MOCA North Miami presents Hiba Schahbaz: The Garden, the first comprehensive retrospective of the Pakistani-American artist’s work, from November 5th, 2025, to March 16th, 2026. Spanning fifteen years, the exhibition explores recurring motifs of global allegory, feminist perspectives, and fantastical beings navigating elemental worlds influenced by nature and architecture.
Rooted in the concept of the jannat or ‘Paradise Garden,’ the show draws from Islamic and Sufi traditions while resonating with worldwide ideas of gardens as spaces of refuge and transcendence. Its curatorial structure echoes the traditional char-bagh—a Persian and Mughal garden layout—serving as a poetic guiding framework rather than strict design.
With training in Indo-Persian miniature painting, Schahbaz’s contemporary take reimagines historical aesthetics through a feminist lens, engaging Miami’s lush horticulture and diasporic traditions of communal cultivation. An essential celebration of artistry and cultural dialogue.