Hand printing is like a birthing ritual to me. The pressure of the press, like the contractions of childbirth, creates a new image on the paper—a process deeply connected to femininity. You are invited to this ritual to commemorate the beginning of your existence in the chain of the universe and to create a unique work. Birth is a sacred moment, and this Exhibition-Work is born alongside my own Hakzad—and ours. This collection also includes a recreation of six paintings from the birth of Rostam, using the medium of handprint. It seeks the roots of birth in the history of our land, where Rostamine's image lives on in the minds of Iranian women—immortal and towering, like the Shahnameh itself. I dedicate this artwork to my daughter, Atena, whose birth was intentionally left unrecorded.

Elahe Moghadami