The Power of Small Things

After years raising her family, Pakistani-born artist Amna Walayat has been building a powerful art career in Ireland: her miniatures subvert an art form traditionally seen as decorative and feminine and turn them into a conversation about sexual politics and power dynamics. In October 2022, she was finishing up a residency at Sirius Arts Centre. She talks about reclaiming her kitchen table as a space to make art, building a sense of identity amongst South Asian communities in Ireland, and why she wants the Punjabi spring kite festival of Basant to be as big as Electric Picnic.