Having a home: What does that really mean? It’s a question many women with a migration background grapple with. When your parents grow up in a different country than you, it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly where your home is. Textile artist Hemaseh Manawi Rad has always wondered what ‘home’ truly means. Her parents grew up in Iran, but she was raised in the Netherlands. As a result, she is seen as ‘the other’ in both cultures, making her search for a sense of home a constant struggle.
So what is home? According to the Van Dale dictionary, it’s a place where someone feels at home. But where do you feel at home when you’ve grown up between two cultures? Hemaseh herself never fully managed to express this. “As a teenager, I would often ask myself: which box do I fit into? I always felt caught between two cultures: I’m not fully Iranian because I was born and raised here, but I’m not fully Dutch either, because of my roots and how I look.”
For years, Hemaseh searched for a box she could call her home but never found one. Instead, she decided to create her own through art—in the form of textile work. “The starting point of my work is often shaped by personal and family stories, memories, and the question: ‘What is my home?'” Through her art, the artist hopes to spark conversations about what home means for others in similar situations. “I often hear from others that they recognize themselves in my work. The conversations that follow are so special because they show how shared experiences and art can together create a sense of home.”
Into The Garden, the piece Hemaseh is exhibiting in the Homecoming exhibition, reflects the idea of home in her own life. The work features a typical Iranian garden—an image her parents associate with home in their memories. “The garden with a fountain and pool—the howz, as it’s traditionally found in Iranian gardens—is the heart of the home according to my parents. It’s a gathering place, where families and friends come together to eat, spend time, and share stories.” Hemaseh incorporated part of her parents’ roots into Into The Garden, and worked on it alongside them. Her parents contributed ideas, shared reference photos, helped with the making process, and remained involved until the very end.
The piece connects her to her parents’ sense of home but also evokes a longing for a place she has never truly known. For Hemaseh, Iranian gardens exist only in stories passed down through memory. “Into the Garden feels like home, but it is also a source of renewal. At first glance, it looks very still, but the water in the fountain is always moving. It reminds me of those days that seem to blur together without any sense of progress. Yet each drop in the fountain is different.”
The image of the fountain extends beyond a memory of her parents’ garden. It symbolizes the changes she undergoes in her own search for home. “The constantly flowing fountain reflects what it’s like to reinvent yourself over and over again. There’s something liberating in that change, in the idea that every new drop, every new experience, adds something unique to who you are.”
Through her textile work, Hemaseh gives shape to the complexity of her experiences and creates a space in which others can recognize themselves. “My work is a way to connect with the stories of others. It offers a moment to reflect on what home really means and how we each shape that in our own way.” Her art becomes a bridge between cultures, where the feeling of ‘home’ can be rediscovered time and again.
Into The Garden is featured in Homecoming, an exhibition curated by Alien Mag at the Van Abbemuseum, on view from 28 June to 7 December 2025.
