The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami has opened "Hiba Schahbaz: The Garden," the first major retrospective of Karachi-born, Brooklyn-based artist Hiba Schahbaz. Curated by Jasmine Wahi, the exhibition spans 15 years of Schahbaz's practice, including loans from private collections, studio works, and new commissions. Anchored by the concept of the jannat (Paradise Garden) rooted in Islamic tradition and Sufi poetry, the show is organized around the elements of earth, water, fire, and air. Schahbaz, trained in the Indo-Persian miniature tradition, works with water-based pigments and tea on handmade paper, and her practice has evolved from small formats to large-scale works, including a 45-foot-by-14-foot mermaid painting commissioned for the Miami show.
The exhibition matters because it represents a significant institutional recognition of Schahbaz's work, highlighting the intersection of South Asian miniature traditions with contemporary feminist themes. It also marks the first museum exhibition in Miami pairing a South Asian curator with a South Asian artist, and MOCA North Miami has built a reputation for presenting works by women artists of color. The show's immersive, sensual journey through personal and cultural memory offers a timely reflection on identity, resilience, and the environment, particularly in a city on the front lines of climate change.