Tina Farifteh

The Iranian-Dutch photographer, filmmaker, and artist Tina Farifteh (1982) explores in her work the impact of power structures on the lives of ordinary people. She documents the subject of asylum for Document Nederland: a collection of social photography commissioned by the Rijksmuseum since 1975. ‘How is it possible that a system once created to protect people in need, has become a system that can harm people so deeply?’ Farifteh asks.

The central figure in her exhibition is B., who is in the midst of an asylum procedure after more than four months of immigration detention at Schiphol and a stay in Ter Apel. In addition to the photographs, Farifteh projects two videos of B., in which he shares, among other things, his experiences in an asylum centre. By positioning him as the narrator, Farifteh reverses the usual perspective on our asylum procedures: instead of talking about asylum seekers, she allows us literally to listen to one.

Cover image: Tina Farifteh, Installation view Document Nederland 2025, Rijksmuseum | Photo: Albertine Dijkema