Aquil Virani

Virani grew up in Surrey, British Columbia to immigrant parents and is the youngest of four sons.[2][3] His mother was born in France, and his father is a Muslim of Indian heritage who was born and raised in East Africa, immigrating to Canada from Tanzania.[2][3] Virani graduated from Southridge School in 2008,[4] before completing his undergraduate degree at McGill University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Marketing,[3] after first studying math and physics.[2] Virani is a self-taught artist and worked at L’Oréal Canada for several years, while moonlighting as an artist, before becoming self-employed in 2014.[2][3]

In 2012, Virani had a solo art exhibit at McGill University, entitled "Copycat", where he combined hundreds of participant drawings that were reproduced ‘live’ onto a collaborative painting over the course of different events.[4]

In 2014, Virani and Rebecca Jones traveled across Canada to collect stories and drawings for a project entitled "Canada's Self Portrait."[5][6][7] The project was partially crowdfunded and received over 800 responses. It was later exhibited at the Galerie Mile End in Montreal[8][9][10] and the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax.[11][12]

For his 24th birthday, Virani created 24 original works of art in the 24 hours leading up to his birthday.[13]

In 2017, Virani received a grant from the Silk Road Institute's Combating Hate, Advancing Inclusion (CHAI) digital video arts initiative for his project, "Postering Peace".[3] In 2017, at a Montreal vigil in the aftermath of the Quebec City mosque shooting, Virani also had attendees contribute to a "live painting", where they could write messages over his depiction of Muslim hands in prayer.[14][15] The painting was sent as a gift to the Islamic cultural centre in Sainte-Foy.[14]

In 2017 and 2018, Virani also completed a series of portraits of inspiring women for his "CelebrateHer" project, which included portraits of Kwanlin Dün First Nation Chief Doris Bill as well as Ta'an Kwäch'än Council Chief Kristina Kane.[16][17] The project was unveiled in a series of art exhibits in Montreal, including one at McGill University.[16][18]

In 2018, Virani also won the "Artist for Peace" Award.[16]

In 2020, Virani received a $5,000 Canada Council Digital Original grant.[19]

In 2021, for his 30th birthday, Virani mailed 30 letters to people who had inspired him in some way for his “30 letters” project,[1][2] which was the focus of an episode of The Doc Project.[20] This included his childhood martial arts instructor, a friend's mother, Roberto Luongo, Ron Maclean, Kent Monkman, among others.[1] He received responses from "about a dozen" people.[1] Virani is also working on a series of portraits for the victims of the Quebec City mosque shooting.[2]

In 2021, he was named the “2021 Artist-in-Residence” at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.[21][22] He also designed and produced a bilingual art anthology of Ottawa-based Muslim artists and writers called “Ottawa Inshallah” with the theme, “Ottawa Inshallah: Dreaming of a better future” with financial support from the City of Ottawa.[23][24][25]

Virani is an Ismaili Muslim and moved to Ottawa in the summer of 2020.[2][3] He also identifies as a feminist.[3]