Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven Internationally Acclaimed Visual Artists Show Opens Sept. 6
September 05, 2025
Experience the room-size Anila Quayyum Agha light box installation All the Flowers are for Me, opening Saturday, Sept. 6, at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa. Plan a visit to catch the East Coast appearance of a national tour of Interwoven, the largest retrospective ever on this important Pakistani American artist. The museum goer will see how Agha opens viewers up to awe and wonder, while challenging the boundaries of art and craft with traditional techniques. I do not have a single story, says Anila Quayyum Agha. I have multiple stories that become interwoven to create a tapestry that is colorful, that is varied, that has pattern, that has beauty and light. We have to explore the multiple stories that make our lives. It surveys two decades of the artists practice across media, including sculpture, embroidery, painting, and drawing. Comprising nearly 40 artworks drawn from key public and private collections, the exhibition illustrates the conceptual throughlines across the artists practice, interwoven concerns regarding belonging, access to knowledge and divine presence, and mutual solidarity. Whereas previous presentations of Aghas work have focused on the artists signature light box pieces, for which she first gained critical and popular acclaim, this presentation will contextualize her signature light box pieces amongst her larger body of work. Aghas work prompts collective feelings of wonder and contemplation, disarming audiences with their splendor and allowing them to ponder deep questions regarding the history of women and the role of spirituality. She visually references wide-ranging sources and historical moments that center the interconnectedness of human stories, from the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain to medieval Venice to the American Light and Space movement of the 1960s. Her art demonstrates how the union of cultures can produce aesthetic spaces welcome to all. The exhibition will remain at the Michener until Jan. 11, 2026. Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven is organized by The Westmoreland Museum of American Art. The exhibition is curated by Jeremiah William McCarthy. Presentation of the exhibition at the Michener Art Museum is coordinated by Laura Turner Igoe and Joshua Lessard. To learn more, visit www.michenerartmuseum.org.

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