Let A Million Flowers Bloom
February 19 – May 29, 2022
Columbia Museum of Art
Columbia, South Carolina
www.columbiamuseum.org
Pakistani American artist Anila Quayyum Agha’s immersive installations upend traditional ideas about sculpture. Brilliantly lit from within, they cast their own images onto the walls around them like lanterns and create intricate patterns that dance over visitors as they move through the exhibition.
The works in “Let A Million Flowers Bloom” use floral and geometric shapes inspired by Islamic architecture to explore notions of masculine and feminine, public and private, religious and secular, and particularly space and refuge, taking on the pain of losing one’s home and agency and the hope of establishing them both anew. Agha’s unforgettable art envelops viewers in an enchanting visual environment that inspires awe and invites contemplation about sanctuary and belonging.
[Image: Anila Quayyum Agha, All the Flowers are for Me: Turquoise, 2017. The Harold J Miossi Art Gallery, Cuesta College San Luis Obispo, CA. Lacquered steel and halogen bulb, 60″ x 60″ x 60.” Photo credit: Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo CA]
