Tilatilaa, 2019

The frame within the frame. In the end, all we see is the frame—that fixed frame that reinforces a sense of theatricality. In his video work, Mohammad Hadi Rahnaward likes to get to the heart of the matter, focusing the viewer’s attention on an action, an image, or a face that multiplies, stretches out, and repeats itself. 

This minimalist approach in the production lends even greater power to its message by making it universal. In the video Subscribe , which he created in 2019 in Kabul, the Afghan artist depicts men jostling to be the center of attention, to appear within the gilded, molded frame that evokes a certain vision of power and fame. Although the inspiration comes from a specific context and the behavior of politicians in the run-up to an election, the situation he depicts with minimal means takes on the appearance of a parable—one of those allegorical stories that convey a deeper lesson.

The vicious cycle highlighted by the videographer points—perhaps with a touch of fatalism—to an inextricable situation, a vicious cycle bordering on the absurd. The recurrence of certain selfish behaviors and patterns of domination transcends borders. But the context of Afghanistan—before the Taliban took power—is the starting point for Mohammad Hadi Rahnaward’s reflections, whether they are, at first glance, political or philosophical.

Thus, there are no women in Subscribe . Through a play on the off-screen space, the frames chosen by the artist reveal—upon closer inspection—the flip side of contemporary history. With their frontal composition, they assert—beyond dashed hopes and a bitter assessment—a sense of detachment. 

↘︎ Text by Henri Guette, art critic and exhibition curator,  member of the Jeunes Critiques d’Art collective