Banafsheh Erfanian is a Toronto based painter, illustrator, educator, and curator. She was born in Tehran, Iran. She graduated from Tehran University of Art with a Bachelor of Graphic Design and holds an MFA in Illustration. Banafsheh has illustrated 25 books and magazines and has written more than 25 articles in art reviews. Her work – which has been exhibited in Iran, Italy, US, Canada, Russia, China, Japan and Serbia- has won numerous international awards such as The Award of Excellence of Golden Pinwheel Young Illustrators Competition, China, 2016; the 1st Prize of The Second Festival of Text Books Illustration, Iran, 2006; the Encouragement Prize of the 15th Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustration, Japan, 2004, among others. Banafsheh has been listed in numerous international catalogs and awarded grants from Toronto Art Council, Toronto Foundation for the Arts – RBC and City of Toronto.