When Khadeeja Zayan took a picture of Mount Ararat on her way across the Armenian border, she learned that it was a sacred symbol of the country, traditionally associated with the resting place of Noah’s Ark. He then traveled through Armenia, taking photos of ancient candlesticks, the “Symphony of Stones” in Garni Gorge and the landscape and daily life. His journey continued through the rock carvings of Petra, Jordan, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, before moving to the site of the famous artist Geoffrey Bawa, Lunuganga Garden, Sri Lanka. A few weeks ago, his exhibition “Follow Me Over the Horizon,” organized by the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi, drew a strong response.
The photographs and poems presented in the exhibition emerged from quiet moments of observation and reflection during his travels. “What attracted me to Armenia was not only its ancient sites, but the way the country, faith and everyday life seemed so closely connected. I was interested in understanding Armenia beyond its monuments, through its people, its traditions and its living songs,” said Khadeeja Zayan, an architect and artist based in the UAE, who grew up on the coast of the Indian state of Kekodela.
Zayan spent most of his time traveling through the countryside and surrounding areas of Armenia rather than the cities. Places like Armavir, Oshakan and nearby areas of Tsaghkadzor, Garni, Lusarat and Lake Sevan have been central to his experience. He added: “These vast, atmospheric and imaginative landscapes strongly influenced the visual language of my work.
Working across photography and new media, his practice engages with space, memory and community-based research. Traveling a lot on the roads of each region and the outskirts allowed him to meet Armenia in a close way. “Although I was not familiar with the language and often could not communicate with words, it was the care, warmth and small gestures of the people that deeply shaped the trip. “These moments of human contact – sharing food, silent exchanges and simple acts of kindness – became deeply personal and thoughtful experiences,” said Zayan.
Zayan’s photographs capture fragments of this journey: moments of quiet understanding between land and people, culture and everyday life. “Despite cultural and linguistic differences, the experience confirmed a simple truth: we are all connected by a shared humanity. The exhibition was an attempt to hold the space for that realization through images and words created by travel, listening and presence,” he said.
From Lake Sevan, Mount Ararat is still visible but in the distance. The surface here, according to Zayan, has the weight of memory – of crossing over, of survival and what has been preserved against great loss. He said that in this place, the idea of the ark becomes a trivial story, but becomes a current issue.
Waiting for the ark today is not about saving. It is to be aware of the conditions in which we live. Violence, exhaustion, and obliteration slowly pile up, causing life, work, and care to sink out of sight. What disappears first is often what was held most lightly.
The ark in question here is not an escape from the world, but a return to responsibility. he asked.
Zayan’s practice continues as an ongoing dialogue and research that sees the worlds he has passed through, through changing environments, historical contexts, time and evolving ways of interacting with the world within us. “My visit to Armenia was my first solo international trip. Things that impressed me included the ease of travel from the UAE, the change of scenery and autumn, which I had never seen before. What I hold close to my heart is the respect that people showed me and my belief system, as well as the hospitality along the way,” said Zayan.
Raised in a traditional Muslim family in Kozhikode, India, Zayan says his travels throughout Armenia helped him reflect on faith and the idea of unity. “It was my first visit to a Christian country, the first nation to accept Christianity as the state religion.” The people I met there welcomed me as one of them, and took me to family churches for Friday meetings. Zayan traveled across the country using various modes of transportation, including trains, taxis and buses.
Zayan found the Armenian country quiet and peaceful. “These places show how many understand the cycle of change, aging and evolution – not as a single moment of change, but as a gradual settlement in time. What returns makes room for what remains. The body, like the land, carries its history quietly by adapting rather than renewing,” he said.
When Khadeeja Zayan visited Jordan in 2024, she saw arrows crossing the sky as the country found itself embroiled in a conflict between Iran and Israel. He took a photo of their movement, revealing the space as a political building – committed to freedom while postponing it.
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka are some of the countries he has traveled to in the past three years. The works, featured in “Trace Me Where the Horizon Passes,” explore how neo-colonial structures shape mobility, identity and claims for rights across contested territories. Zayan plans to exhibit his work in other cities in India in the coming months.
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