SAHA supports Gardiner Museum within the scope of Elif Uras’s new project between 16 January – 5 April 2026. Curated by Regatu Asefa.

In Islamic cultures, scents have been used to evoke Paradise, ward off illnesses and unwanted spirits, and offer enjoyment to everyday life. Pleasant Smells and Warm Fellowships: Scent in Islamic Ceramics asks us to foreground our noses, imagining the rich and intoxicating scents ceramics have elicited, especially when shared with others.

The exhibition evokes a common smellscape—an olfactory social environment—Muslim women have and continue to cultivate: the home or harem. Artists Elif Uras, Kaashif Ghanie, and Leila Fatemi present distinct cultural explorations of scent in feminized spaces including domestic settings. The contemporary artworks are juxtaposed with historical objects to reveal an interconnected and fragrant social sphere amongst diverse cultures in enduring contact with the Islamic world. Scent becomes the connector: to home, to others, and between cultures.

Elif Uras (b. Ankara) explores ideas of gender and class related to representation of women across differ- ent geographies and time. She often employs labor intensive intricate patterns on her forms inspired by diverse art historic sources including Prehistoric art, antiquity, Islamic geometry, Iznik tiles and Western modernism. Her work also engages with questions of tradition, ornament and labor, especially feminized labor.

About Gardiner Museum
The Gardiner is one of the world’s leading specialty museums and Canada’s only museum dedicated to ceramics. It welcomes and inspires audiences of diverse backgrounds, abilities, and experiences through the rich history and storytelling power of clay. It stewards and animates an internationally significant collection of over 5,000 objects while centering hands-on learning and making. The Museum engages in important cultural conversations taking place in Toronto and beyond through gallery programming and collaborative partnerships. It works to advance Indigenous self-determination and build human connections, creating space for reflection and dialogue.