Born in Iran in 1977 and now based in Canada, Abbas Akhavan makes sculptures and installations that use materials such as soil, water, plants, and cut flowers. His work often explores memory, loss, and the passage of time. In Study for a Monument (2013–ongoing), bronze casts of plants once common in the Tigris-Euphrates river basin lie on white sheets like casualties. In cast for a folly (2019/2023), Akhavan re-creates the lobby of the Iraq Museum, which was looted during the 2003 invasion that launched the Iraq War. The Walker Art Center is now presenting Akhavan’s first major U.S. museum survey. Its central theme is the garden, and it examines what we choose to cultivate, preserve, and leave behind. —Elena Clavarino