{"id":556077,"date":"2026-03-23T21:29:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T21:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/556077\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T21:29:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T21:29:50","slug":"surrey-art-gallery-explores-ancestry-and-connection-through-group-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/556077\/","title":{"rendered":"Surrey Art Gallery explores ancestry and connection through group exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Part of the exhibit is Francisco Berlanga\u2019s \u201cEstrella,\u201d which features a large pi\u00f1ata. (Submitted)<\/p>\n

The Surrey Art Gallery is marking its 50th anniversary with remember the earth, remember the sky, a group exhibition that explores themes of ancestry, memory, and connection to land and environment.<\/p>\n

Curated by Alanna Edwards and on display until Sunday, the exhibit<\/a> brings together 13 artists working across mediums including painting, digital art, sound, sculpture, ceramics, and natural materials. The works reflect on personal and collective histories, spirituality, migration, and relationships to place.<\/p>\n

The exhibit was inspired in part by the poem \u201cRemember\u201d by Joy Harjo, which influenced both its title and thematic direction.<\/p>\n

The artists participating in the exhibit are q\u0313\u02b7\u0251t\u0313ic\u0313\u0251 Phyllis Atkins, Nicole Avanrenren, Amy (Yun Ru) Bao, Francisco Berlanga, Roxanne Charles, Snack Witch Joni Cheung, Cat Hart, Laura Wee L\u00e1y L\u00e1q, Aaron Moran, Ovila Mailhot, s\u026c\u0259\u0301m\u0259x\u02b7 Rain Pierre, Keysha Rivera, and Manuel Axel Strain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis exhibition is parallel to an exhibition I curated back in 2023 called Invisible Fish, also inspired by a Joy Harjo poem, with the focus on water and connections through waterways,\u201d Edwards wrote in an email statement to The Runner.<\/p>\n

She wrote that many of the artists featured in the exhibition are individuals she has worked with before.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to work with artists long-term, invested in how their practices develop and their unique viewpoints.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The exhibit features works from 13 artists. (Submitted)<\/p>\n

The exhibit also includes pieces by Salish artists from the gallery\u2019s permanent collection.<\/p>\n

Because she primarily works with children, Edwards wrote that she tried to focus on how they would experience remember the earth, remember the sky.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the works have touchable elements, and I wanted to privilege non-visual ways of experiencing art,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, before entering the exhibition visitors are welcome to smudge themselves with a smokeless smudge spray (cedar, sweetgrass, sage, and tobacco) created by local artist Deanna Miller. This can help ground people before they come into the space. We also have a reading nook with kids books, to act as a respite within the exhibition.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the featured works, \u201cEstrella\u201d by Francisco Berlanga, has a large pi\u00f1ata that references his Mexican heritage as a second-generation immigrant.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday staff lower the pi\u00f1ata and hand-rolled candies by Berlanga and his grandma come out. Visitors are welcome to take a piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to this exhibit, Edwards also curated two other exhibits to mark 50 years of the gallery: Atheana Picha: Portals and Zachery Cameron Longboy: HOST.<\/p>\n

Edwards hopes the exhibition encourages viewers of all ages to \u201cground themselves by remembering their ancestors, their connection to place, and their journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat art is everywhere and can be anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tContinue Reading<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Part of the exhibit is Francisco Berlanga\u2019s \u201cEstrella,\u201d which features a large pi\u00f1ata. (Submitted) The Surrey Art Gallery…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-556077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}