Independent Arts News Reporting Interwoven: Anila Quayyum Agha’s Largest Retrospective Lights Up the Michener Art Museum
Reported on Thursday, September 25, 2025.
Pictured Above: Anila Quayyum Agha, Flight of a Thousand Birds, 2018/2019. Laser-cut polished stainless steel, 60 inches diameter. Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University. Purchase with funds from the Estate of Herman B Wells via the Joseph Granville and Anna Bernice Wells Memorial Fund. Photo Credit: Kate Leigh Photography for Michener Art Museum.
NEWSROOM POST: DOYLESTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
The public gathers to experience the opening of the immersive exhibition, featuring the room-size light box installation "All the Flowers are for Me," in context with nearly 40 artworks that explore cultural identity, the role of women, and the immigrant experience
Doylestown, PA – The Michener Art Museum has come alive with light, shadow, and stories as Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven which opened for its only East Coast appearance last week. Crowned by artnet as one of the biggest U.S. artists right now, Agha’s largest-ever retrospective transforms the Doylestown galleries into immersive spaces that invite visitors to become part of the art.
Visitors stated opening week felt like a celebration in every sense. Guests mingled among the artist’s glowing installations, including the iconic All the Flowers are for Me, where intricate latticework throws shifting patterns of light across walls, ceilings, and visitors themselves. “You don’t just view Agha’s work,” said one guest. “You step inside it.”
Pictured Above: Anila Quayyum Agha with guests at the Michener Art Museum. Photo Credit: Contributed.
A Landmark Retrospective
On view through January 11, Interwoven gathers nearly 40 works spanning more than two decades of Agha’s career. Large-scale light boxes, sculptures, and delicate works on paper reflect her ongoing exploration of cultural identity, the role of women, and the immigrant experience. From beaded textiles and embroidery-inspired designs to room-sized environments, her practice honors traditions often labeled as “domestic craft” while elevating them to fine art.
This East Coast stop is part of a national tour organized by The Westmoreland Museum of American Art. At the Michener, Chief Curator Laura Igoe and Director of Exhibitions Joshua Lessard have shaped the presentation to highlight both the beauty and contemplative weight of Agha’s vision. “Her installations don’t just captivate the eye—they create a contemplative space that invites visitors to engage with questions of identity, craft, and belonging,” said Igoe.
Pictured Above: Anila Quayyum Agha, A Flood of Tears (Gathering Storms), 2010/2023. Upholstery needles, bugle and hematite beads, and braided cotton, 12 x 12 x 16 feet. Collection of the artist. Photo Credit: Tim Ghebeles for Michener Art Museum.
Programming That Extends the Experience
To deepen connections with the exhibition’s themes, the Michener is offering related programs through January, including yoga and mindfulness sessions within the gallery, textile-inspired workshops for all ages, and curator- and artist-led talks. On October 16, Agha herself will headline the Putman Arts Leader Lecture Series, offering rare insights into her artistic journey. (Program outlines are listed below.)
A Rising Force in Contemporary Art
Born in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1965 and based in the U.S. since 1999, Agha has steadily gained international acclaim for her ability to merge Eastern and Western traditions into breathtaking installations. Her accolades include the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant, and her work is held in museum collections worldwide.
Yet it is perhaps the reaction of the viewer—standing in the glow of shadow and pattern—that best sums up Agha’s achievement. “I do not have a single story,” the artist has said. “I have multiple stories that become interwoven to create a tapestry that is colorful, that is varied, that has pattern, that has beauty and light.”
At the Michener, those stories radiate across stone walls and hushed rooms, inviting every visitor to weave their own.
Pictured Above: Anila Quayyum Agha, A Flood of Tears (Gathering Storms), 2010/2023. Upholstery needles, bugle and hematite beads, and braided cotton, 12 x 12 x 16 feet. Collection of the artist. Photo Credit: Tim Ghebeles for Michener Art Museum.
Related Exhibition Programming for Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven, on view through January 11, 2026:
Seated Mindfulness in Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven
Thursdays, September 25–October 23 / 10:15–11:15 a.m.
$25 Member / $35 Non-Member (per session)
Yoga in Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven
Monthly / 4–5 p.m. / See michenerartmuseum.org for a full list of dates.
$25 Member / $35 Non-Member (per session)
All Ages Workshop: Paper Lanterns Inspired by Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven
Sunday, September 28 / 1–3 p.m.
Adults (18+) $25 Member / $30 Non-Member
Children $15 Member / $20 Non-Member
All Ages Workshops are made possible by the generous support of the Leff Family Foundation.
Putman Arts Leader Lecture Series
Interwoven Legacies: Women, Spirituality, and the Art of Anila Agha
Thursday, October 16 / 7–8 p.m.
$15 Member / $25 Non-Member
Support for this program was provided by the Mary Louise Putman Endowment.
Adult Workshop Cut Paper Inspired by Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven
Sunday, October 26 / 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
$40 Member / $50 Non-Member
Artistic Excursion: Penn Museum Exploration of Indo-Islamic Textiles
Tuesday, October 28 / 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
$30 Member / $40 Non-Member
Curator Talk: Cultural Expression Through Textiles
Wednesday, November 5 / 1–2 p.m.
$10 Member / $20 Non-Member
Beyond Words Book Club: Threads of Life: A History of Life Through the Eye of a Needle by Clare Hunter
Thursday, November 6 / 6:30–8 p.m.
Thursday, December 11 / 1–2:30 p.m.
$10 Member / $20 Non-Member (*books are not included in the price)
Pictured Above: Artist, Anila Quayyum Agha. Photo Credit: Tim Ghebeles for Michener Art Museum.
About the Artist:
Anila Quayyum Agha is internationally recognized for her award-winning large-scale installations that use light, shadow, and pattern to create inclusive shared experiences. She holds a BFA from the National College of Art, Lahore, Pakistan, and an MFA from the University of North Texas, Denton. She is a Morris Eminent Scholar of Art, Augusta University, and was previously Associate Professor in Drawing at the Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. Major awards include the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant (2019) and the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (2021).
Agha’s work is in the collections of Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA; Cincinnati Art Museum, OH; Columbia Museum of Art, SC; Eskenazi Museum of Art, Bloomington, IN; Grand Rapids Art Museum, MI; Kiran Nader Art Museum, Delhi, India; Kunsthaus Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA; University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque, NM; The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA; among many others. Her 2013 installation, Intersections, was the first time in ArtPrize history that winner of the Grand Rapids, MI., competition was awarded both the Public Vote Grand Prize and split the Juried Grand Prize. For the 2019 Venice Biennial, Agha was included in a collateral event, She Persists, with 22 contemporary feminist artists. Agha received an NEA grant to support a 2024 traveling retrospective at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, PA. She is represented by Sundaram Tagore Gallery, NY.
About Michener Art Museum:
Website: michenerartmuseum.org
Address: 138 S. Pine Street, Doylestown PA 18901
Hours: Wednesdays–Sundays, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission is free on the second Sunday of the month with support from Art Bridges Foundation.
Michener Art Museum in Doylestown is dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and exhibiting the art and cultural heritage of the Bucks County region. Home to the largest public collection of Pennsylvania Impressionist paintings and known for studio craft, the Michener is named for Doylestown’s most famous son James A. Michener, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who first dreamed of a regional art museum in the early 1960s. The Museum was originally home to the 19th-century Bucks County Prison and is surrounded by the historic stone prison walls which are part of the Patricia D. Pfundt Sculpture Garden, terraces, and a landscaped courtyard. Michener Art Museum features nationally touring special exhibitions, work from regional artists in distinctive galleries, and the quiet and serene Nakashima Reading Room.
