SOAS Gallery

09/10/2026

Missed our exhibition Embroidery Traditions of Afghanistan, or would like to discover more about the beautiful textiles on display?

Join collector and curator Karun Thakar for a video tour of the exhibition, as he shares his insights into the remarkable embroidery traditions of Afghanistan and takes a closer look at some of the works from his collection.

Although the exhibition has now closed, you can still explore these extraordinary textiles and the stories behind them!

05/10/2026

Make your Thursday even better by joining us to meet the artist Raymond Fung in conversation with Malcolm McNeill this Thursday 8th Oct at 6pm https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/conversation-raymond-fung-and-malcolm-mcneill-liubai-beyond-emptiness

03/10/2026

While we are lucky enough to be presenting an of opening today 3 Oct is an exhibition featuring by the artist at our good friends until 15 Nov

02/10/2026

We’re open again! 🎉

SOAS Gallery has reopened with our new exhibition, BEYOND EMPTINESS, featuring ink paintings and more by artist Raymond Fung.

Come and explore the exhibition, and visit our permanent collection in the Foyle Gallery.

📍 SOAS Gallery
🗓 Tuesday–Saturday
🕥 10:30am–5pm
🌙 Thursdays open late until 8pm

Free entry – everyone welcome!

23/09/2026

Meet the artist behind 留白 – Beyond Emptiness.

Join Hong Kong artist and architect Raymond Fung in conversation with SOAS art historian Dr Malcolm McNeill for a special event accompanying our new exhibition at SOAS Gallery.

Hear Raymond discuss the ideas and thought processes behind the exhibition, from the Chinese artistic principle of liubai (留白), or “leaving blank”, to the connections between ink painting, architecture, nature and the environment that run throughout his work.

📅 Thursday 8 October, 6–7pm
📍 Djam Lecture Theatre, SOAS University of London
🎟️ Free – booking required

留白 – Beyond Emptiness opens at SOAS Gallery on 2 October.

Book now:

Join Hong Kong artist and architect Raymond Fung in conversation with SOAS art historian Malcolm McNeill.

21/09/2026

We're now closed and busy preparing to welcome you back from 2nd Oct to enjoy the work of in the exhibition Beyond Emptiness in partnership with and some highlights from our own Object and Artwork Collection

18/09/2026

🚨 Closing tomorrow!

Tomorrow, Saturday 19 September, is your final chance to see Embroidery Traditions of Afghanistan at SOAS Gallery.

Featuring around 100 objects dating from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the exhibition reveals an extraordinarily rich embroidered world: clothing for women and men, head coverings, bags, furnishings, weapon covers, food wraps, turban cloths and more.

Together, these objects celebrate generations of highly skilled women and girls whose embroidery transformed silk, wool, beads, coins and thread into intricate expressions of culture and identity.

If you haven’t visited yet — or would like one last look — join us tomorrow before the exhibition closes.

📍 SOAS Gallery, Ground Floor Gallery
📅 Final day: Saturday 19 September
🕥 10.30am–5pm
🎟 Free admission

15/09/2026

🧵 Embroidery can tell us about many aspects of the lives of its makers and owners — including religious practice.

These two small embroidered cloths in Embroidery Traditions of Afghanistan come from Hazara embroidery traditions. The Hazara are predominantly Shia Muslim, unlike the Sunni majority in Afghanistan, and women still stitch cloths and small pouches to protect the clay prayer tablet, or mohr, used by Shia Muslims during prayer.

One of the examples on display makes this connection particularly visible. Its maker chose to decorate the cloth with mosque designs, while the embroidered hand motif may reference the severed hand of Abbas, an important figure in Shia Islam.

Displayed alongside another tablet cover with a very different, entirely abstracted design, the two objects also show the variety and individual creativity found within Hazara embroidery traditions.

See them in Embroidery Traditions of Afghanistan at SOAS Gallery until Saturday 19 September.

📍 Ground Floor Gallery
🕥 Tuesday–Saturday, 10.30am–5pm; Thursdays until 8pm
🎟 Free admission

12/09/2026

✨ One week left!

Embroidery Traditions of Afghanistan closes at SOAS Gallery next Saturday, 19 September.

Among the exhibition’s highlights are remarkable nineteenth-century Arabachi coats embroidered in red on blue, rarely displayed Mangal and Pashai shirts, bold women’s capes worked in yellow on black, and an unusual green Kandahari woman’s face veil decorated with intricate khamak embroidery.

Through silk, wool, beads, coins, chain stitch, cross stitch, couching and more, these objects offer a glimpse into the lives, creativity and extraordinary skill of their makers and wearers. The exhibition also preserves examples of styles and techniques that are now disappearing.

Don’t miss your chance to see around 100 embroidered textiles from across Afghanistan, drawn from the Karun Thakar collection and the V&A.

📅 Closing Saturday 19 September
📍 SOAS Gallery, Ground Floor Gallery
🕥 Tuesday–Saturday, 10.30am–5pm
🌙 Open late Thursday until 8pm
🎟 Free admission

09/09/2026

🏕️ Embroidery wasn’t only worn but could also transform the spaces in which people lived.

This large embroidered cloth in Embroidery Traditions of Afghanistan comes from the Lakai Uzbek tradition of northern Afghanistan and dates to the early twentieth century.

Lakai communities, traditionally nomadic, used richly embroidered textiles to decorate the interiors of their yurts. Often worked in silk thread on a vivid red ground, these embroideries gave their makers considerable scope for creativity and individual expression.

The motifs also draw closely on the natural world. Look across this example and you’ll find celestial and earthly themes brought together, with sun and plant forms worked across its richly embroidered surface.

See it in Embroidery Traditions of Afghanistan at SOAS Gallery, alongside around 100 embroidered textiles from across Afghanistan.

📅 Until Saturday 19 September
📍 SOAS Gallery, Ground Floor Gallery
🕥 Tuesday–Saturday, 10.30am–5pm; Thursdays until 8pm
🎟 Free admission