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02/27/2026

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From Cloth to Code

Join us for  From Cloth to Code, a panel discussion that explores how textile traditions are translated, transformed, and reimagined through digital media and industrial material manipulation. Bringing together artists Roda Medhat​​ and  Shaheer Zazai, and moderated by Ignazio Colt Nicastro, the conversation threads through three exhibitions across the GTHA, each examining how fibre-based practices shift when rendered through new technological forms. 

Co-presented by the Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB), Art Gallery of Mississauga (AGM), and the Textile Museum of Canada (TMC), the program extends themes from Nicastro’s TMC exhibition From Cloth to Code, which paired historical collection works with contemporary digital responses in celebration of the Museum’s 50th anniversary. From digitally rendered garments that reinterpret narratives embedded in historical fabrics to immersive environments that elevate everyday objects, these exhibitions expand the dialogue around the impact of permanent collections, craft legacies, and evolving material cultures. 

At the AGB, Roda Medhat’s exhibition Things I Can Fold, Deflate, and Break reflects the Gallery’s commitment to artists whose practices grow from craft’s tactile histories while embracing transdisciplinary experimentation. Shaheer Zazai’s immersive installation at the AGM, A Petal for a Petal, A Deed for a Deed—The Garden We Could Have Been, reimagines the traditional floral motifs of Afghan carpets as a series of monumental, darkly radiant blooms that have emerged from the aftermath of human destruction. 

Across these projects, glitch aesthetics, pulsing LED interfaces, and even the equations of Microsoft Excel and Word become pliant as artists remove the expected utility of materials to expose new agencies, textures, and meanings. 

This panel invites audiences to consider how textiles move across physical and digital realms, and how contemporary artists continue to stretch the boundaries of craft, functionality, and memory. 

image for From Cloth to Code_Darren Rigo

"From Cloth to Code" Textile Museum of Canada, 2025. Photo Credit: Darren Rigo

About the Artists

Roda Medhat’s work has been exhibited widely across Canada at CIBC Square, the Textile Museum of Canada, Art Gallery of Guelph, CAFKA, DesignTO, Cambridge Art Gallery, and Nuit Blanche Toronto and Halifax. Roda is the recipient of the CIBC C2 Art Prize (2024), the 401 Richmond Career Launcher Prize, and multiple grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. His public art commissions include permanent installations with the Toronto Transit Commission and the City of Toronto, with additional works installed in Mississauga. He holds a BFA from OCAD University, studied film production at FAMU in Prague, and is completing his MFA at the University of Guelph.  

Ignazio Colt Nicastro is a contemporary art curator, writer, and community builder, celebrated for amplifying emerging voices in the art world. Currently he acts as the Director of Development and Programming at the Textile Museum of Canada. With over five years of professional experience, Nicastro has curated exhibitions that explore themes of queer identity, intersectionality, migration, diaspora, and cultural diversity. Through his work, Nicastro creates platforms for emerging and marginalized artists to navigate personal, political, and social inquiries, transforming lived experiences into profound artistic expressions.  

Shaheer Zazai is an Afghan-Canadian artist with a current studio practice both in painting and digital media. Zazai received a BFA from OCAD University in 2011 and was artist in residence at OCAD University as part of the Digital Painting Atelier in 2015. Zazai’s practice focuses on exploring and attempting to investigate the development of cultural identity in the present geopolitical climate and diaspora. Zazai is a recipient of the TFVA (Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts) Visual Artist Award (2024) as well as recipient of Ontario Arts Council grants, and he was a finalist for EQ Bank’s Emerging Digital Artist Award in 2018. Since graduating, Zazai has had several solo and group exhibitions such as those at the Capacity 3 Gallery, CAFKA Biennial 2019, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant, Double Happiness Projects and Patel Brown Gallery. His digital works have been covered by CBC Arts in 2018, Ajam Media Collective in 2019, and Globe and Mail in 2020. Some of his recent notable exhibitions include a solo exhibition at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Patel Brown Gallery, and Owens Art Gallery. Shaheer Zazai is represented by Patel Brown Gallery.