Muslim South Asian Canadian artist Farheen Haq explores the intricate beauty of familial and cultural connections, intergenerational pain and the journey towards healing. Presented by The Reach Gallery Museum, Haq’s multimedia exhibition I am my mother’s daughter displays twenty years of art through video, sculpture, performance and community engagement.

“This exhibit is a record of two decades of art-making that examines family relationships and how we define ourselves in relation to our most intimate connections,” Haq says. “Parent-child bonds, relationships with oneself, with the land and with one’s spirit and faith are all areas that I investigate in my work.”

The exhibition will take place from July 6, 2024 to March 8, 2025 at The Reach Gallery Museum. The Reach will be featuring two new works by the artist: Ghoonghat ke pat khol, featuring a series of dupattas or veils; and Janamaaz, a series of embroidered prayer mats.

Background

I am my mother’s daughter draws inspiration from Haq’s mother and her journey to Canada as a young bride of an arranged marriage. Her mother arrived from Pakistan in Haudenosaunee territory in the Niagara region of Ontario in the 1970s, where she built a new life for her and her children. Hearing her mother’s stories impressed the importance of strength and courage upon Haq, moving her to centre some of her most pivotal art pieces around mothers and matriarchs.

“In particular, this show is an homage to mothers in its most expansive sense – life-givers in our families, to the land and those who take care of us. It aims to centre the knowledge and power held in matriarchal lines,” she says.

Haq’s art also investigates her cultural and spiritual identity, enabling her to better understand her heritage and history as a means to move forward. I am my mother’s daughter is a reflection on her experience as the daughter of an arranged union, and now, as a mother herself. By listening to her mother’s stories, Haq cultivated a deeper understanding of the hardships and importance of caregiving, carrying these lessons with her as she navigated her own motherhood.

“Caregiving and raising a family has been one of the most important and challenging roles I have undertaken. I credit my mother and ancestors for gifting me the example of how to do this work,” she says.

Enduring connections given form

Raised on Haudenosaunee territory in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada, Haq grew up amongst a tight-knit community of Muslim elders. From there, the importance of good relationships and reciprocity was imprinted upon her. In addition to the community that welcomed her family, Haq also developed a strong connection to the land upon which she resides; the Niagara Falls and abundance of creeks and grasslands she explored as a child nurtured a love for nature that is reflected in her art.

Understanding her heritage and history is a theme Haq revisits in many of her works. Now as a mother who is raising her kids on lək̓ʷəŋən (Lkwungen) territory, where she has established many enduring relationships with Indigenous friends, she feels the transcendent nature of the bonds with her family, the land and her spirituality.

“These connections, with the people and the land, remind me to go back to my family and the land I grew up on to learn about where I come from,” she reflects. “These investigations help me understand who I am and ask questions about my inner world which I then give form to in my work.”

Bridge between communities

Haq has been an artist for nearly three decades now, and one of the aspects of her work she most enjoys is community engagement. In that spirit of community, the present exhibition features a community textile project that involved over forty local artists embroidering Indian poet Kabir’s work on two wedding veils, a process she says was filled with joy and connection. Haq hopes she can host more such opportunities in the future.

“I would love to continue doing collaborative works that share the healing potential of art. Art has the power to bridge differences and bring together the heart and the spirit,” says Haq.

For more information please visit: www.thereach.ca