This thesis project investigates how contemporary artists articulate their experiences and
perspectives as diasporic Muslim women in Ontario. It questions the cultural, political and
affective dimensions of establishing oneself in a new, or multiple locations– in this case from
Pakistan and Iran to Canada. Featuring artworks by Sumaira Tazeen, Sheila Esfahani and
Mariam Magsi, the exhibition (Re)presenting the Muslim diaspora: Adaptation. Hybridization.
Resistance emphasizes the tension inherent in negotiating multiple cultural and individual
identities. 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.