Community Makers with the Afghan Women’s Organization Mississauga
In July 2023, we had the pleasure of working with the Afghan Women’s Organization (AWO) again. We had previously partnered with the AWO to produce the film Weaving Journeys featured in Gathering. This time, through our Community Makers program, we brought together textile artist Amna Nawab and women from AWO Mississauga for a 3-day workshop creating mixed media textile pieces inspired by memories of home. Over 20 women from different parts of the world participated and shared their favourite stories of childhood, food and family. Their works will be on view at the Learning Hub from August 30 to November 5, 2023.
Community Makers is supported by the Ruth Mandel WHOGives Fund, and PGF Directors Charity Fund.
Amna Nawab is a Textile Designer by profession and a Textile Artist by choice. She believes creativity is a language and found her healing in the play of colour and mixing of mediums. With embroidery as the predominant medium, she uses ordinary threads to build textures. The end product is customized, one off, mixed media art pieces. Each piece has a unique story that is further developed into a commercial product that makes the art relatable and suitable for various pocket sizes. Having worked with various aspects of textiles, Amna runs workshops and one-on-one sessions, paving individual paths for each attendee to find themselves.
The AWO provides settlement services to all newcomers, with a special focus on women, their families, refugees and people who have experienced war and persecution. The AWO has welcomed newcomers from around the world, including Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa, assisting them in the first stages of their settlement process. These first steps taken by newcomers, finding a home, work, learning English, and finding out about Canada’s legal system and health care are all crucial to ensuring that each newcomer has a foundation for building a healthy life in Canada.
To meet the ever-changing needs of newcomers our programming includes a range of activities that have resulted in more women and their families having access to and interactions with their network of peers and an increased involvement in their communities.
