators are SSI’s Community Refugee Welcome Centre located at Callan Park, Lilyfield, and Community Partners Sydney Opera House. 

For any questions, please email CuriousWorks' HOLDING SPACE Curator Vandana Ram, at vandana@curiousworks.com.au.

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ARTIST BIO:

Azarmidokht Elahi is an Iranian-Australian multidisciplinary artivist, educator, and community arts facilitator based in Sydney. She is the founder and creative director of HamAva Women’s Group, a community platform that brings women from diverse cultural backgrounds together through art, dialogue, and collaborative creativity.

With more than 25 solo exhibitions across Iran and Australia, Azarmidokht’s artistic practice explores themes of identity, migration, memory, gender, and human rights. Working across visual arts, installation, and participatory projects, her work creates spaces where personal narratives and collective histories can be expressed, witnessed, and shared.

Her practice is grounded in community engagement and socially responsive art. Through workshops, public programs, and collaborative projects, she works with culturally diverse communities, including migrants, refugees, and women navigating displacement and social change.

Azarmidokht’s work is deeply connected to ideas of belonging, reciprocity, and care. She is particularly interested in how artistic practices can connect people to land, memory, and each other while amplifying voices that are often unheard.

Alongside her artistic practice, she works as a community arts teacher with TAFE NSW, facilitating the Art and Connection course and creative programs that support cultural exchange, empowerment, and social connection.

Photo: Supplied