Gaston Bachelard, in his book "The Poetics of Space," effectively highlights the significance of the concept of home in social life. He states that the home is the shell through which humans confront the "outside" - it is meant to conceal us, comfort us, and act as a shield against the onslaught of life's uncertainties. However, in the context of where I have lived, does this abstraction of the concept of home still hold true? What do we consider a home, and what defines it? Does it, as Henri Bosco suggests, continue to defend itself in a warrior-like manner?
In his exhibition titled Kitchen Talk Navid Afzalnia (b. 1997) reflects on the concept of home within contemporary society, questioning it as a form of protection through his experience of living in an unstable political climate. The title Kitchen Talk comes from the perception of the kitchen as the final stronghold against possible enemies in a home that has lost its sense of security. Throughout history people have retreated to the kitchen for conversations they do not wish others to hear when in fear of being listened to, for example through the walls or via a tapped phone.
A closer inspection of Afzalnia’s installation reveals that something in the seemingly mundane visual language of the home and the gallery space is actually breaking itself. With these subtle gestures he asks: Are the walls of this house truly as solid, stable, and secure as they appear?
The exhibition is part of the gallery’s 2025-26 program called Textures of Security, which has been curated through an open call by the museum’s curatorial team and invited curator Farbod Fakharzadeh, and supported by Finnish Heritage Agency.
The Finnish Museum of Photography
Basement floor
The Cable Factory, Kaapeliaukio 3, Helsinki
