Camal Pirbhai is a Swiss-Canadian textile artist. His work has been exhibited throughout Canada and in Europe[1] and is characterized by combining craft traditions with contemporary elements and use of form, colour, and texture.

Early Life and Education

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Pirbhai was born in Canada and raised in Switzerland.[2] He studied fine arts and philosophy at York University in Toronto for a year before deciding to pursue practical means of education.[2] On his way back to Switzerland an unexpected detour took him to London, England where he did a yearlong apprenticeship with a local curtain-maker.[2]

Artistic Career

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Pirbhai began his professional artistic career in Canada in 1994. Drawing on his expertise in fabricating large-scale textiles, hand-sewn furnishings and intricate embellishments, Camal has evolved a multi-disciplinary artistic practice. He explores a wide array of materials and media processes such as sculpture, fibre, installations, painting, performance and media art.[3] He utilizes culturally recognizable motifs and objects, such as punching bags, fine furnishings, fashion, canoes and gondolas to re-contextualize and reveal potential new interpretations and utility. His work involves layering aesthetics with social commentary on uncomfortable subjects or meanings.

Collaboration with Camille Turner & Others

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Camal has maintained an ongoing collaborative practice with artist Camille Turner. Their works have been exhibited nationally and internationally.[4] Some of their notable exhibitions include the Art Gallery of Ontario (2017 and 2024),[4] in Toronto Canada; Sixty-Eight Art Institute (2017)[5] in Copenhagen Denmark; and the International Human Rights Festival "This Human World" (2021) in Vienna, Austria[6] Their projects include Wanted (the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2017)[4]; Rocks (Clarington Visual Arts Centre in Bowmanville 2017–2021) and Family Matters (McIntosh Gallery, London).[7]

Pirbhai and Turner are known for using video, installation, and photography to explore concepts such as race and history.[8] In Wanted, they drew from historical "runaway slave" and "slave for sale" ads,[9] depicting them in the present experiencing their dream of freedom. Wanted was featured in the documentary Veracity: What's in a Name?, released in 2023. They also recently carried out a major public project called "House of Bâby", a portrait of eighteen black and Indigenous people who the Baby family of Toronto, Windsor and Detroit had enslaved.[10]

In 2022 Pirbhai collaborated with Koray Erkaya in Amalgamation, at Gallery 1313 in Toronto.[11] Camal's work with Camille Turner has been featured in educational materials at the Black Lives Matter OCADU reading group, hosted by Camille (2017) in Toronto, Canada,[12] and as a solo artist in the McMichael Gallery (2017).[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Camal Pirbhai and Camille Turner". Luminocity.
  2. ^ a b c "Behind The Curtain – Camal Pirbhai". Dolce. 8 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Camal Pirbhai and Camille Turner: Where We Stand". Akimbo. 13 December 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Wanted. Art Gallery of Ontario. 2017. ISBN 9781894243995.
  5. ^ "Rough Trade". SixtyEight Art Institute.
  6. ^ "This Human World" (PDF).
  7. ^ Futurisms. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-7714-3160-9.
  8. ^ Mitra, Srimoyee (2015). Border Cultures. Black Dog. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-910433-44-7.
  9. ^ Hunter, Andrew (2017). Every.Now.Then.Reframing Nationhood. Art Gallery of Ontario. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-894243-95-7.
  10. ^ As We Rise. Aperture. 2021. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-59711-510-0.
  11. ^ "Amalgamation – Nov 9 – 20". Gallery 1313. October 17, 2022.
  12. ^ "Change the Narrative" (PDF). Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  13. ^ Ablachim, Cristian (April 24, 2012). "New Spring Exhibition Bursting with "Fashionality" at the McMichael". McMichael Canadian Art Collection.