Anila Quayyum Agha (b. 1956), A Beautiful Despair (laser cut lacquered steel, 60 x 60 x 60 in.), installation view Re-Orientations: Europe and Islamic Art, from 1851 to Today at Kunsthaus Zürich, 2023 © Kunsthaus Zürich, photo: Franca Candrian, 2023
A Beautiful Despair: Anila Quayyum Agha
March 21 – August 23, 2026
On view in the Chan Gallery
Overview
Step into a luminous world where light and shadow entwine in breathtaking harmony.
A Beautiful Despair transforms the museum into a space of wonder and reflection through the mesmerizing works of internationally acclaimed artist Anila Quayyum Agha.
Known for her intricately carved, illuminated sculptures, Agha creates immersive environments that surround visitors in lace-like patterns of light. These glowing installations invite contemplation on beauty, belonging, and the spaces we are allowed or denied. Rooted in her own experiences growing up in Pakistan, where sacred places were closed to her because of her gender, Agha’s art reimagines those boundaries, transforming exclusion into radiant inclusion.
Her patterns, drawn from Islamic geometry, Gothic architecture, and global craft traditions, weave a universal language of connection. Alongside her celebrated large-scale sculpture, visitors will also encounter intimate embroidered works and drawings that reveal the artist’s meditative process and deep engagement with memory, culture, and identity.
A Beautiful Despair is more than an exhibition—it’s an experience.
This exhibition invites you to stand within the shifting glow of light and shadow, to reflect on the fragility and strength of our shared humanity, and to find beauty in the spaces between.
Gallery
Re-Orientations-06580
Anila Quayyum Agha (b. 1956), A Beautiful Despair (laser cut lacquered steel, 60 x 60 x 60 in.), installation view Re-Orientations: Europe and Islamic Art, from 1851 to Today at Kunsthaus Zürich, 2023 © Kunsthaus Zürich, photo: Franca Candrian, 2023
Agha 7-10-25- Piece #6 -1
Anila Quayyum Agha (b. 1956), Rain Forest II (Red Thread), 2025, graphite on black paper, red sewing thread. sheet: 25 3/8 x 19 3/4 in. © Anila Quayyum Agha
Anila 2023-1
Anila Quayyum Agha (b. 1956), Hidden Memories II, from the Reflections series, 2023, mylar and paper laser cut out, metallic thread, beads. sheet: 30 x 22 in. © Anila Quayyum Agha
Exhibition Sponsors
President’s Circle: Golnaz and Behrouz Rahmati
Artist’s Circle: Donny’s Diamond Gallery
Additional Support: Alabama State Council on the Arts, Huntsville Museum of Art Guild
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