Commissioned for the Triennial, the installation Study of the Vase as Fragmented Bodies captures the politically and emotionally charged narratives of the artist, Reza Aramesh. Through sculpture, photography, and performance, Aramesh confronts the complexities of race, class, and sexuality interwoven within the Eurocentric art-historical canon. Executed in hand-thrown terra-cotta and white clay, this series of Hellenistic-style vases, symbolic of classical civilizations, depicts images of subjugated bodies the artist pulled from contemporary news media. By recontextualizing the imagery of violence and oppression, Aramesh challenges the long-standing practices of collecting, displaying, and commercializing spoils of war in museums and private collections, and as monuments and other public displays.

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