How illustrator Azra Hirji turns the family table into an archive of food, migration and memory

The colour hits you first in Azra Hirji's illustrations. The primary hues and the fine white lines. Then you notice the running theme: food, spread out on a table, with friends and family always nearby.

You'll spot a mix of different cuisines. Croissants and jam, eggs on toast, and tasty treats from Asia and Africa appear throughout. It's all drawn out beautifully, which helps explain why Azra has enjoyed commissions from food and drink brands, like her martinis for DASH Water and espresso machines for La Marzocco, and for The Kitchn, Wine Enthusiast, Four Seasons Kyoto, and Penguin Random House. In every project, there's usually a table somewhere, laid out with care and ready for company.

"Coming from a family who loves to eat, the table at any gathering, house party, or get-together is where stories are shared, taste buds are tickled, hearty laughs are had, and memories are made," Azra tells Creative Boom. "I intend to translate those nostalgic emotions into my illustrations."

A home full of art and culture

Born in Toronto to East African and South Asian parents, Azra grew up in a house bursting with love and good taste. She comes from a long line of creative relatives. "Our home was filled with art painted by family members, musical instruments from my parents' home in Tanzania and tapestries from the Silk Road," she says. Her mum and dad were determined to keep their culture alive while building a new life abroad, and that extended to opening up new experiences for their daughter. "I have seen Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel and Sting in concert with my parents before I was 13. These concerts were usually followed by a trip to a food joint called Simba Grill, usually for samosas, mogo and mishkaki."

It's only now, as an adult, that she realises how stylish her parents are. "Even in my thirties, I'm elated when my work gets their stamp of approval." I mean, who doesn't! I'm 48, and I still beam when my parents say something kind about Creative Boom.

Another big influence on her art was a Toronto school programme called CyberArts, which folds visual arts and technology into the standard curriculum. "I was never at the top of my art class," Azra admits, "but Adobe Illustrator helped turn my not-so-great drawings into something I could express visually." The programme also showed her that art could be a job. A stint as a magazine editor and a marketing manager at a media agency followed before illustration took over her life.

Setting the table

Back to the tablescapes, and you realise you're mostly looking at the women in Azra's family. "I have always been inspired by the way my mum and my aunts host," she says. "Sometimes it's over-the-top, sometimes it's minimal. It is often dependent on what's in the house at the time. But there is an art to the way they make guests feel with their table setting. I always try to tap into that aesthetic when illustrating tablescapes."

Then there's her dad, who was the cook of the household, but sadly passed away two years ago. His recipes were legendary. "The one dish that feels like a huge hug from him is his daar, which is a humble lentil dish," she says. "I wrote an ode to that recipe for my Substack. To me, that truly sits at the junction of food, migration and memory."

Speaking of her Substack, In The Filing Cabinet, it's where she archives "the things that I find interesting on the internet and IRL". It's a publication she once positioned as the "intersection of Hypebeast, Spotify, Vogue India aka my mom's closet and my dad's WhatsApp forwards". She files things so they can't be lost. "My taste is in my DNA, and so I feel like that collision is naturally woven through all my work."

A global practice

Azra divides her time between three cities: Lisbon, London and Toronto. Sounds like a dream, until you realise the challenge of dealing with different time zones. But Azra says that's the easiest bit. "Anyone who runs a freelance practice, regardless of where they are, knows it's not easy. Unpaid invoices, net 30, 60, 90-day contracts, admin – it doesn't matter where you're located; those issues will happen regardless. In all three cities and time zones, I am a lawyer, an accountant, a publicist, and an illustrator."

With such a global lifestyle, my worry would be feeling unrooted and dislodged. But for Azra, she feels at home in all three of those cities, in their own way.

Like any of us, she still questions whether she's on the right path. But illustration, she says, has been the most fulfilling part of her life. Someone recently asked whether she really doodles and draws for a living. "I was so proud to respond with a confident yes," she says. Now all I want to know is: how do I get an invite to Azra's next family gathering?