Graduate Studies

Criticism & Curatorial Practice (MFA)

Iman Bhatti

(Re)presenting the Muslim diaspora: Adaptation. Hybridization. Resistance.

This thesis project investigates how contemporary artists articulate their experiences andperspectives as diasporic Muslim women in Ontario. It questions the cultural, political andaffective dimensions of establishing oneself in a new, or multiple locations– in this case fromPakistan and Iran to Canada. Featuring artworks by Sumaira Tazeen, Sheila Esfahani andMariam Magsi, the exhibition (Re)presenting the Muslim diaspora: Adaptation. Hybridization.Resistance emphasizes the tension inherent in negotiating multiple cultural and individualidentities. By focusing solely on Pakistani and Irani Muslim women artists in Ontario who deal with issues of representation in their own diverse practices, the exhibition challenges the normalization of the realities associated with being a Muslim woman in western society.In doing so, this thesis projects informs broader cultural understandings of both personal and universal dimensions of global migration and the Muslim diaspora. Key words: representation, Muslim women, diaspora, identity and culture, Sumaira Tazeen, Soheila Esfahani, Mariam Magsi