The Remembrance Wall / The Wall of Loves is a participatory installation created by artist Iman Tajik with communities across Scotland. Commissioned to mark the 75th anniversary of the Refugee Convention, the work takes the form of a dry stone-style wall built from hundreds of clay tiles, which are imprinted with hands.
Dry stone walls represent some of the first visible borders humans created on the land. In this work, the wall becomes a metaphor: just as stones once marked the beginnings of territorial boundaries, today’s political borders continue to shape lives. By replacing stones with clay handprint tiles, the wall is imagined not as a barrier but as a collective monument built from human presence, touch and solidarity.
The Remembrance Wall / The Wall of Loves has been developed through a series of open workshops and conversations led by the artist and will continue to evolve during the exhibition, as visitors are invited to make new tiles and contribute these and their reflections to the work.
Alongside the installation, Tajik presents documentation of his research on the history of the Refugee Convention and how this has shaped Scottish society. This includes research on archival photographs of the 1951 Refugee Convention, held in the UN Archives, as well as a video documenting visitor interactions with the painting The Belgian Refugee by Norah Neilson Gray (1882–1931), at Kelvingrove Museum.
The exhibition creates a space of remembrance and questioning, linking human stories of the past with contemporary conversations about displacement and refuge and reminding us that displacement is not limited to one regime, ethnicity or place. History shows that it can happen anywhere.
Iman Tajik is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist and photographer based in Glasgow, Scotland. His work is anchored in a strong social interest and demonstrates an effort to make work that is a critical tool connected to international movements for social change. Tajik’s work addresses issues of contemporary conditions of life with a particular focus on migration and globalisation – thereby bridging the gap between art and activism, to create work as a form of socio-political currency, addressing power structures.
No booking required.
Exhibition opening: Tues 16 June, 5-7pm
Commissioned by Scottish Refugee Council. Supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland. Special thanks to Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and Glasgow Museums.
