Sanaa Humayun, Artist/Curator – Hamilton
Sanaa Humayun (she/her) is an artist, writer, and curator who thinks about non-narrative storytelling, secret keeping, and play and joy as acts of resistance. She primarily works in textile and paint, and is an avid weaver. Her curatorial practice considers how curatorial frameworks can be reconsidered to prioritise care and reciprocity. She is passionate about fostering community through food, laughter, and an unapologetic love of gossip. Along with Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet, Sanaa co-organizes Making Space, a peer mentorship group for early-career BIPOC artists. She is also the curator of Sharp Teeth, a group exhibition that is currently on display at the ODD Gallery in Dawson City until October 17. These are a few of her favourite things…
- Bobbin lace making
I went to France a while ago, and there was a conservatory in Bayeux for bobbin lace making. There’s a style of lace making there that’s regionally specific. I became obsessed. I’m a weaver, so the intersections of labour, care, and art making are well known to me. I have a burning desire to learn this. I’m inhaling YouTube videos. I enrolled in an introductory French course. I love fibre, and I love to labour for my art practice. I’ll learn a language I never successfully mastered before if it’s a step to learning a new fibre craft. Find me in thirty years at the Bayeux conservatory wearing those magnifying glasses and making all my clothing extremely ornate (and from scratch).
- Fantasy books
I’m a big believer in reading to avoid feeling my feelings. In that vein, I started re-reading a fantasy series last year that I read when I was a kid (The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, IYKYK). I crushed all fourteen books (each one is in the ballpark of 300,000 words) in ten months, and then decided that I could try reading books for a purpose other than nostalgia. Shout out to my pal Derek Jenkins who recommended the series that I’m currently obsessed with: the Broken Earth series by N.K Jemisin. As someone who has only read fantasy written by old (and mostly dead) white men up to this point, this was a real game changer for me. I started this series on an aeroplane, and when I got to the first impactful plot point I gasped and sat up in my seat and accidentally woke up my sleeping neighbour. Despite my best efforts I actually did feel real feelings while reading this, and I wasn’t even upset that I got tricked into it because it was so good. I just finished the series and haven’t been able to start another book. I feel like I am nursing a heartbreak, so if you have a new series that can fill this void, please let me know.
- Concerts
For the last year I’ve been obsessed with attending concerts of all my favourite musicians from my teenage years. It’s deeply embarrassing because I listened to objectively annoying music. At some point I hit an age (thirty) where I stopped feeling embarrassed about the things that I like, so this year my friends and I have been going to all the concerts of the 2010s indie bands that we used to be obsessed with, turning them once again into a current obsession. Highlights include the Arctic Monkeys, Motion City Soundtrack, and Vampire Weekend. I’m living the life my sixteen year old self romanticised – I think I owe it to her.
- My friends
I love my friends, and I’m forever obsessed with them. I hope we’re all lucky enough to feel fully known by the people in our lives. I hope I get to love and be loved like this forever.
- Revenge
I think a lot about gossip, and the idea of gossip finds its way into my art practice often. I’ve been thinking a lot about a related idea lately: revenge. The idea of sharing information about someone who’s harmed us and then feeling the desire for an equal hurt to be placed upon them. An art piece at the organisation I work for was targeted by transphobic graffiti, so I’ve been ruminating on what revenge really means. I’m an abolitionist through and through. But I’m also a Scorpio! I can’t help but hold a grudge! I don’t want the world to be punitive. But I will always remember the harm you did to me or to someone I love. I might also relish in your minor misfortunes. I don’t know what the right answer is. It’s a complicated thing.