Keerat Kaur’s ‘If Gardens Could Dream’ at Surrey Art Gallery this summer
Published 7:30 pm Thursday, June 25, 2026
Canadian-born artist and architect Keerat Kaur is the main focus of Surrey Art Gallery exhibits and events this summer.
A solo show of hers, If Gardens Could Dream, is featured from July 4 to Aug. 30 at the gallery in Bear Creek Park, where a “Seeds of Imagination” exhibit-opening art party happens Saturday, July 11, from 6 to 9 p.m. Admission is free.
Lushness of language and nature is celebrated in Kaur’s art exhibit, curated by Suvi Bains.
“Kaur invites the viewer to consider the garden as more than a place — it becomes a living archive of memory, language and belonging,” Bains says. “Her work traces the journeys of stories, seeds and cultural knowledge across generations and geographies, reminding us that marginalized communities take root in many places while remaining connected to ancestral lands. I’m honoured to share Kaur’s work in Surrey where so many histories of migration, care, and cultural exchange continue to shape the city’s landscape.”
Kaur’s work includes painting, sculpture, digital media, embroidery, poetry and architectural forms.
If Gardens Could Dream grew from her 2023 exhibit, Panjabi Garden, featuring Panjabi and Gurmukhi scripts.
Starting July 26, Kaur’s artwork is also featured in a Symbol Harvesting digital-art show at UrbanScreen, at Surrey Civic Plaza, translating imagery from a three-foot-wide acrylic painting with hand embroidery and beading.
At Surrey Art Gallery for a Family Art Party on July 18 from 1 to 5 p.m., Kaur will be in the Studio Theatre between 2 and 2:30 p.m. for an interactive story time and reading.
On July 30, Kaur will lead a tour of her exhibition in Punjabi during Surrey Art Gallery Association’s Thursday Artist Talk, 7 p.m. start.
In a 35-minute video posted to Surrey Art Gallery’s Youtube channel, viewers are invited to step inside Kaur’s world of creativity.
A connection between language, memory and the natural world involves one of Kaur’s most cherished symbols, the pomegranate.
“I have had a lifelong attachment to this fruit as it was a delicacy during my visits to India,” she says. “Upon seeing a pomegranate, my synesthetic interpretation is of maroon rubies surrounded by a crimson marble encasing” — a resemblance to stones and minerals symbolizing both opulence and fortitude, qualities that resonate throughout her work.
Also featured at Surrey Art Centre is ARTS 2026, the Arts Council of Surrey’s annual juried exhibition, with prizes awarded in five categories. See painting, sculpture, photography, digital, new media and other works until Aug. 1.