That Quiet Unease Inside the House: Vahid Danaiefar and “Liquid Fear” at Simbart Projects

You know that hard-to-describe feeling of unease that suddenly creeps up on you sometimes while sitting in a room or looking at an object you know so well. Everything is in its place, yet something feels as though it has quietly shifted… A wonderful exhibition pursuing this very uncanny feeling is visiting Istanbul.

Simbart Projects is preparing to host “Liquid Fear,” Iranian artist Vahid Danaiefar’s first solo exhibition in Turkey, running from September 11 to October 31, 2026.

Hidden Anxiety Behind Objects

The exhibition takes its name from sociologist Zygmunt Bauman’s famous concept of Liquid Fear. Nowadays, fear is no longer a loud, concrete threat; instead, it has turned into an invisible, diffuse anxiety that seeps into even the quietest moments of our daily lives. Taking off from this exact point, Danaiefar brings this concept onto canvases, videos, and installations alongside Freud’s famous “uncanny” feeling.

The tables, chairs, or figures we encounter while navigating the exhibition do not feel entirely foreign to us. That is precisely the most captivating part of it! The artist makes tiny interventions into everyday visual codes. Rather than depicting major events, he makes visible the quiet traces left behind by those events. The concept of “home,” which we consider our safest sanctuary, subtly transforms into an uncanny space losing its sense of security.

Familiar Yet Just as Distant

In Danaiefar’s world, fear does not seep in through a sudden shockwave, but through those tiny, almost unnoticed deviations. That familiar world you know continues to stand right there, but it no longer brings you the peace it once did.

Drop by Simbart Projects in mid-September; stand on that line where things look familiar yet the feeling of safety quietly dissolves, and experience how fear spreads fluidly through our lives!