As the Curatorial Assistant of South Asian Art, Islamic Art, and Antiquities at CAM, my normal day has me juggling multiple projects and exhibitions at once. What the public sees over a span of a few months—whether a gallery rotation, a new show, a series of events, or the flying banners placed above the museum’s entryway—actually takes years to create by countless individuals across the institution and beyond. An exhibition, in other words, is a great feat to accomplish.

I have been working on Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior with curator Ainsley M. Cameron since my very first day on the job. I’ve poured over countless versions of checklists, agonized over painting and frame measurements, squinted at color comparisons (Blackberry or Pansey Petal?), and most especially, gasped (and essentially screamed) every time I saw one of Sikander’s works carefully removed from its shipping crate.

It’s an amazing feeling, when you’ve worked on an exhibition for so long, to see your ideas come to life in the gallery. Sikander’s work is extremely special to me both personally and professionally. Her exhibition is the first I’ve ever been part of, and it’s incredibly humbling and frightening to work closely with such an acclaimed artist on my first project. Sikander’s work is also so universal in its representation and meaning—it speaks not only to my identity, but to the identities of countless lives both in the United States and abroad. Her work is emblematic of the immigrant experience, the feminine experience, the Muslim experience, and the contemporary experience of the twenty-first century. So, for me to see these works on painted boards or shining in a multitude of colors of refracted light (as opposed to checklists and PowerPoints) is life changing.

I’m extremely happy that, after all these years of preparation, you all may finally experience Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior. As you stand in the Great Hall and look up to see Sikander’s monumental, feminine sculpture NOW atop the balcony, I hope you have the same feelings of wonder and awe as I do every time I step into the exhibition space. Gasps and screams are optional; not required.

Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior is on view through May 4, 2025, in Galleries 232 and 233.