The tongue of my ancestors is Sindhi, I can’t learn it anymore.

My mother tongue is Hindi, I can’t write it very well.

My father tongue is Kannada, I can’t read it at all.

My tongue is the colonizer’s, I can’t cut it off.

Aaniya Asrani (b. 1992) is an interdisciplinary artist, graphic designer, and visual storyteller from Bangalore, India. She graduated from Srishti Institute of Art, Design, and Technology with distinction in Visual Communication (2014) and Emily Carr University with a Master of Fine Arts degree (2019), where she was also sessional faculty from 2019-2023.

She is a published children’s book illustrator and author whose practice spans a wide range of materials and forms that seek to unpack social, political, and cultural systems. The work she undertakes has the ultimate goal of facilitating understanding across diverse communities and systemic disparities to catalyze small actions of change.

Currently, she is an uninvited guest on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh Nations, in so called Vancouver. On these lands, she is nurturing a community engaged art practice, undertaking art, design and bookmaking projects and conducting workshops in community.

She serves as the Lead Community Artist at posAbilities, a social service organization supporting individuals with developmental disabilities. In this role, she is shaping an inclusive artist collective and residency. Additionally, Aaniya leads Neighbourhood Organizing, a Vancouver Coastal Health-funded project with the InWithForward team, aimed at building bridges across lines of difference.

At home with her cat Saige, Aaniya enjoys dancing to music, cooking, and exploring various creative pursuits. Her current obsession? Learning the art of hand poke tattoos.