The first part of the video depicts bundles of clothes rolling about on the waves. © the artist

A video installation dealing with the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers will form the centrepiece of a new exhibition at Norwich Arts Centre as part of Contemporary Art Norwich 2007.

Iranian artist Zory presents her moving exhibition Waves at the Centre from August 10 to September 10 2007, with the interactive video on show between August 14 and 18.

The video work involves visitors, as CCTV cameras will capture their images and project them into images of huge waves, rolling one after another. Exhibition visitors will find themselves actors in the work alongside a woman escaping by sea, struggling through waves to reach the shore.

“This video is based on my interest in the sea as a metaphor to portray displacement,” explains Zory.

The video acts as a metaphor for the experience of refugees and asylum seekers. © the artist

“The first part of the video shows cloth bundles floating on top of waves. The round shapes of the bundles are a reminder of crumpled human bodies and their act of risking their life to cross the border. It ends with the floating and landing of a shoe on the shore.”

In addition to the installation are sculptures consisting of 30,000 safety pins and sewn-up masks, and other videos and images dealing with themes of personal, individual and mass displacement.

Zory herself was a political asylum seeker when she arrived in the UK from Iran in 1985.

The Contemporary Art Norwich 2007 festival runs until August 31.