A group of girls chatting in their school playground during a break makes for a seemingly innocent piece of textile art. But these girls are in Afghanistan, where an innocent scene like this simply can’t play out any more, since the return of the Taliban there and the barring of girls and women from formal education.

Afghan Canadian artist Hangama Amiri combines painting and printmaking techniques with textiles, weaving together stories based on memories of her homeland and her experiences since leaving Afghanistan. Her family fled in 1996 when she was seven years old, eventually settling in Canada. Amiri’s choice of materials stems from autobiographical origins – her mother taught her to sew and her uncle was a tailor. Her textiles also reference the colours and fabrics she remembers in the bazaars and on the streets in Kabul.

The artwork, and others by Amiri, has been on display in Hangama Amiri: A Homage to Home at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum and will travel to the Kemper Museum for display in January-May 2024.