One NSCAD graduate — Hangama Amiri (BFA 2012) – stands among six artists shortlisted for Canada’s top artistic honour: the Sobey Art Award.
The award is given annually to a Canadian artist who has exhibited their work in a public or commercial art gallery in the previous 18 months. This year’s overall winner will receive $100,000.
Amiri represents Canada’s Atlantic region. This year’s shortlist also includes five other artists, each representing a particular region in Canada: Tarralik Duffy (Circumpolar), Tania Willard (Pacific), Chukwudubem Ukaigwe (Prairies), Sandra Brewster (Ontario), and Swapnaa Tamhane (Quebec).
Three other NSCAD alumni made this year’s longlist in addition to Amiri: Darcie Bernahrdt (BFA 2019), Christian Chapman (2004 -2006), and Nelson White (1984 -1986). Since 2002, 60 students, alumni, faculty or visiting artists have been longlisted for the award. Of those, 10 have gone on to receive the prize: a 2020 cohort that included Melanie Colisimo (faculty/staff), Joseph Tisiga (2011), Graeme Patterson (BFA 2003), Lou Sheppard (BFA 2006), and asinnajaq uitaalutuq (BFA 2015); Ursula Johnson (BFA 2006) in 2017, Christian Giroux (BFA 1995) with Daniel Young in 2011, and Jean-Pierre Gauthier (visiting artist and honorary doctorate 2018) in 2004.
‘It is an immense pleasure to stand among the finalists this year’
“It’s truly an honor to be shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award and represent the Atlantic Region this year, especially Halifax, as it has long been like my second home to me,” says Amiri.
“I’ve always admired the Sobey Art Award since first experiencing the exhibition at the AGNS in 2012. It became a vital platform for me to connect with contemporary Canadian artists and diverse artistic practices from across the country. It’s a platform that fosters a stronger sense of community, so it is an immense pleasure to stand among the finalists this year.”
After she received her BFA from NSCAD University in 2012, she became a Canadian Fulbright and Post-Graduate Fellow at Yale University School of Art and Sciences. Amiri graduated in 2020 with an MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Yale University. Her work has recently been exhibited at the Esker Foundation in Calgary, the Toronto Biennial 2024, T293 Gallery in Rome, Mönchehaus Museum Goslar in Germany, and the Sharjah Biennial 15 in the United Arab Emirates.
She works predominantly in textiles, examining notions of home, and how gender, social norms, and geopolitical conflict affect the daily lives of women in Afghanistan and the diaspora. Continuing to use textiles as her medium, Amiri searches to define, explore and question these spaces. The figurative tendency in her work reflects her interest in the power of representation, especially through everyday objects such as passports, vases, and celebrity postcards.
Amiri worked primarily in painting before switching to textiles in 2017. It was a significant and rewarding decision in her artistic practice, she says.
“I see fabric, patterns, silk-screen, and textile processes as extensions of painting. Whether the fabric is dyed, printed, or inkjet-printed, it speaks a painterly language to me. This medium holds a deep personal connection—I learned embroidery from my mother and grandmother, a cherished domestic tradition passed down through generations. Embroidery was an accessible and affordable artistic outlet for many households.”
“Other than that, my early memories of the vibrant bazaars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan, filled with diverse textiles and vivid patterns, continue to be important sources for my current work. Even weaving together fabrics from different countries reflects the hybrid experience of my journey of migration. Transforming these fabrics of different cultural origins and sources is profound exploitation of home. In my practice, I am not only questioning the traditional hierarchy of fine art but also elevating fabric, embroidery, fiber, and sewing to their rightful place within art history.”
NSCAD, Halifax roots have been ‘an incredible source of support’
While New Haven, Connecticut is her home now, and her roots are inextricably tied to Afghanistan, which she left as a child — Amiri spent her teen years in Halifax, moving here in 2005, and her years studying at NSCAD were formative in her development as an artist.
“Halifax became our beloved second home. I pursued my undergraduate studies at NSCAD University, and it was a true honour to be invited back last year to give an Artist Talk on campus. It was truly a special opportunity to share my artistic journey and experiences as an alumna with current students, former professors, and the Halifax arts community—It feels to be a form of recognition. Now, I’m even more happy to reconnect with NSCAD community as a Sobey shortlisted artist, a root like this is an incredible source of support,” she says.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate Hangama Amiri’s place on the short list—a recognition of her extraordinary work exploring identity, displacement, and cultural memory with fearless vision. Her practice embodies the transformative power of art, and we’re proud to see her impact honoured on this national stage. I would also like to congratulate the NSCAD alumni who were longlisted artists, their contributions inspire Canadian contemporary art,” says Jana Macalik, NSCAD’s Interim President.
The Sobey Art Award is jointly administered by the National Gallery of Canada and the Sobey Art Foundation. In addition to the $100,000 winning prize, shortlisted candidates receive $25,000 and the longlisted artists each receive $10,000.
Work by the five shortlisted artists will be exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada in October. The winner of the 2025 Sobey Art Award will be announced at a gala event in Ottawa on November 8.