Join us for a public discussion with artists Hangama Amiri and Aarti Sunder moderated by Art Jameel curator Rotana Shaker. 

The conversation will explore each of the artists’ unique practices in tackling themes surrounding work and the spaces in which it takes place, especially in relation to their artworks included in the exhibition ‘Silent Hands,’ on view in Hayy Arts’ first floor gallery. The discussion will include an exploration of their material choices, namely textile and video, the sociopolitical contexts of their artwork, and their ongoing engagement with these themes. 

Language: English 

‘Silent Hands’ (on view until October 16) is co-curated by Rotana Shaker, Zain Al Saie and Jean Wong and features the work of Pacita Abad, Hangama Amiri, Mohammed Kazem, Maha Malluh, Khairullah Rahim, Anhar Salem and Aarti Sunder.

Artist Bios: 

Hangama Amiri

Hangama Amiri works predominantly in textiles to examine notions of home, as well as how gender, social norms, and larger geopolitical conflict impact the daily lives of women, both in Afghanistan and in the diaspora. Continuing to use textiles as the medium, Amiri searches to define, explore, and question these spaces. The figurative tendency in her work is due to her interest in the power of representation, especially of those objects that are ordinary to our everyday life, such as a passport, a vase, or celebrity postcards.

She holds an MFA from Yale University where she graduated in 2020 from the Painting and Printmaking Department. She received her BFA from NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is a Canadian Fulbright and Post-Graduate Fellow at Yale University School of Art and Sciences (2015-2016). Her recent exhibitions include A Homage to Home (2023) at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT; Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present (2023), Sharjah, UAE; Reminiscences (2022) at Union Pacific in London; Henna Night/ Shabe Kheena (2022) at David B. Smith Gallery, Denver, CO; Mirrors and Faces (2021) at Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto; Wandering Amidst the Colors (2021) at Albertz Benda, New York, NY; Spectators of a New Dawn (2021), Towards Gallery, Toronto; and Bazaar: A Recollection of Home (2020) at T293 Gallery, Rome, Italy.

Aarti Sunder 

Aarti Sunder is an artist living and working in India (Chennai). She works with moving image, writing and drawing. Her interest lies within techno-politics, focusing on the study of infrastructure – from contemporary labour practices, fictional edges of protest, myth, and digital-terrestrial play to expanded platform politics. Aarti has exhibited her work at the Singapore Biennale 22, 1ShanthiRoad, HKW, MIT, Warehouse421, Goethe Institute, Kunstverein Leipzig, Bauhaus Imaginista, Alserkal Avenue, ISCP and the Museum of Yugoslav History. She has been the recipient of grants and fellowships from MIT, Sommerakademie Paul Klee, Ashkal Alwan, Harvard FSC Film Center, Sarai and Khoj, Akademie Der Kunst and Sharjah Art Foundation amongst others.