Asma Sultana is an interdisciplinary artist. Asma organised and curated many solo art
exhibitions and participated in many group exhibitions in many different countries. She was
featured in print and digital media in Canada, Bangladesh, and India, as well as in CBC Arts. Her
works are in many private collections, including the famous British Saatchi Gallery, Alliance
Française, France, and the Art Gallery of Mississauga. In her diasporic identity, she is
Bangladeshi-British and working in Canada. She has been trained in Fine Arts and Art History in
Bangladesh, England, and Canada. To conceptualise her autobiographical work, she uses her hair
and thumbprints as her media to explore her identity in time and space.

The Memoir is a visual memoir, a collection of autobiographical works I have created
over the past several years, exhibiting for the first time in the UK. It is an interdisciplinary
installation that expresses migration, identity, and personal trauma in the complex societies of
contemporary times. It mirrors my experience as an immigrant in different countries on personal
and universal levels; my creative methodology is evolving around my quest to know myself, my
culture, my country, the world, and the universe in which I was born and lived. I construct,
deconstruct and reconstruct my life experiences in the East and the West. To conceptualise that, I
use my uprooted hair as the thread to embroider or needlework and make dresses, patterns, and
portraits.
Moreover, I employ used objects from my daily life and modify them by adding my
discarded hair, which I have stored carefully. I wanted to give my biological existence a place in
my art. The process of collecting, cleaning, and storing hair one by one is like a mindful ritual
for me, carefully arranged activities like taking care of someone or something. Human hair is a
filamentous biomaterial that contains dead cells and is infused with DNA; it is a profound
symbol of identity. In Bangladeshi culture, long, healthy hair embodies female beauty—a
cherished trait passed down from my paternal grandmother, whom I had never met since she died
of childbirth. The way the hair falls from our body, leaves fall from the trees, and seeds dispersal
for germination, migration, and displacement is happening in nature every moment; it is part of
life. Every journey begins in our mother's womb, with mothers serving as gateways between
worlds. These components intertwine within my work, capturing the spirit of my nomadic
existence.
The rich fabric, textile art, and embroidery traditions, deeply ingrained in Bangladeshi
heritage and lovingly taught by my mother, are integral to my creations. Many great museums
worldwide display Bengal textile art; my work represents that part of ancestral identity with a
contemporary twist. I proudly cherish that embroidery culture and treasure the legacy of
storytelling through my art. - Asma

Artist Contact: Website: https://www.asmasultana.co | Email: meetasultana3@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetasultana/