Farzana Ahmed; [Author]

Art

Art (ART)

Decorative

Art

This is a portrait of Zaheda, a Rohingya embroidery artisan for the RCMC. It was painted by Farzana Ahmed Urmi, a Bangladeshi artist-in-residence for the RCMC. 

Zaheda learnt to do fultola (embroidery) at a UN office in Arakan. She used to stitch and sell pillow covers, nummal (headscarves) and tami (wraparound skirt), giving most of her earnings to her parents but keeping some aside to buy makeup for herself. At the camp, Zaheda loves sewing as part of the RCMC embroidery group and sometimes dresses up to go to work. She never imagined she will learn to embroider people’s houses or faces.