Paintings

Border-Industrial Complex (BIC) is a series of paintings by Elahe Zivardar depicting the stories and resistance of refugees in the Australian offshore detention center in Nauru. Zivardar began painting while imprisoned in the tiny Pacific Island nation of Nauru by Australian authorities. Approximately 1200 people seeking asylum, including pregnant women and infants, were detained in Nauru.

The Border-Industrial Complex series portrays real stories from the Nauru detention center. Zivardar uses her skills in architectural representation, her knowledge and unique perspective to present a new form of storytelling through paintings.

Zivardar contributed writing and paintings (including the cover art) to a special issue of the journal Southerly 79.2: Writing Through Fences – Archipelago of Letters. During this process one of the editors Omid Tofighian suggested the series title Border-Industrial Complex.

The series of paintings was exhibited and awarded Honorable Mention at the United Nations International Art Contest for Minority Artists, highlighting intersectionality (November 2023: Geneva, Switzerland).