“Artists like Alize Zorlutuna highlight the ways in which we cannot be silently complicit anymore—but more importantly, that the only way we can escape disaster is to decolonize our thinking and walk the path of better relations with the help of the Indigenous peoples of all lands.”
Sam Shahsahabi
Sam Shahsahabi is a multidisciplinary artist based in Thunder Bay, ON. Born in Iran, he obtained his BFA from Azad University (Tehran) in painting. After completing an MFA at York University (Toronto) in 2002, he taught at the White Mountain Academy of the Arts, where he also served as the Director of the James K. Bartleman Art Gallery. Sam is currently an associate professor at Lakehead University.
‘Infinities’ brings together a range of Canadian artists and writers to examine the influence of the traditions and conventions of Islamic visual cultures on contemporary art. From techniques and symbols to concepts and designs, artists such as Tazeen Qayyum, Abdi Osman, Shaheer Zazai, Azadeh Elmizadeh, and Jamelie Hassan have employed various methods and materials to not only show the ways in which Islamic visual cultures continues to inform their work, but also the challenges, possibilities and implications in doing so.