Born 1989, Narathiwat, Thailand
Lives and works in Narathiwat

Jamilah Haji’s art is inseparable from her life: being a maker and celebrating her faith are integral to her sense of self. One of four children in a family of hijab makers, Haji was attracted to art, especially sewn textile techniques, from an early age. Using a sewing machine, she embroiders large, densely layered textiles conveying her personal response to life in the south of Thailand, in the Muslim majority province of Narathiwat.

Haji illustrates women at their daily prayers, as brides and as mothers — roles and responsibilities celebrated in the sermons of Islam — using carefully selected coloured threads and organza and lace fabrics. Her desire to inspire spiritual strength is also present through references to her work as a teacher of disabled youth. Haji first began incorporating embroidered motifs of drawings by disabled children and youth in 2019, particularly those by her own brother, reflecting her belief that all people in this world should be treated with respect and share freedom and equality.