Beenish Tahir: Dresses & Phulkari from the Punjab
Posted: Mar 22nd, 2023 | Gathering

Beenish Tahir’s interest lies in textiles from the regions of Sindh, Swat, Baluchistan, and Punjab in Pakistan. In the video below Beenish responds to three of her favorite pieces in the Museum’s collection [T94.0873, T00.45.169, T90.0390]. Beenish is particularly interested in embroidered artifacts and woven textiles from Pakistan placed in the collection of the Textile Museum of Canada. Beenish aims to share her knowledge of Pakistani techniques and material culture with the Museum visitors. 

Below are the images of the pieces that inspired Beenish to create her response. Learn more about this piece in our online collection by clicking on the live link below.

Dress [T94.0873]
Asia: South Asia, Pakistan, Northwest Frontier Province, Swat, 1980 – 1990
From the Opekar / Webster Collection of the Textile Museum of Canada

Dress [T00.45.169]
Asia: South Asia, Pakistan, Northwest Frontier Province, Waziristan, 1930 – 1980
From the Fitzgerald Collection of the Textile Museum of Canada

Shawl (Phulkari) [T90.0390]
Asia: South Asia, Pakistan, Punjab, 1950 – 1980
Gift of J.R. Bleasby to the Textile Museum of Canada

Beenish Tahir earned her PhD in Textile Design & Museum Studies from the University of Punjab, with a focus on textile museum collections in Pakistan. Beenish holds a Master’s of Interior Design and a Bachelor of Textile Design from the National College of Arts, Punjab, Pakistan. As an educationist, Tahir aims to apply her experiences in learning to teach new features of creative arts/design, history, and education. Beenish‘s past experience at the University of the Punjab includes Assistant Professor and HOD Textile Design Department where she undertook the research and supervision of textile design projects at MFA and BFA levels.  

This work is created as part of Gathering, the inaugural installation of our new Collection Gallery, featuring community stories told through our global collection. Grounded in community participation, the installation presents over 40 pieces from the Museum’s permanent collection of over 15,000 objects from around the world. Choices of objects, responses, and retellings were gathered via open online calls for reflection, through partnerships with local organizations, and through artists’ interventions. Gathering explores themes related to migration and diaspora, the search for comfort in the domestic and familial, reclamation of ancestral traditions through contemporary artistic responses, and the relationship between textiles and the environment. 

This video is part of a digital project generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Now initiative.

Post a Comment