Manacles They Gifted is a site-specific installation that bridges the gap between the
invisible labour camps of the Middle East and the public consciousness. Situated in
zoned areas far removed from the principal cities, these camps house upwards of
100,000 workers. Farizy brings this sequestered reality into the gallery space,
drawing on his own experience as a third-generation migrant worker.
Zalman Farizy
Zalman Farizy is a documentary photographer and installation artist whose work navigates the complex intersections of migration, labour, and identity. Born and raised in the historical, culturally blended community of Mattancherry, Kochi, Farizy’s practice is deeply rooted in the concept of site-specific intervention and the amplification of marginalised voices. Farizy carries an intergenerational legacy of migrant work. His grandfather moved to the Middle East during the oil boom of the 1980s, where he ultimately lived and died. His father followed the same path, spending decades as a labourer abroad. In a profound commitment to his subject matter, Farizy has spent the last two years living and working as an industrial laundry
worker within a Middle Eastern labour camp.
Reconciliation and Empathy
This is not merely a “project,” but a bridge to a father he once struggled to
understand. During his adolescent conflicts, Farizy could not grasp the silence or the distance of his father. It was only by stepping into the searing heat and the daily drudgery of the camps himself that he found a visceral empathy for his father’s displacement. In the loneliness of the dormitories, he finally met the man his father had to become to provide for him.
This lived reality, defined by the mundane, repetitive, and often unseen physical
labour of the laundry, serves as the foundation for his artistic vision. Farizy
transforms documentary evidence into immersive narratives of endurance, memory, and belonging.