This artist's work asks viewers to build healthier relationships with nature — and each other

In one of her best known works, Montreal-based multidisciplinary artist Khadija Baker wears a dress she's crafted from paper rope. Along the train of the dress sit various potted plants. Each bears the name of someone who has died or was displaced as a result of violence in their community. Over the course of the performance, Baker invites participants to take home and care for one the plants marked with the name of a stranger.

Born in Syria, the Kurdish Canadian's work blends environmental elements with political urgency, personal narrative and community storytelling.

Baker is one of 13 Canadian artists awarded the inaugural David Suzuki Foundation Rewilding Arts Prize, recognizing artists from diverse backgrounds who integrate ecological themes into their work. Their art is now featured in Rewilding, a major year-long exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Nature, running through October. 

Baker's contribution to the exhibition is a 22-minute video, titled Performing Community Garden, which documents the plant exchange performance. It is a moving reflection on migration, rootedness and the social dimensions of reconnecting with nature. The work resonates deeply amid today's global refugee and climate crises.    

For Baker, being part of this powerful exhibition is a profound honour. She describes it as "an urgent voice asking us to reflect on our environment."

"I ask questions about our connection to this land, what plants can grow here and what environment is needed for growth," she explains. "What I gift is a story of a person, and also a plant they go to live with — one that will give them care to nourish. As we humans are connected to nature, they will also give a positive feeling as they grow." 

For Baker, the project is a reminder of coexistence — a call to build healthy relationships between human and non-human communities.

Originally developed in 2021, the project was meant to be short term, but it has since evolved into a sustained, ongoing practice. "I feel it works well, and I still do it for its effect on communities," she says. "The Canadian Museum of Nature has a lot of fans." Baker's aim is to foster healthier relationships with displaced communities from the Middle East and to encourage a deeper acceptance of diverse cultural values, a gesture toward healing, empathy and social cohesion.

Baker, also known as Xecê Khadija Baker, was born in the Kurdish town of Amuda in northern Syria. Trained in interior design, she holds a master's degree from Damascus University. She came to Canada as a refugee and resettled in Montreal in 2001. Since then, she has established herself as a vital presence in Canadian contemporary art, working across textiles, sound, video and participatory performance. Her practice explores displacement, migration, memory and the ongoing search for home.

While her artistic approach has evolved over time, one element remains constant: a deep engagement with the natural world. At a moment when Canada is placing greater emphasis on both environmental responsibility and cultural diversity, Baker's work — at the intersection of climate, migration and identity — feels more timely than ever.

To Baker, everything is connected. "The artist's life is a complex, woven way in which life and art become inseparable — one thing," she says. "Art is my way of thinking, living, sharing thoughts, reflecting and imagining what we need for a better future to come."

After arriving in Canada, Baker earned a second master's degree, in fine arts, at Concordia University. She went on to complete a doctorate in 2023 at Concordia's Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture, further deepening her research-based approach to art-making.

Her multidisciplinary installations have been exhibited across Canada and in group exhibitions in major cultural centres across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

This summer, Baker will join the group exhibition Fragmented-Recaptured at Ohio State University's Urban Art Space in Columbus. The show brings together Kurdish artists in diaspora and will include community programming and a forthcoming publication.

Baker's work is deeply rooted in the Kurdish experience, bearing witness to the traumatic events and collective struggles that have shaped her identity. These memories — both painful and formative — are central to her artistic approach. Through her creative process, she continues to explore themes of displacement, memory and loss, weaving personal history with political urgency.

"My Kurdish culture is the roots, and the art is the fruit of what the environment offers to nourish healthy growth," she says. "There is a great connection with the past home, even if there is no certainty around it."

In North America, and particularly in Canada, Baker hopes to expand the understanding of Kurdish identity beyond the common image of Kurds as courageous fighters. While she honours that legacy, the struggle to protect land and family, she also sees herself as a different kind of fighter. Choosing a life in the arts, she says, is not always a matter of choice. It is a calling.

"I am driven by the force of art to feel alive and leave a trace in life," she says. "Crossing many barriers to speak through a creative voice requires brave thoughts — and an artist."

Rewilding — the David Suzuki Foundation Arts Prize is on view at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa through October. The exhibition Fragmented-Recaptured runs July 22–August 16 at Ohio State University's Urban Art Space in Columbus.