Paint, textiles and performance invite visitors to reimagine memory

Surrey Art Gallery will open Farheen Haq and Russna Kaur: In the Folds of Memory on Oct. 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. as part of its fall exhibition opening. Admission is free. The exhibition is part of the final celebration of the gallery’s 50th anniversary and builds on two works in its permanent collection: Haq’s brick and video installation Revelation #2 and Kaur’s abstract painting Nice Ending. New and loaned works are also included.

Through painting, installation, video and textiles, the artists consider memory and language as things that are carried, inherited and continually remade. Haq’s work in video, textiles, installation, performance and photography reflects on her South Asian Muslim Canadian female identity. Her new work draws on the teachings of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, described as a tradition of communal harmony and cultural respect in northern India around the Ganga and Jamuni rivers. Kaur’s large-scale, multi-surface paintings use colour, texture and form to trace personal, emotional and intergenerational South Asian histories. Associate Curator of Engagement Jas Lally said the artists invite visitors to consider what they inherit and remember, and how such stories connect people.

The Oct. 3 Woven Tenderly art party will also celebrate tender threads, S F Ho: Triple Burner Flower Field and the closing of Marking the Seasons by the South Surrey and White Rock Art Society. Haq and Kaur will discuss their work with Lally, followed by a conversation between S F Ho and curatorial assistant Zoe Yang. Fiadh of Foxy Verve Atelier will lead an artmaking activity.

Other free programs include a collective weaving session with Haq on Oct. 22 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.; a Family Art Jam on Oct. 25 from 1:30 to 3 p.m., featuring a guided exhibition tour and artmaking activity for children and their families; a media arts symposium on Nov. 21 from 1 to 5 p.m., where Haq will share a new work based on a ghazal; and a Family Art Party on Nov. 29 from 1 to 5 p.m., with drop-in artmaking and a gallery scavenger hunt. A Panjabi tour is scheduled for Dec. 5 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Registration for the Family Art Jam is available by calling 604-501-5566 and dialing 0, or by emailing [email protected].

The exhibition is supported by TD Bank Group. Surrey Art Gallery, founded in 1975, is located at 13750 88 Avenue in Surrey and presents contemporary art, including digital and audio art, by local, national and international artists.