Hadaf Tarikhi (هدف تاريخي) – A Goal with a History

A sports hall in Baghdad, a football team and the traces of a turbulent past: in Hadaf Tarikhi (A Goal with a History), Louis-Cyprien Rials follows the Iraqi national team in disabled football.

The starting point is the sports hall in Baghdad designed by Le Corbusier – a place marked by political upheavals, wars and social change. In his video work, Rials focuses on the players as athletes, friends and companions. The result is a powerful portrait of community, dignity and the strength to carry on living in the wake of loss and violence.

Photographs and football shirts made from fabrics sourced from various Iraqi communities enrich the narrative. The exhibition weaves together personal stories with architecture and the present day to offer a multi-layered perspective on identity, solidarity and the traces of history.