and the sleeper shall see what he has dreamed

SNAP is pleased to present and the sleeper shall see what he has dreamed, featuring new work by Moozhan Ahmadzadegan. The exhibition runs from May 23 – June 20, 2026, at SNAP Gallery. 

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 23, 7-9 pm

Artist Talk: Saturday, May 23, 6-7 pm

Exhibition Statement

Moozhan Ahmadzadegan is an artist based on the traditional and unceded lands of the Lekwungen peoples, known today as Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. His artistic interests center on themes of queer culture, Iranian diaspora, and cultural in-betweenness. This spectrum of ideas serve as an entry point to deepen his understanding of contemporary social issues. Moozhan’s practice encompasses painting, screenprinting, textiles, and installation practices. Through these mediums, he investigates how we respond and engage with the colonial social and cultural structures that shape identity on personal and public scales.

In his exhibition, and the sleeper shall see what he has dreamed, he examines traditional Iranian art such as Persian miniatures, patterns, rugs, architecture, and poetry, and reimagines them through a queer lens. Drawing from his subjectivity as a queer person of the Iranian diaspora, Moozhan inquires into ways visual art can symbolically carve out space for queer narratives within historically heteronormative frameworks. By queering traditional Persian visuals and narratives, he reinterprets, reimagines, and reconfigures these elements to create new meanings and assert the long history of queer and gender diverse identities. He does this by referencing historical objects as an allegory for the history of queerness through literal and symbolic gestures. Persian Carpets are reimagined through the interplay of materials; their placement and scale disrupted, contradicting their original intentions. Persian Miniatures are recreated with contemporary methods, reflecting long traditions of story telling and illustration. These new objects look back on old traditions and carry them into the future. They offer the potential for new narratives and hopeful futures. 

Artist Bio

Moozhan Ahmadzadegan is an artist based on the traditional and unceded lands of the Lekwungen peoples, known today as Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. His work explores Iranian diasporic and queer themes, investigating how we respond and engage with the colonial social and cultural structures that shape identity on personal and public scales. Moozhan has a BFA from the University of British Columbia Okanagan and is currently pursuing an MFA from the University of Victoria.