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Arts·Q with Tom Power

How Hangama Amiri's extraordinary textile portraits bridge her past and present

The Afghan Canadian artist fled the Taliban as a child. Now, she’s using her art to stitch together her memories of home.

Listen to the artist's conversation with Q's Tom Power and follow along using this visual companion guide

Vivian Rashotte · CBC Arts ·
Headshot of a woman, the artist Hangama Amiri, sitting at a table covered in textiles.
Hangama Amiri is an Afghan Canadian artist who works predominantly in textile to create images that reflect on ideas of home. (Courtesy of the artist and Cooper Cole, Toronto. Photo by Denis Gutiérrez-Ogrinc)
Q21:21Hangama Amiri: Using textiles to stitch together her memories of home

Hangama Amiri is an Afghan Canadian artist who's known around the world for making masterpieces out of fabric. A lot of that fabric is from a home she was forced to leave.

Amiri was seven years old when the Taliban seized control of Kabul in 1996. Years later, after fleeing Afghanistan and settling in Canada with her family, she started stitching together her memories of home using textiles.

In a conversation with Q's Tom Power, Amiri talks about her work, the Afghan store where she buys her materials and what home means to her these days. Her new solo show, Circle of Friends, is on display now until May 11 at Toronto's Cooper Cole Gallery. Check out some images of Amiri's latest work below.

Dominic Chambers with His Portrait Painting of Trevon Latin, 2024.
Dominic Chambers with His Portrait Painting of Trevon Latin, 2024. (Courtesy of the artist and Cooper Cole, Toronto. Photo by Jessann Reece)
Muheb Esmat, 2024.
Muheb Esmat, 2024. (Courtesy of the artist and Cooper Cole, Toronto. Photo by Jessann Reece)
Portrait of Anoka Faruqee at Her Studio, 2024.
Portrait of Anoka Faruqee at Her Studio, 2024. (Courtesy of the artist and Cooper Cole, Toronto. Photo by Jessann Reece)
Portrait of Kern Samuel at Yale Art Gallery, 2024.
Portrait of Kern Samuel at Yale Art Gallery, 2024. (Courtesy of the artist and Cooper Cole, Toronto. Photo by Jessann Reece)
Renata Nagy with Her Dog, Izumi, 2024.
Renata Nagy with Her Dog, Izumi, 2024. (Courtesy of the artist and Cooper Cole, Toronto. Photo by Jessann Reece)
Sara Tayeb-Khalifa at Her Apartment in Manhattan, 2024.
Sara Tayeb-Khalifa at Her Apartment in Manhattan, 2024. (Courtesy of the artist and Cooper Cole, Toronto. Photo by Jessann Reece)

The full interview with Hangama Amiri is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Hangama Amiri produced by Vanessa Greco.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vivian Rashotte

Vivian Rashotte is a digital producer, writer and photographer for Q with Tom Power. She's also a visual artist. You can reach her at vivian.rashotte@cbc.ca.

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