50 Years of Migration
February 26 –March 5, 2023
This travelling exhibition commemorates over 50 years of immigration of Shi’a Imami Ismaili Muslims to Canada, the people for which His Highness the Aga Khan serves as spiritual leader. The travelling exhibition showcases the courage and resilience of the countless Ismaili Muslims who fled their homelands in search of refuge elsewhere, sharing their stories on what fleeing their homes and settling in Canada has meant to them.
With hundreds of family photographs, first-hand accounts, historical documents, and personal interviews, the exhibition immerses you in the events that took place in East Africa in the early 1970s that led to the first mass immigration of over 6,000 Ismaili Muslims to Canada. The exhibition also explores recent immigration stories of other Ismaili newcomers from Syria, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, India, Pakistan, and beyond.
50 Years of Migration is presented by the Aga Khan Council for Canada in collaboration with award-winning Canadian artist Aquil Virani. It debuted at the Aga Khan Museum earlier this year, and will continue to tour Jamatkhanas (places of Ismaili communion and prayer) and Ismaili community spaces across Canada.
Click here for more insight into the inspiration behind the exhibition from Creative Director Aquil Virani.