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Camal Pirhbai Camal pirhbai (born September 26, 1973) is a Swiss artist and craftsman based in Canada A lifelong artistic creator, Camal Pirbhai’s practice falls between the boundaries of textile design and contemporary art.

Biography Raised in Switzerland, Camal Pirbhai is trained in the United Kingdom. He began his professional career in Canada in 1994. Drawing from his expertise fabricating large-scale textile projects, hand-sewn furnishings, and intricate embellishments, Camal has evolved a multidisciplinary artistic practice exploring a wide array of materials and media processes such as sculpture, fiber, installation, painting, performance, and media art. Common threads throughout his practice is the exploration of the universality of beauty, and the interplay of culture, history, and identity. His work is about layering, from the aesthetic initial layer to the sometimes, uncomfortable subject or meaning. Pirbhai has acted as the Artistic Director of Studio La Beauté since 1994, and Reid&Lyons (2002-2010). He currently resides in Toronto, ON.

Carrer Launching  The StudioLabeaute, Camal gradually landed jobs with designers eager to push the boundaries.

He seeks to combine craft traditions with contemporary elements, creating singular works. His work is often characterized by a bold use of form, color and texture, allowing him to push the boundaries of artistic creativity. « Sometimes it's about creating totally original works of art - curtains as sculpture, not as window decoration »

Alongside his craftsman work, Pirbhai is also involved in education and the promotion of handicrafts. He regularly gives workshops and lectures to pass on his skills to the community.

Artistic carrer Camal artistic practice is rooted in the history, and contemporary exploration, of design, textiles, adornment, and beauty. Coming from an industrial design background, Pirbhai’s aesthetic predilection for elegance and beauty is frequently coupled with subtle, social commentary that stems from biographical narratives and values. The artist often utilizes and manipulates culturally recognizable motifs and objects, for example, punching bags, fine furnishings, couture fashion, canoes, and gondolas, to recontextualize and reveal potential new interpretations and utility. In addition, Pirbhai frequently employs processes of embellishment and exaggeration to elevate objects beyond their expected functionality and banality. In doing so, the artist utilizes beauty not as a light-hearted or vapid pursuit but as a meaningful conduit to explore any chosen object's given social, religious, and cultural histories. Pirbhai demurely addresses sensitive or controversial topics by exploring the limits of an object and utilizing the power beauty has to disarm.

The thematic references in Pirbhai's practice continually evolve with his personal experiences and through his work with other artists — in doing so, the artist intrinsically champions the collaborative process as his preferred method of creation. Frequently, Pirbhai encourages interaction with his work, specifically touch and play, to further the collaboration between creators and artist and viewer.

Pirbhai has maintained an ongoing collaborative practice with artist Camille Turner. Their projects have been exhibited nationally and internationally, notably at the Art Gallery of Ontario (2017), in Toronto, Canada, SixtyEight Art Institute (2017) in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the International Human Rights Festival “This Human World” (2021) in Vienna, Austria.

Together, they designed  « WANTED » a strong message and deconstructs programs as well as narratives carried by government and instructions. The photo collection conceptualizes photos of people who resisted slavery (the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2017). This project will be taken up by the Art Canada Institute.

Between 2017 and 2021, numerous projects will be the subject of several exhibitions such as "Rocks", exhibited at the Central Art Garage in Ottawa, or "Familly Maters" exhibited in London at the Mcintosh Gallery.

Recently, they carried out a major public project called "House of Baby"l. The project is located in Toronto's busiest hub: Union Station. It is a portrait of eighteen Black and Indigenous people who were enslaved by the Bâby family of Toronto, Windsor and Detroit. They will receive a grant from ArtWorxTo to carry out this project Pirbhai and  Turner brought this group to life by representing them amongst the everyday bustling crowd of this country’s busiest hub.

Pirbhaii has exhibited with OCADU (2017) in Toronto, Canada. And exhibited as a solo artist in other notable galleries such as McMichael Gallery (2017