Opening of “un/tangling, un/covering, un/doing” at the Surrey Art Gallery

On February 9th, the Surrey Art Gallery hosted their Winter Opening of un/tangling, un/covering, un/doing, an exhibition curated by Associate curator, Suvi Bains that “shares stories embedded in the rituals attached to hair, such as acts of resistance and sacred reverence”. SASI participated in the exhibit and contributed their support for an important topic.

Hair holds a unique, personal, and sacred importance across many cultures and religions. In this exhibition, Bains contextualizes the politics, intimacy, and intergenerational relationships to hair. Featuring artwork from numerous artists across Canada including, Audie Murray, Becky Bair, Wally Dion, Clare Yow, Sharon Norwood, Sarindar Dhaliwal, Karin Jones, Baljit Singh, Kiranjot Kaur, and Natasha Kianipour, this exhibit allows visitors to learn, engage and reflect on the relationship between hair, culture, and oneself.

Suvi Bains hosted a Q&A discussion with featured artists Baljit Singh, Becky Bair, and Clare Yow on their personal relationship with hair, the significance of showcasing this relationship through their artwork and how they aim to tell historical, intergenerational, and personal stories through their artwork reflecting meaningful connection to hair. Singh, a Toronto-based Sikh photographer, shared her experience in capturing photographs of her family that present their Sikh identity and their sacred relationship to hair. This is seen in photographs of the family women oiling and braiding one another’s hair and family men tying their turbans, representing pride and dignity. Bair, a Toronto-based interdisciplinary Black artist, spoke about her artistic collaboration with the sun while exploring how hair embodies a personal and strong connection to Black women. This is beautifully presented in her artwork through her stylistic use of the sun shining light on hair and the viewer only being able to see the shadow of it. Yow, Vancouver-based Chinese Canadian visual artist spoke about her inspiration in creating art on the queue, a traditional hairstyle in China which ostracized Chinese labourers who came to the West from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. This is shown in her piece Saffron Coloured Sons, which challenges racist and colonial ideologies by Yow reclaiming what was used against the Chinese community.

Following the panel, guests toured the exhibition and explored the featured artwork created by the Canadian artists. After the tour, Parsi-Canadian poet Natasha Kianipour performed her poetry shedding light on the Women/Life/Freedom movement in Iran. She performed one of her many critically acclaimed poems: “Wanders through her hair each strand sings songs of freedom. For future daughters who should have the ability to be carefree. Let us come together for our Queendom.” The inspiring and moving performance by Kianipour made a great impact on the many guests.

The Surrey Art Gallery’s exhibition of un/tangling, un/covering, un/doing curated by Associate Curator, Suvi Bains, is an intimate, educational, and inspiring exhibit that many guests can relate, reflect and learn from.