Rababa Mohammadi, a well-known Afghan painter, has won the 2026 Artist of the Year award from Max Gala, an organisation in Canada.
In a video posted to her Instagram account, Mohammadi announced that she had received the award. She said the ceremony was held on Saturday, October 10, in Toronto, with dozens of prominent Canadian artists in attendance.
Expressing her happiness at winning, she said: “Another achievement has been added to my artistic accomplishments. I have received Canada’s Max Gala Artist of the Year award for 2026.”
She added that 200 artists took part in the competition. Following a public vote and the judges’ assessments, she was selected as Artist of the Year from among three finalists.
Max Gala was established in 2015 to support the activities of Muslims in North America. Each year, the organisation holds a special ceremony in Canada to recognise outstanding work by Muslims in various fields.
The organisation also announced Mohammadi as the winner of its 2026 Max Award in the Artist of the Year category, sharing her photo and congratulating her on the achievement.
“We are proud to celebrate Rababa, an Afghan artist and entrepreneur who is part of SMILE’s OpenShop programme. This well-deserved recognition reflects the acknowledgement of her talent and creativity,” the organisation wrote.
Mohammadi is a well-known Afghan painter who paints with her mouth because of a disability affecting her hands and feet.
After the interim government returned to power, Mohammadi left Afghanistan. She has been living in Canada for about two and a half years.
