Presented in partnership with the Khyber Centre for the Arts and Nocturne
my inner child healing my immigrant identity by Martha Mutale explores the immigrant experience – the self split between two homes. A series of rag dolls where each figure represents a point in time in the immigrant life, softly positioned in space, while the whole assemblage provides a grounded picture of who she is. Presented by Mayworks Kjipuktuk/Halifax and hosted at the Khyber Centre for the Arts, the exhibition runs October 11-31, 2025. Events include Nocturne: Art at Night Festival from 6PM-12AM on Saturday, October 18, and a closing reception Tuesday, October 28th 6PM-8PM.
my inner child healing my immigrant identity is a continuation of Martha Mutale’s exploration of the immigrant experience through the making and presentation of rag dolls fabricated from Zambian fabrics overlaid with printed words. Each of the 40 inches tall dolls represents a different part of her life as an immigrant living in the Diaspora and what it means to hold two different identities grounded in two different homes – Canada and Zambia. What does it mean to call two places home at once? What does it mean to always have a foot in both worlds, to feel unmoored by this dual self? What are the different ways in which each of these places is home and for which reasons?
Mutale was confronted with these questions when she returned to her birth home during her adult life. Everyday, taxi drivers (themselves migrants from neighbouring African countries) would ask her about herself and where she came from. Growing up in Nova Scotia, one of Mutale’s most vivid and concrete connections to Zambian culture was the process through which she and her sisters would continually measure each others’ bodies in order for their mother to sew clothing for them made of African fabric. These experiences and memories, along with her love of poetry, have been the crucible for her ongoing series of projects using rag dolls to convey her sense of identity.
The process of crafting is a journey in itself and the tactile medium of textiles provide for Mutale a method of self-exploration that is both meditative and very concrete at once. For my inner child healing my immigrant identity, the dolls (smaller than in previous explorations) will be installed as a diorama in the window gallery of the Khyber Centre for the Arts through which passersby can windowgaze into Mutale’s life. As Mutale represents different facets and waypoints in her life through each rag doll, she presents a fragmented picture of herself. The soft sculptures each convey a lack of weight and definite attachment to the ground. And yet, the depiction of Mutale’s life as a whole through their assemblage in space, all together, offers her (and the observer) a sense of groundedness provided by the material expression of her identities and the added value of a sum crystallised by the joining of its parts.
ARTIST BIO
Martha Mutale is a poet and veteran of the spoken word scene in Kjipuktuk/Halifax, Nova Scotia. She grew up in Billtown, Nova Scotia, a small rural community in the Annapolis valley after emigrating from Zambia with her family when she was just under two years old. Her family is based in Nova Scotia. As an adult, she relocated to North End Halifax where she began expressing herself as a poet while also working in the non-profit sector. She has worked as a housing support worker where she witnessed first hand the vulnerability and social disposability of those who have lost their homes – especially immigrants who, without citizenship, are not allowed access to shelters. In December 2022, Martha relocated to Zambia to start over, reconnect with herself and apply to regain her Zambian citizenship. Having been raised in the Diaspora and having called Nova Scotia home since a young child, she longs for her birth home, Zambia, and yearns to learn more about her roots. While in Lusaka, waiting for her paperwork to be approved, she volunteered her time in an art gallery and completed two residencies which constituted her first forays into visual arts. During her second residency, she made six dolls, five feet long, all sewn and painted by hand using upcycled textile fabrics and African materials she found while living in Lusaka, Zambia. Martha is healing her inner child and making room for new and exciting adventures that await her in the future.
HOURS & EVENTS:
Exhibition on view: October 11-31, 2025
Gallery hours: On display in the window gallery 24/7 | Open hours: 12-5PM Tuesday-Saturday + events
Appointments/contact: info@khyber.ca
Accessibility notes: www.khyber.ca/access
Nocturne hours: 6PM-12AM, Saturday, October 18, 2025
Closing reception: Tuesday, October 28th 6PM-8PM – Click here for details
