Artists Ghazaleh Avarzamani and Ali Ahadi explore the echoes of British imperialism through nursery rhymes, sculpture, and satire.
This summer, the Hayward Gallery will present Freudian Typo, a new exhibition by Iranian-Canadian artists Ghazaleh Avarzamani and Ali Ahadi that reconsiders Britain’s imperial past through the lens of nursery rhymes.
The show, produced in partnership with the RC Foundation, Taiwan (R.O.C.), uses familiar children’s verses such as The Old Woman and Her Pig to explore themes of debt, exploitation and collapse. Drawing from historical records and folklore, the artists reimagine these rhymes as reflections of economic and political systems, both past and present.
Image courtesy the artist.
Ghazaleh Avarzamani and Ali Ahadi of Freudian Typo say: “We’re engaged in a mode of practice that maintains that art emerges through engagement with critical discourse, where dialogue and dialectics serve both as our methodology and medium. The complementary aspects of our work renders collaboration not merely as a beneficial addition but as an essential necessity. Our commitment to critical exchange defines our collective horizon, positioning the dynamic and discursive mode of art-making as the most compelling path forward.”
Image courtesy the artist and the Hayward Gallery.
One of the exhibition’s central pieces is a lifelike sculpture of Palmerston, the former Chief Mouser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The cat gazes at a digital motorway sign bearing the phrase “Truth and Reconsolidation”, setting a tone of quiet irony. From there, the show unfolds across photography, sculpture, video and found objects.
While the work is laced with wit and double meanings, its focus remains on the ongoing effects of empire — how they surface in language, symbols and institutions.
Image courtesy the artist.
Freudian Typo is the third presentation in the RC Foundation Project Space Exhibition Series, which highlights contemporary international voices. It is part of the Southbank Centre’s broader effort to provide open access to the arts. Since 2007, the Hayward Gallery’s HENI Project Space has offered free exhibitions from artists including Thabiso Sekgala, Kate Cooper and Huang Po-Chih.
Freudian Typo opens on the 10th of June, 2025 until the 31st August, 2025 at The Hayward Gallery’s HENI Project Space
Admission is free
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