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Mina Keykhaei (Persian: مینا کیخایی) is a visual artist and researcher based in Tkaronto/Toronto. Her practice repurposes discarded textiles into works that interrogate waste as sites of memory and resistance, foregrounding stains and tears as traces of labor and displacement. Through material reclamation, she disrupts commodified notions of value, transforming overlooked fabrics into critical archives that challenge erasure under globalization.

 

She holds a Master of Arts in Fashion from Toronto Metropolitan University, where her work on sustainable art received the Value Village Sustainable Graduate Award (2024). Her practice has been supported by grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts (2025). She has published in Fashion Studies Journal (2025) on textiles as narrative tools.

 

She lives and works on Treaty 13 territory, traditional lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, Anishinaabeg, Chippewa, Haudenosaunee, and Wendat peoples, within the Dish With One Spoon Covenant—committed to decolonial solidarity in her explorations of labor and memory.

CV

EDUCATION
 
Master of Arts in Fashion, Toronto Metropolitan University,                                       2022-2024
  Toronto, Canada
 
Bachelor degree in Business Management, Kavian University,                                    2008-2012  
  Mashhad, Iran


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITION   
 
2025   Artist Project, Untapped Juried Competition (selected artist), Better Living Centre, Toronto, Canada

2025   Woven together: Fabrics of Belonging, Artspace Gallery, 401 Richmond St, Toronto, Canada

2024 Tree Installation, Mississauga Festival of Trees, Small Arms Inspection Building, Mississauga, Canada.

2024  Human Condition, Sahar K. Boluki Gallery, Toronto, Canada

2024  Fourth Annual Juried Show of Visual Arts, Art Gallery of Mississauga (AGM), Mississauga,  Canada.

2024  Maximum Exposure 29, Beyond The Surface, Image Arts Gallery, Toronto, Canada

2017   100 Artists, 100 Artworks Group Exhibition, Golestan Gallery, Mashhad, Iran

2014   Photography Exhibition, Charchoub, Jahad Gallery, Mashhad, Iran


CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE

Curatorial Team Member, Breathe Exhibition, Textile Museum of Canada (2023)
 
Contributed to 'Rebellion, Rejection and Reconciliation' exhibition, Assembly Gallery, TMU (2024)

Jury Member, Enteza Student Photography Exhibition, Jahad Institution, Ferdowsi Gallery, Mashhad, Iran (2017)

Curatorial Team Member and Jury Member, Charchoub Exhibition, Jahad Gallery, Mashhad, Iran (2014)

 
GRANTS & AWARDS
 
Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance Grant (2025) 

​Tree Installation Grant, Mississauga Festival of Trees, CreativeHub 1352 (2024)

Ontario Arts Council Project Grant (2024)

Value Village Sustainable Graduate Award (2024)
Recognizes outstanding contribution to research and creative work in sustainability.
 
School of Fashion Award in Sustainable Design, Toronto Metropolitan University (2024)
Awarded for excellence in sustainable design practices.
 
Ryerson Graduate Fellowship (RGF) (2022)
Recognizes academic excellence awarded to students on a competitive basis.


PUBLICATIONS, RESEARCH, AND PRESENTATIONS

Published in Fashion Studies Journal, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2025): "Textile Narratives: Waste as Cultural Archive." Available open access: https://www.fashionstudies.ca/textile-narratives
 
Accepted presentation: Unravelling Fashion Narratives Symposium, NYC
From Decoration to Narration: The Evolution of Storytelling in Persian Textile Art(2024)

Conducted research on a Persian Theater Banner, contributing to the Textile Museum of Canada's collection and database

Presented a research poster titled 'Sustainable Art & Consumer Behavior Analysis' at the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Sustainable Fashion Conference (2023)


EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES

Arts Educator, Cedar Ridge Creative Centre, City of Toronto (2025-Present)

Co-led an exhibition design workshop at the Bata Shoe Museum as part of curation studies (2024)

Co-developed curriculum and facilitated creative printing workshops for teenagers and young adults at Scotiabank Arena (2022)

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