Ideas Open Community event explores displacement through art, film

Ideas International School transformed into a space of powerful storytelling and artistic exploration on Saturday evening, hosting the “Ideas Open Community Event: Film Screening & Photo Exhibition.” This immersive night featured the Kuala Lumpur premiere of Komeil, a documentary by Hungarian filmmaker and renowned photojournalist Nicky Almasy, and the opening of DISPLACED, Fragmented Souls, Faces, a poignant photo series by French visual artist François Bancon.

Attendees gathered from 7:45pm at the school’s Cheras campus, where they were welcomed with light refreshments and the opportunity to network before the event formally began. The programme was held in collaboration with Ideas International, reflecting the school’s ongoing commitment to fostering dialogue through the arts and education.

A stirring portrait of the artist in exile

The evening’s centrepiece was the screening of Komeil, a documentary short profiling Iranian artist Komeil Zarin. In just under 30 minutes, the film delivers a layered exploration of exile, belonging, and the emotional cost of displacement through Zarin’s personal and artistic journey. Born in revolutionary Iran and now living in Kuala Lumpur, Zarin is shown wrestling with the notion of home while continuing to create vivid and expressive paintings that reflect his dislocation and resilience.

Almasy’s lens delicately captures the beauty and burden of living in exile, while Zarin’s story presents a moving testament to survival and creativity in uncertain circumstances. Following the screening, the audience engaged in a thought-provoking Q&A with both the director and the artist himself. The discussion unpacked the nuances of identity, migration, and the emotional terrain navigated by exiles and refugees in host countries.

Photography exhibition lends faces to displaced voices

Complementing the documentary’s themes, François Bancon’s photo exhibition DISPLACED, Fragmented Souls, Faces was introduced shortly after the Q&A. Divided into two series — fragmented souls and faces — the exhibition visualises the inner landscapes and identities of displaced persons.

In fragmented souls, Bancon captures metaphorical images reflecting how migration fragments bodies, souls, and territories, often leaving memory as the only remaining link to one’s origins. Meanwhile, faces presents unadorned portraits of migrant youths, revealing strength and vulnerability in equal measure. These portraits, captured without artifice, convey the individuality of each subject while highlighting their shared experiences of displacement.

Bancon, known for his work on memory and human resistance, gave a brief introduction to the exhibition before guests explored the displayed works at their own pace. The visual narrative served as a quiet but powerful extension of the themes first introduced in the documentary.

A unique educational and artistic encounter

The event concluded with an open tour of the school led by Ideas staff members, allowing guests to discover the educational environment supporting such a cultural initiative. Throughout the evening, the school maintained an atmosphere of reflection and engagement, where conversations between artists, educators, students, and the public offered opportunities for deeper understanding of global displacement through personal and artistic expression.

By bringing together a documentary and a photo exhibition that both explore the complexity of identity in exile, the Ideas Open Community Event successfully positioned itself as more than just an arts showcase. It became a dialogue platform — bridging geographies, cultures, and personal stories — and offering an empathetic lens on the real-life challenges faced by displaced individuals, right here in Kuala Lumpur.