Earthquake has always been a significant issue in Tehran, the capital of Iran. According to estimations based on historical evidence, the first Tehran earthquake occurred in the city of Rey in the fourth millennium BC. One thousand years ago and about seven and eight hundred years ago, a number of major earthquakes devastated Tehran, and the city was consequently rebuilt. According to the calculations of Ali Darvishzadeh, the father of Iranian geology, the cycle of earthquakes in Tehran is 150 years. The last major earthquake occurred 180 years ago. Studies show that a great earthquake will definitely occur in the near future and will happen at night, which will increase casualties up to five million. Sixty-five percent of the buildings will be destroyed. The urban worn-out textures, which includes most of the southern parts of Tehran, will be razed immediately. During the first couple of days after the earthquake, the inability to extract dead bodies due to the vastness of Tehran, will inevitably lead to outbreaks of various diseases, including cholera and plague. Tehran’s exit routes will be blocked, and survivors will have to stay with no tap water. Survivors will die of cholera, plague, thirst, hunger, and the stench of corpses. They say blessed are those who die in the early moments of the earthquake. But why? In this exhibition, through some photos, videos and graphical map, I try to show how a natural phenomenon like earthquake can turn into such a human catastrophe.

Artists 

Kiarash Eghbali Seresht, Rouzbeh Fouladi, Amir Hossein Sanaei, Nastaran Majd