Mariam Magsi

Mariam Magsi was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan and is currently based in Toronto, Canada. Her ethnic heritage is Baloch and Punjabi. Working in photography, video, performance art and installation, she uses food items, inherited textiles, cultural paraphernalia and family archives to unpack themes related to constructions of identity, intergenerational trauma, gender and migration. Magsi’s projects include artistic and historic investigations into the practice of veiling (Purdah), an ongoing creative exploration of her Baloch identity and ancestry (Daughter of the Tribe), as well as artistic research into the food and hospitality cultures of South Asia (Dawat Yan Project). Magsi holds an MFA from OCAD University in Interdisciplinary Art, Media & Design and a BFA with Honors from University of Toronto in Studio Art & English Literature. Magsi's works have been featured on Vice Canada, Toronto Star, CNN Arabia, Scene Arabia, She Does The City, and she has exhibited at renowned galleries and festivals, such as: Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), Pen & Brush Foundation (NYC), Pride Photo Award (Amsterdam), and many more.

From the Artist... This is an expansive visual survey of my engagement with lens-based mediums. Using traditional cultural garments - such as: clothing conducive to the indigenous Magsi clan from Balochistan, Pakistan; and veils associated with Islam, such as hijab, niqab and burqa; and inherited cultural and religious paraphernalia - my practice examines themes pertaining to socio-cultural constructions of identity, race, gender, sexuality, migration, assimilation, and pluralism.

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