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Hangama Amiri: A Homage to Home

Afghan Canadian artist Hangama Amiri combines painting and printmaking techniques with textiles, weaving together stories based on memories of her homeland and diasporic experience. 

Amiri fled Kabul with her family in 1996 when she was seven years old. Moving through numerous countries over several years, they immigrated to Canada in 2005 when Amiri was a teenager. Amiri’s choice of materials stems from autobiographical origins—her mother taught her to sew and her uncle was a tailor. Her textiles also reference the colors and fabrics she remembers in the bazaars and on the streets in Kabul. She sources her materials from an Afghan-owned shop in New York City’s fashion district, collaging with fabric and painting on the surfaces. Large-scaled with frayed edges, Amiri’s textile works are made from layering fabrics, piecing and sewing them together, so the fragments collectively characterize her home from a distance. Centered on the lives of women, she builds interiors that capture her protagonists within domestic and entrepreneurial spaces and amplify a collective struggle for women’s rights in Afghanistan and around the world.

This exhibition is the artist’s solo museum debut and is accompanied by the artist’s first museum publication. The exhibition will be complemented by free public programs for a variety of ages and interests.

Hangama Amiri: A Homage to Home is organized by Amy Smith-Stewart, chief curator, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, where it debuted in February 2023.

Hangama Amiri (Afghan-Canadian, born 1989), Facial Care, Beauty Salon, 2022, Muslin, cotton, polyester, chiffon, suede, velvet, iridescent paper, inkjet print and found fabric, 85 x 66 ½ inches. Courtesy of the artist and COOPER COLE, Toronto. © Hangama Amiri. Photo: Chris Gardner. 

Hangama Amiri (Afghan-Canadian, born 1989), Departure, 2022, muslin, cotton, polyester, clear vinyl, iridescent paper, faux leather, chiffon, and found fabric, 68 ½ x 85 inches. Courtesy of the artist and T293, Rome. © Hangama Amiri. Photo: Jason Mandella. 

Hangama Amiri (Afghan-Canadian, born 1989), Darya (Rice Sack #3), 2021, chiffon, muslin, cotton, polyester, silk, faux leather, acrylic paint, burlap, and found fabric, 40 x 30 x 3 1⁄2 inches inches. Courtesy of the artist and T293, Rome. © Hangama Amiri. Photo: Jason Mandella. 

Hangama Amiri (Afghan-Canadian, born 1989), Still-Life with Alocasia Plant, 2022, muslin, polyester, velvet, cotton, chiffon, denim, suede and found fabric, 48 x 42 inches. Courtesy of the artist and COOPER COLE, Toronto. © Hangama Amiri. Photo: Nabil H. Harb.

Hangama Amiri (Afghan-Canadian, born 1989), Bahar, From Kabul (Rice Sack #1), 2021, chiffon, muslin, cotton, polyester, silk, faux leather, acrylic paint, burlap, and found fabric , 43 x 34 x 3 1⁄2 inches. Courtesy of the artist and T293, Rome. © Hangama Amiri. Photo: Jason Mandella. 

Featured Artworks

Meet artist Hangama Amiri at Kemper Museum.

Artist Talk & Opening Celebration Hangama Amiri: A Homage to Home

Hangama Amiri (Afghan Canadian, born 1989) lives and works in New Haven, Connecticut. Amiri works predominantly in textiles to examine notions of home and the ways gender, social norms, and geopolitical conflict impact the daily lives of women, both in Afghanistan and in the diaspora. She is interested in the power of representation, especially of everyday objects. 

2020		M.F.A. Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT

2012		B.F.A. Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, Halifax, NS

2005		B.F.A. Olimov College of Art, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

2024		A Homage to Home, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO

2023 		Rumi: Distance Between Homes, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, ON

2023 		A Homage to Home, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT

2022 		Reminiscences, Union Pacific, London, UK

2023 		Silent Hands, Hayy Jameel, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

2023 		Sharjah Biennial 15th: Thinking Historically in the Present, Sharjah, UAE

2023 		Narrative Threads: Fiber Art Today, The Moody Centre for the Arts, Houston, TX

2022 		Qatra Qatra, Fondazione Imago Mundi, Gallerie delle Prigioni, Treviso, IT

2021 		Alphabetic Image, Arsenal Contemporary, New York, NY

Image: Hangama Amiri. Photo by Sabrina Santiago.

An Artist Puts Kabul in a New Light (With Lipstick and Manicure)

Hangama Amiri’s Kaleidoscopic Textile Art Summons the Strength of Women in Afghanistan

Hangama Amiri Will Not Let Freedom for Afghanistan Women Be Forgotten

Eight Candian Artists to Check Out This Fall

Home Isn't One Place – A textile tribute to the Afghan diaspora

Hangama Amiri (Afghan-Canadian, born 1989), Bazaar, 2020, cotton, chiffon, muslin, silk, suede, digitally woven textile, camouflage fabric, sari textile, inkjet prints on paper and canvas, paper, plastic, acrylic paint, marker, polyester, table cloth, faux leather, and found fabric, 168 x 312 inches. Courtesy of the artist and T293, Rome. © Hangama Amiri. Photo: Jason Mandella. 