Akef Rahmati (b. 1997) is a visual artist based in Tehran. She studied Graphic Design at Soore University and holds an MA in Painting from the University of Tehran.

Akef’s practice moves between painting and image-making and is often shaped by a narrative foundation. Her recent concerns revolve around multilayered individual and collective identities, including social and cultural contexts, gender and gender identity, and experiences of connection and relationships. In her work, these concepts intertwine with layers of social critique and engage with contemporary tensions and visual reactions.

Her practice incorporates a range of techniques, including digital painting, acrylic, mixed media, ink, and Rapid. Through her visual language, she seeks to create a bridge of experience and shared understanding between the artwork and its audience.

Souvenirs from Iran

I’m going to migrate,” “You should leave one day too,” “I’m thinking about leaving,” “You’re still here?” “What happened with your migration plans?”

These are all phrases that, for as long as I can remember, have been repeated again and again in conversations among the people around me. Over time, these conversations have turned into recurring patterns in my subconscious, settling into my everyday language and dialogue.

The Souvenirs from Iran zine is an attempt to visualize the impact of these recurring conversations about “leaving” and “migration”—both from those who have stayed and those who have left. When I think about migration, I find myself confronted with identities and scattered fragments of my roots: identities and pieces that are each separately packed into compartments in my mind, forming a small mountain of “everything.” These boxes are reminders of parts of us that remain in place, and we can never be certain that we will be able to take all of them with us.

The arrangement of the “boxes” complements the Souvenirs from Iran zine: a journey from collective memory and shared experiences toward the most personal feelings surrounding migration. As someone who has not yet migrated, these works reflect experiences, images, and an identity that have taken shape within me around the subject of migration and have gradually taken root.