AFRO-IRAN

The Unknown

Minority

By Mahdi Ensaei

The photographic series of German-born Iranian Mahdi Ehsaei shows a side of Iran, which is unknown by even Iranians. A trip to a place which is inhabited and dominated by the descendants of enslaved people and traders from Africa.

The Hormozgan province in the Persian Gulf is a traditional and historical region with a diverse and unexplored population. It is framed with unique landscapes and people with profound personalities. Iranians, who still have African blood in them and continue their African heritage with their clothing style, their music, their dance and their oral traditions and rituals.

The resulting portraits reveal new facets and unfamiliar faces, which are not typical for the common picture of Iran. They show details documenting the centuries-long history of this ethnic minority. A confrontation between the Persian culture and the, for Iran unusual, African consciousness.

A surprisingly new experience for the viewer, which shows the current presence of Afro-Iranians in Iran.

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