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Resonant Bodies

Bold white sans-serif text outlined in black outlines exhibition title, artist, and duration in front of an image of cedar wood. The background is blurry while a piece of cedar in focus at bottom right clearly shows wood grain patterns.

Exhibition Title: Resonant Bodies

Artist: Naomi Watkins

Opening: Saturday September 26, 5-7 PM

Exhibition Dates: September 26 - November 21, 2026

Resonant Bodies explores the intersections of displacement, reconnection, and the inherent animacy of more-than-human beings. Naomi Watkins is from the Secwépemc nation, from BC’s southern interior. Their work challenges anthropocentric perspectives on belonging, aiming to spark critical dialogue regarding identity, revealing that our sense of place is a collaborative experience shaped by both human history and the living landscapes we inhabit.

To encounter the contemporary Indigenous experience through the lens of a two-spirit Secwépemc artist raised away from unceded homelands is to confront the geography of proximal displacement. In this exhibition, spatial dislocation is not merely charted along the asphalt highway connecting the urban sprawl of Vancouver to the inland rivers of Kamloops; it resides in the subtle, enduring friction between presence and absence, ancestral memory and diaspora.

Watkins reflects:

“While working with these cedar beings, I became more and more attentive to the offcuts and natural forms that emerged from carving, noticing that they seemed to speak for themselves when I worked alongside them rather than carving something representational. This became part of a larger process of figuring myself out and returning to the stories and relationships that shaped me while growing up away from my nation. Through these gestures, I have found an intimate threshold that I want to linger within–a space where I can consider proximity, displacement and belonging while being generative and careful.

These works are an attempt to remain open to that learning and to the ancestral stories resting within cedar grain, moving through green-hued lakes and carried across each limb of sand. In this way, Resonant Bodies offers a continued gesture outward: a call to keep listening, keep learning and keep returning to the relationships that make this connection and care possible.”

Please note: For Low-sensory Thursday on October 1, there may be residual scents from smudging, but no other scent or particulate advisories for the rest of the show. Masks mandatory throughout for all Low-sensory Thursdays.

About the Artist:

Naomi Watkins laying on their back in the grass with a black shirt, hat and sunglasses, with foliage in the background.

Photo credit: Pip Mamo, 2025

Naomi Watkins (they/them) is a 2S Secwépemc interdisciplinary artist from Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc. Through peripatetic and land-based methods, they reflect on how personal and ancestral displacement and reconnection shapes our relationship to place, aiming to create spaces of belonging.

They hold an MFA (2025) and BFA (2023) from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, supported by a SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship. Their work has been exhibited at the Museum of Vancouver and Polygon Gallery.

Learn more by visiting naomiwatkins.com or check out Watkins’ Instagram @naomiwatkinsva

About the Curator:

Daina Warren (she/her) is a member of the Montana Cree First Nation in Maskwacis, Alberta. She holds a BFA from ECU and an MA from the University of BC. Warren completed Canada Council curatorial residencies at grunt gallery and the National Gallery of Canada, participated in the 2015–2017 International First Nations Curators Exchange, and earned both the 2018 Hnatyshyn Foundation Award for Curatorial Excellency and the Manitoba Art Council’s Award of Distinction. She was the Director of Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art Gallery (2011–2022), and is now an independent curator and Director of Setting Sun Circle in Bellingham, Washington.

Stay tuned for details regarding an artist talk on October 18!

Digital programming:

Current digital assets such as the curatorial essay, visual descriptions of the work, and the transcripts for the video and creative access audio tour can be found on the Resonant Bodies – Audio Description and Transcripts page.

Creative Access Audio Tour

Site map:

A PDF containing art work titles and materials. A tactile map has been created and is available at grunt gallery. Information about the 2D and tactile maps are available within the Creative Access Audio Tour and were used as a reference tool for self-guided movement through the show. Contact archives@grunt.ca to learn more about the tactile map.

Virtual Walkthrough:

Shrines and Rituals

A composite image comprised of Arjun Lal wearing an inflated latex cow costume in front of a green grass field filled with sheep. In the far distance is a bright blue sky with white clouds over a mountain filled with lush foliage and a white, blue, and red apartment building at left. Arjun’s upper body is in frame and they have a neutral face expression as they stick their tongue out. Arjun’s face is partially discernable at the centre of a large headpiece with two large eye holes and a semi-sheer clear latex used that alludes to the lower half of their face. They have dark hair and brown skin. The costume is primarily made of white latex with two long black, gold capped horns at top and an ear at either side of the head. The white latex body piece is like a tank top with a high scoop neckline, Arjun’s shoulders are exposed. Bold white sans-serif text outlined in black reads, “Shrines and Rituals, Arjun Lal, June 18 to August 1, 2026. grunt gallery’s logo appears in white at bottom right.]

Exhibition Title: Shrines and Rituals

Artist: Arjun Lal.

Opening: Thursday, June 18 | 6pm to 8pm.

Exhibition Dates: June 18 to August 1, 2026.

By intersecting themes of contemporary queer pop culture, Indian iconographies, and Arjun Lal’s own lived experiences and future fantasies, Shrines and Rituals is a speculation on post-colonial world-building through the medium of textiles, sculpture, performance and photography. From the perspective of a second-generation member of Indian Diaspora, Lal reimagines ways of existing through characters, dress and environments. In referencing symbolism and deities from Indian iconographies, such as Kali, the goddess of death and rebirth, Lal opens a portal to dream up what queerness, kink, culture and spirituality can be; sacred, authentic, and new.

Lal reflects on inspirations for Shrines and Rituals:

Role-play is everywhere—in gestures, in touch, in exchanged power, and in the boundaries we maintain. I am fascinated by the roles we inhabit—whether inherited, assigned, assumed, or chosen. These roles reveal the subtle, often unspoken performances that shape desire, intimacy, and social life. Some roles exist as rigid binaries, particularly in intimate relationships: top, bottom, dominant, submissive, active, passive, husband, or wife. Others are embedded in broader society: teacher, student, parent, security guard, tax-collector, or oppressor. 

I have invested in the roles of “gay man” and “queer non-binary person”—it’s what I know how to be. Though I wonder what it would be like to be something else and how that might impact my experience of sensation. The more I feel — the more I feel alive.

Throughout my life, I have moved through many roles, alongside others performing theirs, a continuous choreography of expectation, negotiation, and consent. When roles harden—when I am trapped in one, or others cling too tightly to theirs—sensation becomes constricted, reduced to the repetitions of role-specific instructions. While I am alive, I want to feel as much as possible, to inhabit the fullness of experience. I wonder: do repeated sensations disintegrate, intensify, or peak?

I am compelled by the possibility of liberating, reimagining, and fluidly exchanging roles, opening wider pathways to sensation and intimacy. What new desires, pleasures, and intimacies might emerge if vulnerability, curiosity, and consent guide performance rather than hierarchy or tradition?

About the Artist:

Arjun Lal is an interdisciplinary artist based between Kjipuktuk and Berlin. Through playful and otherworldly explorations of identity, experience, and cultural trajectory, Lal uses sculpture and performance to fuel cultural critique, shifts, and possibilities for new ways of being.

In response to their experiences navigating contemporary queer culture as a person from Indian ancestry, Lal’s works are confrontational. Driven by an ongoing desire for a queerer world, his works equip audiences with symbols, colours, shapes, actions, perspective, gestures… fragments of conversations and dreams carefully assembled into social/cultural abstraction. Lal is fascinated by the roles we inhabit—whether inherited, assigned, assumed, or chosen. They explore the choreography of expectation, sensation, and liberation from the unspoken repetitions of role-specific instructions.

Visit Lal’s Instagram page @arjunlal92 here.

About the Curator:

Vance Wright (they/them) is a reconnecting two-spirit member of the Tl’azt’en Nation, and was raised on the unceded territories of the Sinixt, Okanagan and Ktunaxa  Nations in what is colonially known as Nelson BC. Currently residing in the occupied and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations in Vancouver, they are an emerging artist, curator and writer. They hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University, with a major in Critical and Cultural Practices and a minor in Curatorial Studies

This project was made possible with support from Arts Nova Scotia and Canada Council for the Arts.

Canada Council for the Arts logo. To the left of text stating "Canada Council for the Arts" is a small graphic that resembles a tree.

Arts Novia Scotia logo with plain black text on a white background.

Programming:

Shrines and Rituals Performance by Arjun Lal.

Saturday, June 20th, 11:30am to 1pm.

“I have been practicing improvisation as a tool for future speculation. Meditating, relaxing, and allowing my mind and body to wander into mysterious spaces where pathways appear and disappear. I find it easy to get lost and I don’t mind this feeling. For when I am surrounded in the darkness of my mind I can start searching again for a pathway towards something I don’t know.” – Arjun Lal

Curious about practicing improvisation as a tool for future speculation? Current exhibiting artist, Arjun Lal invites attendees to a satsang and soundbath to meditate, relax, and let their mind wander into the mysterious spaces where pathways appear and disappear. To Arjun, inhabiting the sometimes quieter, vast empty parts of the mind can allow more flexibility to find a pathway that isn’t regularly apparent, perhaps leading to a realization previously unknown.

The event will be seated, there will be an amp with mid-level noise, and free earplugs will be provided. Please feel free to bring your own cozy comfort items.

Reserve your spot by emailing vance@grunt.ca

Digital programming:

Current digital assets such as the curatorial essay, visual descriptions of the work, and the transcripts for the video and creative access audio tour can be found on the Shrines and Rituals – Audio Description and Transcripts page.

Creative Access Audio Tour

Site map:

A PDF containing art work titles and materials. Two tactile maps have been created and are available at grunt gallery. Information about the 2D and tactile maps are available within the Creative Access Audio Tour and were used as a reference tool for self-guided movement through the show. Contact archives@grunt.ca to learn more about the tactile map.

Virtual Walkthrough:

As In a Body

Promotional image for “As In a Body” indigenous artist group exhibition at grunt gallery. Bold white text outlined in black provides the exhibition name, dates, participating artists, opening reception date and time available in the caption of this post. grunt gallery, the Aboriginal Gathering Place and Emily Carr University’s logos appear at bottom. The background is a landscape image still from Sydney Frances Pascal’s film “we go two deer mom“, featuring a sky filled with clouds and land comprised of many trees at bottom. Overlaid is a black illustration by Whess Harman featuring an energetic scene with many figures performing while singing and playing instruments. Their faces are abstracted, with formline shapes being used as eyes, such as ovoids or S-shapes.Two people visible above the mountainscape background at right sing into a share microphone with eyes peacefully closed. One wears a scarf with a keffiyeh pattern. At left a person smiles while holding an electric guitar overhead. They wear a tanktop with writing stating, “unrepentantly transgender”. Stylized s-shapes radiate from the band members in jagged energetic lines above them, denoting loud sounds or quick movement.

Exhibition Title: As In a Body

Artist: Whess Harman, Kwiigay iiwaans, Sydney Pascal, and Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun.

Opening: Opening Thursday, April 23 from 6pm to 8pm.

Exhibition Dates: April 23 - May 30, 2026.

As In a Body brings together work by Urban Indigenous artists Whess Harman, Kwiigay iiwaans, Sydney Pascal, and Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun, exploring their communities, connections to land, sustenance, and other embodied experiences, spanning sound, drawing, sculpture, film and installation. Sweating together in a mosh pit as joyous refusal, negotiating language pronunciation with a vocalizer, conjuring home while holding the grief of environmental collapse, reclaiming cultural knowledge via repurposed pizza boxes; the works in this show are a rousing response to the complexities of living in this time and place together.

In conjunction with Somewhere We Have Travelled, an exhibition celebrating the centennial anniversary of Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU) as well as the long history of Indigenous students attending the school, grunt gallery presents this group show of four Indigenous artists who have connections to both ECU and our gallery. Co-curated by Katrina Orlowski and Vance Wright.

 

About the Artists:

Whess Harman (he/they) is a member of the Carrier Wit’at Nation, a nation amalgamated by the federal government under the Lake Babine Nation and currently resides on the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. He doesn’t like cops and believes in land sovereignty for Indigenous peoples across the globe, including Palestine. In his arts practice he works primarily in drawing, text and textiles. As an independent curator and occasional editor and contributor of art publications, they prioritize emerging queer and BIPOC cultural workers and artists. While working through many mediums, Whess is often working through ideas of resistance, and works from the foundation of his identity as a queer, trans member of Carrier Wit’at nation living away from his territories. They position their Indigeneity as both a cultural and spiritual reality, as well as a political identity. He seeks liberated futures alongside the many others who share rage and despair in the face of the seemingly unrelenting shit-storm of empire building. Learn more about Harman by visiting his website at www.whessharman.com

Kwiigay iiwaans (they/them) is a queer disabled multidisciplinary artist from the Haida, Squamish, and Musqueam nations. They explore decolonial 2SQTIBIPOC futurisms through mediums of electronic music, illustration, formline design, beadwork, and animation. They are a committed language learner of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim and X̱aad kíl, the Squamish and Haida languages. They live and work in X̱epx̱ápay̓ay, Vancouver, BC. Visit www.kwiigay.com to learn more about iiwaans.

Sydney Frances Pascal (she/her) is a member of Lil’wat nation. She is currently living and working on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.

Her multi-disciplinary practice includes hide tanning, video, sound, beadwork and poetry. She uses her practice to tell her family’s story, speak about identity and what it is like navigating as an Indigenous person within a colonial society. Her work over the past few years is grounded by her continued connection to land-based material practices. Learn more about Pascal at sydneyp.ca. (Image by Perrin Grauer)

Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun (he/they) is a Coast Salish and Nuu Chah Nulth artist and storyteller from the Snuneymuxw First Nation. His family has roots in Penelakut, Hupacasath and further abroad up and down the Northwest Coast.

His interdisciplinary art practice is rooted in honouring and celebrating the teachings and stories passed down by his family, community, and culture. His practices include digital art, painting, sculpture, creative writing, public installation, and curation.

He currently resides on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ peoples. Learn more about Eliot at www.kwulasultun.com . (Image courtesy of Julie Chadwick)

Here/After, Amulets in Ritual

At top, a textile work in traditional Palestinian Tatreez is displayed. The embroidery is stitched onto black aida cloth using colourful threads. A grid of squares and diamonds in alternating rows is featured, each square is embroidered with small colourful diamonds at its centre, and each diamond shape is paired with a neutral-toned cypress wood insert. Small cypress wood diamonds hang and cast shadows on a white background towards header text at centre. Bold black text states the title of the exhibition of Rawan Hassan’s solo exhibition, Here/After, Amulets in Ritual. Below is a large block of different grey tones making up a fibrous texture. White bold sans-serif text is layed upon this texture below the title of the exhibition and details of artist and curator name are displayed.

Exhibition Title: Here/After, Amulets in Ritual

Artist: Rawan Hassan.

Opening: Friday, February 6 | 6pm to 8pm.

Exhibition Dates: February 6 to March 21, 2026.

In Rawan Hassan’s solo exhibition, Here/After, Amulets in Ritual, she confronts the tenuous connection to hope in the face of the ongoing violent occupation in her homeland through a new series of tatreez-based work. These new works, a collection using protective amulet designs, moves stitch-by-stitch to close the gaps between acts of rebellion and fills the pauses with an invitation to convene together in the overwhelming limbo of distance and waiting for liberation. This exhibition does not argue the need and worth of protecting loved ones and instead Hassan imbues these pieces with a belief that beyond the Israeli occupation of Palestine, there is a deserving and unbound future for the Palestinian people that has always been worth fighting for, however you can, from wherever you are. “Every night I woke up in 1-to-2-hour intervals to check the news, methodical in witnessing all the horrors that I was shamefully sleeping through. A witnessing that sunk one’s belief in humanity. A witnessing that repeated the horrors into a compounding nightmare. A witnessing that attempted to crush hope that has been passed down generationally. And yet, amongst the unbelievable despair that came from it all, I continued making; searching for a lifeline to keep sustaining myself, a space to safely cry into, a home to build from and create, came a prayer. Cross-stitching amulet symbols of protection, repeatedly created a realm to feel as close to home, Palestine, as one can; a prayer. Not an escape from reality but rather an acknowledgement of what was happening with a thread of held hope. Making a vision of where we will be in the future, a home with liberation held within us. A prayer stitched in, a prayer repeated – we are still here.” – Rawan Hassan

 

About the artist:

Rawan Hassan (she/her) is an interdisciplinary visual artist based on the unceded and unsurrendered land of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, colonially known as “Vancouver”. Her works explore the complex relationship between preserving and evolving Palestinian craft traditions, such as tatreez (embroidery). She explores materials that embody the questions of what was and what could possibly be through textile-based artworks and drawings. Her hope, is that her practice might open up the conversations on Palestinian identity, grief, resilience, resistance against erasure, ongoing occupation, colonization and potential forms of Palestinian futurism. Learn more about Hassan by visiting her Instagram page @oddbiscuit

 

About the curator:

Whess Harman (he/they) is a member of the Carrier Wit’at Nation, a nation amalgamated by the federal government under the Lake Babine Nation and currently resides on the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. He doesn’t like cops and believes in land sovereignty for Indigenous peoples across the globe, including Palestine. In his arts practice he works primarily in drawing, text and textiles. As an independent curator and occasional editor and contributor of art publications, they prioritize emerging queer and BIPOC cultural workers and artists. While working through many mediums, Whess is often working through ideas of resistance, and works from the foundation of his identity as a queer, trans member of Carrier Wit’at nation living away from his territories. They position their Indigeneity as both a cultural and spiritual reality, as well as a political identity. He seeks liberated futures alongside the many others who share rage and despair in the face of the seemingly unrelenting shit-storm of empire building. Learn more about Harman by visiting his website at www.whessharman.com  

 

  Cover image of magazine or zine cover on a dark, patterned brown background. At the center is a folded cream-colored paper, divided into four triangle sections by X-shaped creases. Orange thread is tied at the center, forming a plus sign. Inside the triangles are partial images bordered by geometric motifs. Bold white text at the top and bottom reads: “dearer than a treasure اغلى من كنز zine launch. Wednesday, February 18 at grunt gallery. Doors 5:30pm, Artist Talk 6pm. Rawan Hassan and Moniker Press with Whess Harman moderating.“

dearer than a treasure اغلى من كنز zine launch with Rawan Hassan and Moniker Press.

Moderated by Whess Harman. Wednesday, February 18. Doors – 5:30pm, Artist Talk – 6pm!

Join us on Wednesday, February 18th, to celebrate the launch of dearer than a treasure اغلى من كنز, a zine by Rawan Hassan in collaboration with Moniker Press. Doors open at 5:30pm, and don’t miss the 6pm talk with Hassan and Erica Wilk (Moniker Press), moderated by Whess Harman.

This event is in conjunction with our current exhibition Here/After, Amulets in Ritual by Rawan Hassan, curated by Whess Harman, on view until March 21st. Hassan’s exhibition Dearer Than a Treasure, presented by Artspeak and curated by Jade Ariana, is on view now at 320 Carrall Street until February 28th.  

Pre-order your copy now!

Digitized Programming:

To access the curatorial essay, object description and other transcripts from our current exhibition, visit the exhibition access resources page.

Creative access audio tour:

Site map:

A PDF containing art work titles and materials. Two tactile maps have been created and are available at grunt gallery. Information about the 2D and tactile maps are available within the Creative Access Audio Tour and were used as a reference tool for self-guided movement through the show. Contact archives@grunt.ca to learn more about the tactile map.

 

Virtual Walkthrough:

Where Mountain Cats Live

Exhibition Title: Where Mountain Cats Live

Artist: Jenie Gao.

Opening: Thursday, December 4 | 6 PM to 8 PM.

Exhibition Dates: December 4 to January 17, 2026.

Where Mountain Cats Live is a lush invitation for strengthening community bonds, while acknowledging the precarity that we often build our roots upon. Via table-based installation, prints, and accompanying artist’s books, artist Jenie Gao collapses layers of global and local colonization, childhood memories, and familial narratives of home, displacement, and perseverance, embedded in individual objects.  The centrepiece of this exhibition is the iconic ‘lazy Susan’ table, a post-colonial innovation emblematic of Chinese American and Canadian restaurants. The table features hand-carved images of rabbits and cats in a cyclical chase, from a story that Gao’s mother tells of her bravery while facing ‘mountain lions’ outside her childhood home on a mountainside in Keelung, Taiwan. The work captures a moment when a mother’s stories are suspended between a child’s imagination and an elder’s recollection, and as Gao deals with their present-day dilemmas: the predatory realtors encroaching upon their mother’s home in rural Kansas, increasing pollution and land destruction, and the stubborn resilience of native flora and fauna that nevertheless persist and return. Where Mountain Cats Live is an investigation of material culture, an homage to the ‘imagination of the oppressed,’ and a love letter to Jenie Gao’s mother and extended communities who, in the face of many uncertainties, maintain a sense of home. Join us for the opening reception and artist talk Thursday, December 4, from 6 pm to 8 pm and stay in the loop for a workshop announcement in relation to this exhibition by following our Instagram or Facebook page!

About the artist:

Jenie Gao (they/she) has run an anti-gentrification arts business since 2014, specializing in printmaking, public art, social practice, and community storytelling. They consult for cultural organizations and the public sector on equity and ethics. Jenie pulls from experiences as a person of Taiwanese-Chinese heritage and a descendant of working-class immigrants. Prior to founding their business, Jenie worked in the museum industry, public education, and lean manufacturing. Through their cross-section of experiences, Jenie has become attuned to issues of artists’ labour, cultural power, and institutional accountability. They run a paid apprenticeship program and have thus far mentored 25 emerging artists. Jenie has a BFA in Printmaking/Drawing from Washington University in St. Louis and an MFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Their work is in 40 institutional collections including Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Princeton University, Cornell University, Stanford University, and the Library of Congress. Their recent exhibits include Museum of Wisconsin Art, Trout Museum of Art, Burnaby Village Museum, Cedarburg Museum, and South Bend Museum of Art. Their work has been included in publications such as PBS, Shoutout LA, and Fête Chinoise. Their art residencies include Women’s Studio Workshop in Kingston, New York; Art in the Park with Vancouver Board of Parks & Recreation: Decolonization, Art, & Culture; Ma’s House in the Shinnecock Reservation in Southampton, New York; Iowa Lakeside Laboratory in Okoboji, Iowa; the Bubbler at Madison Public Library in Madison, Wisconsin; Artist Campaign School in Chicago, Illinois; Proyecto’ace in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Museo de Arte Moderno in Chile. They are a TEDx Madison speaker and gave a talk entitled The Power and Purpose of Creativity. Jenie Gao is the recently appointed Executive Director of Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. They live on the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.

Learn more about Jenie by visiting their:

Website at jenie.org

Instagram at instagram.com/jeniegao

Facebook at facebook.com/jeniesart

Bluesky at bsky.app/profile/jeniegao.bsky.social

 

Digitized Programming:

Creative access audio tour:

 

 

Site map:

A PDF containing art work titles and materials. Two tactile maps have been created and are available at grunt gallery. Information about the 2D and tactile maps are available within the Creative Access Audio Tour and were used as a reference tool for self-guided movement through the show. Contact archives@grunt.ca to learn more about the tactile map.

 

Virtual Walkthrough:

A volar entre rocas

On an orange background, bold white sans-serif text outlined in black communicates exhibition details of name, artist, and opening/closing dates. Below the text, a landscape image features a wall comprised primarily of dark grey rocks. The dark grey rocks may be lava rocks, and intermingled among them are a few lighter rocks and numerous orange-brown bricks in a large concentric formation, outlining the arc created by intersecting windows at the top left of this wall image. There are some plants visible at bottom right. Moss appears behind green leaves that contain white striations throughout, which contrast starkly with the green.

Exhibition Title: A volar entre rocas

Artist: Mariana Muñoz Gomez.

Opening: Thursday, September 18 | 6 PM to 8 PM.

Exhibition Dates: September 18 to November 1, 2025..

A volar entre rocas is an intimate processing of self, relation to place, and migration. Aspects of memory and home are raised alongside questions about land, place, and power. Mariana Muñoz Gomez brings their two homes on opposite ends of Turtle Island into relation with one another through an engagement with the natural and social histories surrounding Tyndall stone and volcanic rock as vessels of time, embodiments of movement, witnesses to history, and links between distant places. A volar entre rocas compares and contrasts experiences and knowledge surrounding the artist’s two homes by exploring feelings derived from diaspora, including considerations of memory, movement, reaching, and belonging. Mariana developed this body of work through what they describe as a diasporic introspection: noticing when experiences in one home reminded them of another; spending time with photographs, videos, memories; and researching their homeland on the internet. This exhibition is supported by the Manitoba Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.

About the artist:

Mariana Muñoz Gomez (they/them) is a Mexican artist, writer, and curator based in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Treaty 1 Territory. Their art practice is often lens-based, involving a variety of media including text, screen prints, video art, and photography. Their practice explores place, identity, and language, and how these topics intersect with coloniality, temporality, and relationality. Mariana has been involved with various Winnipeg collectives and they are currently a managing co-editor of Carnation Zine. They were longlisted for the New Generation Photography Award in 2023. Visit Mariana’s website at www.marianamunoz.ca  See below for associated programming, including an open call for a two-day workshop with paid honorarium for BIPOC, a gathering “Calling Creatives de las Américas and the Caribbean”, and an artist talk!

Open Call – Applications due Thursday, September 11, 2025, 9AM (PDT).

  This graphic promotes an open call for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Colour) to apply to participate in a 2-day workshop ran by Mariana. There is a dark purple banner at top and a lighter lavender purple space at centre upon which informational text and logos appear, with two photos at bottom. Bold white text at top upon the dark purple banner states the title of the workshop, “Processing Relationships to Place with Mariana Muñoz Gomez.” Black text below appears on the light lavender background reading, “2-day workshop for BIPOC with $150 paid honorarium per participant! September 19 and 20, 2025 at the Aboriginal Gathering Place (AGP), 520 E 1st Ave, Vancouver. Apply and view more information at the link in our bio!” Below text are three logos in black representing the Manitoba Arts Council, The Aboriginal Gathering Place, and the Canada Council for the Arts. The photo at bottom left is of a snow covered landscape at sunset in which a series of small shrubs in a straight diagonal line lead to a bridge and a few high rise buildings in the background. There is a large metal rectangular object in the foreground at left and the clear sky at top is a gradient of orange to blue as the sun appears behind some trees at right. The photo at bottom right shows sunlight peeking through foliage comprised of small green leaves and bright pink flowers. There is a bright blue sky and electrical lines visible at top.

Processing Relationships to Place with Mariana Muñoz Gomez.

Friday, September 19 | 2 PM to 4 PM.

Saturday, September 20 | 12 PM to 1 PM.

At the Aboriginal Gathering Place located at 520 E 1st Ave, Vancouver / Emily Carr University of Art and Design. 2-DAY WORKSHOP OPEN CALL for BIPOC with paid honorarium,

Applications are now closed.

Participants will join Winnipeg-based artist Mariana Muñoz Gomez in practicing expressing their relationships to place through writing and drawing. A selection of texts, videos, and other artworks will be shared with participants to explore in advance of the workshop starting. During the workshop, these materials will be discussed together and prompts created and received for the purpose of creating writings and drawings, which may be done independently between workshop sessions.

This workshop is open to individuals identifying as Black, Indigenous, and/or people of colour. With the intention of facilitating this workshop as a collaborative learning space, each participant selected for this two-day workshop will be paid an honorarium of $150 CAD. Applications will be reviewed and participants selected by Mariana and Audrey Siegl, with the aims of sharing decision-making and de-centering a settler perspective. We extend our thanks to Musqueam artist and activist Audrey Siegl for her consulting and for providing an opening for this workshop. 

Please note that masks will be required and provided at the workshop however, attendees will be served refreshments and masks will be taken off occasionally.

AGP ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION

The AGP is mobility device accessible. There is a ramp to the left of the main/front entrance of Emily Carr University. The front doors have large buttons that may be pressed to open the front entrance doors automatically. Once inside, there is open space to navigate freely with a mobility device, and the floor is flat, polished cement. Take the first right after entering via the front doors of Emily Carr University and continue straight. The AGP entrance is two large double doors and will appear at left, after the cafeteria area.

There are single-stall non-gendered bathrooms across from the cafeteria, one of which is mobility device accessible. There are two more mobility device accessible bathrooms in gendered washrooms next door to the AGP as well.

Do you have further questions or access needs? Please email Sydney at spascal@ecuad.ca.

A volar entre rocas and related programming are presented by grunt gallery and supported by the Manitoba Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. This event is presented in partnership with the Aboriginal Gathering Place, Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Events

Bold white sans-serif font outlined in a dark red-brown promotes Mariana’s artist talk with details of date, time, and location included in the caption of this post. At the very bottom is smaller text reading, “Presented with support from the” above a series of white logos including the Aboriginal Gathering Place, grunt gallery, the Manitoba Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts. The background is an orange wall brightly lit in a gallery space with a worn wood floor and white trim. On the gallery floor at bottom, are single Tyndall stones located at left, and right. They appear to have a warm beige colour. On the orange wall background at the right of centre frame, is a square image featuring a wall made up of dark grey stones with leafy plants including a pink flower There is a red-brown brick floor in the image’s background. This photo of Mariana Muñoz Gomez’s work was taken by Darren Rigo.]

Artist Talk with Mariana Muñoz Gomez.

Friday, September 19 | 12 PM to 1 PM.

Join us at the Aboriginal Gathering Place located on the main floor of Emily Carr University of Art and Design at 520 E 1st Ave! Please email Sydney at spascal@ecuad.ca. to coordinate access needs or ask questions.   A promotional graphic for a casual gathering at grunt gallery hosted by Mariana. A bold orange banner at top with white text states the event’s title, “Calling Creatives de las Américas and the Caribbean.” There is a small area of orange background at top and a large area of yellow below the orange banner. Black text appears on the yellow background outlining details of time and location included in the caption of this post with additional information reading, “You’re invited to a gathering at grunt gallery! No RSVP required. Snacks and great company provided. At bottom three logos appear. grunt gallery’s logo appears in white to the left of the Manitoba Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts logo in black. At top right, an outline of the world map representation of South America, the Caribbean islands, and Central America including Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama appears in a brown colour.

Calling Creatives de las Américas + the Caribbean.

Wednesday, September 24 | 5 PM to 7 PM.

At grunt gallery. #116–350 East 2nd Avenue, Vancouver. Interested in questioning popular notions of “Latin America” and latinidad, this gathering is open to artists / creatives / arts-adjacent folks who identify as having roots in the regions known as Middle America/Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. This gathering will be a low-pressure opportunity to network around our creative practices and open conversations about identity and place. Questions Mariana is interested in chatting with you about include:  💭 How do you identify? 💭 ¿Usas el término Abya Yala? 💭 Caribbean creatives, what is your relationship with the concept of “Latin America”? ¡Ahí nos vemos! No RSVP is required. Please scroll to the bottom of our website to view our space’s accessibility information in the footer section and email access@grunt.ca with any further access questions or needs. Please note that masks wil be required and provided however, attendees will be served refreshments and masks will be taken off occasionally. A volar entre rocas and related programming are supported by the Manitoba Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Digitized Programming:

Creative access audio tour:

 

Site map:

A PDF containing art work titles and materials. Two tactile maps have been created and are available at grunt gallery. Information about the 2D and tactile maps are available within the Creative Access Audio Tour and were used as a reference tool for self-guided movement through the show. Contact archives@grunt.ca to learn more about the tactile map.

Virtual Walkthrough:

Closed for Installation

grunt gallery's logo appears on a black background at top left. Below the logo, bold sans-serif font states, "Gallery closed for installation".

Exhibition Title: Closed for Installation

Artist:

Opening:

Exhibition Dates:

The gallery is currently closed as we install our upcoming exhibition. Stay tuned for details regarding Resonant Bodies, opening Saturday, September 26.

Falsework.

The image is of a person dressed in a white, puffy, protective suit sits on a white bench on a white boat, facing away from the camera during a sunny day. The boat has silver facets and posts from which a bright blue rope line is fastened around its perimeter acting as a guard rail to prevent people from falling into the surrounding water. The background is a sandy beach backed by a lush green treescape with mountains further away, the tops of which are well above the treeline. The sky at top, is a bright blue with some clouds and the under-side of a green-blue coloured metal bridge at centre cascades from the land over the boat and out of frame. Beside the person seated inside the boat is a small bottle of red Gatorade and there is red tuck tape securing the perimeter of some faces of the boat. The boat appears to be incomplete and in construction or renovation. At top left bold white sans-serif text outlined in black is backed by white rectangular banners that read “Falsework. Simon Grefiel + Kiyoshi.” In between the artist names below and underneath the Falsework title at top, plain white sans-serif text states “curated by Mitch Kenworthy.”

Exhibition Title: Falsework.

Artist: Simon Grefiel and kiyoshi.

Opening: Thursday, May 1 | 5 PM to 7 PM (no opening event).

Exhibition Dates: Running May 1 to June 14, 2025.

Falsework, curated by Mitch Kenworthy, is a collaboration between artists Simon Grefiel and kiyoshi. Guided by an ethos of care, support, and reciprocity, these artists privilege the act and process of making. Evidenced throughout their interdisciplinary practices are materials and techniques readily gleaned, appropriated, and misappropriated from the various trades and construction work they do to earn a living. For Simon and kiyoshi, artwork and the work around it are not discrete activities. In this exhibition, kiyoshi shows a scaffold platform built out of two-by-fours and plywood that he has sawed, burned, and belt sanded into a beautiful index of time and labour. A utilitarian structure, it serves as both a means to hand artwork and a stage for a performance. A plywood wall, also built by kiyoshi, frames and supports an installation of Simon’s videos. Produced by Simon while working on a predominantly Filipino crew doing maintenance and fabrication on yachts in North Vancouver, they document the tedium, camaraderie, pleasure, and beauty of working, while equally reflecting on histories and dynamics of Filipino marine labour. In grunt gallery’s media lab, the artists present an ode to the job-site break room. Provisional furniture, a TV, a casual display of artworks and texts by friends, co-workers, and collaborators creates a setting for rest and respite. Facilitating hangouts and conversations, this space emphasizes the relationships and community in which Simon and kiyoshi’s practices are invariably situated and sustained.

ABOUT:

Simon Grefiel is an artist whose work engages with ancient and colonial histories and practices from Southeast Asia and around the Pacific. Working with sculpture, found objects, drawings, and plant life, his explorations of language, dreams, spirits, familial stories and speculative narratives propose new ways of experiencing the supernatural realm and material universe. Grefiel is a Waray-Waray speaker born and raised in Tacloban City, Philippines and currently lives on the unceded traditional territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. His work has been exhibited and screened at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Ground Floor Art Centre, and Libby Leshgold Gallery in Vancouver, and Gallery TPW in Toronto, ON. Visit Grefiel’s Instagram page here: instagram.com/sa4iiii/ kiyoshi is an artist living and working on the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories, colonially known as Vancouver, British Columbia. His practice encompasses architecture, performance, woodworking, and writing. Community is central to his way of working and being, something he attributes to having spent his formative years growing up in cooperative housing. Visit kiyoshi’s Instagram page here: instagram.com/k._yo_sh.__ijiji/  Mitch Kenworthy maintains a painting practice that is vested in the daily rhythms and processes of studio work, engaging in writing and more recently, curation as adjacent modes of inquiry into doing, making, and working. He has shared texts, shown paintings, and contributed in an organizational capacity to various artist-led projects and initiatives in and around so-called Vancouver, where he resides as an uninvited guest on the unceded and stolen lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh.

Digitized Programming:

Creative Access Audio Tour:

Site map:

A PDF containing art work titles and materials. Two tactile maps have been created and are available at grunt gallery. Information about the 2D and tactile maps are available within the Creative Access Audio Tour and were used as a reference tool for self-guided movement through the show. Contact archives@grunt.ca to learn more about the tactile map.

Virtual Walkthrough:

We captured a 360 of the exhibition, but only have the rights to share 5 active shows at a time. Here is a short view of the dollhouse capture in a video. If you would like to experience our 360 capture of Falsework, please contact archives@grunt.ca

there hidden, far beneath and long ago.

This is an image promoting Moozhan Ahmadzadegan's solo art exhibition titled, "there hidden, far beneath and long ago," running from February 20 to April 5, 2025, at grunt gallery. There is an image within the top half of the frame of three intricately patterned painted carpets, rectangular in shape, mounted at slightly different heights to a white wall. Each “carpet” is composed of a different gradient background with patterns of one solid colour adorning their surface. The vertical gradient colour transitions of each “carpet” from left to right are bright yellow to teal-blue, salmon to red, and blue to pink. Each “carpet’ has six long lengths of braided rope, complimentary in colour, hanging from each “carpet” and cascading down onto a concrete floor. The ends of the braided rope meet unusually styled text stating the title of the exhibition. This text is a bold white sans serif font outlined in black with a large transparent white border that interacts with the ends of the braided rope to remove their texture and affect their colour to be more neon and vibrant. Below the exhibition title, bold white sans-serif font text outlines additional exhibition details on a black background. grunt’s logo appears in white in the bottom right corner in addition to “grunt.ca”. At the very bottom of frame, a thin border consisting of a transparent light pink rope appears.

Exhibition Title: there hidden, far beneath and long ago.

Artist: Moozhan Ahmadzadegan.

Opening: Thursday, February 20th from 6 PM to 8 PM.

Exhibition Dates: Running February 20 to April 5,2025.

Moozhan Ahmadzadegan is an artist based on the unceded and traditional territory of the Syilx Okanagan People, also known as Kelowna, BC. His artistic interests center on themes of queer culture, Iranian diaspora, and cultural in-betweenness. This spectrum of ideas serve as a point of access to deepen his understanding of contemporary social issues. Ahmadzadegan’s practice encompasses painting, screenprinting, textiles, and installation practices. Through these mediums, he investigates how we respond and engage with the colonial, social, and cultural structures that shape identity on personal, national, and public scales.

In his exhibition, there hidden, far beneath and long ago, he examines traditional Iranian art such as Persian miniatures, patterns, rugs, architecture, and poetry, and reimagines them through a queer lens. This approach symbolically carves out space for queer narratives within historically heteronormative frameworks, addressing the erasure of queer identities in various contexts. These themes resonate with the increased condemnation of queer people felt globally, including within his immediate community, in so-called Canada, and by the present government of Iran—the contemporary source of his influences.

By queering traditional Persian visuals and narratives, Moozhan reinterprets, reimagines, and reconfigures these elements to create new meanings and queer-inspired narratives. Persian carpets are reimagined through the interplay of materials, contradicting a carpet’s original intentions. A carpet is wall mounted, scaled-down through printmaking, and its tassels are elongated with 15’ rope. With no set meaning, these objects offer the potential for new narratives. As designer and architect Jaffer Kolb describes it, “[queerness is] an open mesh of possibilities, gaps, overlaps, dissonances, resonances, lapses, and excesses of meaning” (Pavka). With that in mind, Moozhan attempts to disrupt these traditional art forms and bring them into a contemporary context. there hidden, far beneath and long ago emphasizes creative play and experimentation, allowing Moozhan to move away from overtly literal interpretations and embrace fluidity. His work serves as an entry point for exploring critical dialogues surrounding queer identity, diaspora, and cultural hybridity. Through this approach, he invites viewers to engage with these themes in nuanced and open ways.

Citations:

Pavka, Evan. “What Do We Mean By Queer Space?” Azure Magazine, 29 June 2020, https://www.azuremagazine.com/article/what-do-we-mean-by-queer-space/.

This project was made possible with support from Canada Council for the Arts.

Canada Council for the Arts logo. To the left of text stating "Canada Council for the Arts" is a small graphic that resembles a tree.

 

About the Artist:

Moozhan Ahmadzadegan is an emerging artist based on the unceded and traditional territory of the Syilx Okanagan people, commonly known as the Okanagan. He received a BFA from the University of British Columbia Okanagan with a Major in Visual Arts and a Minor in Art History and Visual Culture in 2019. His work explores Iranian diasporic and queer themes, most often engaging the mediums of painting, screenprinting, textiles, and, more recently, installation practices.

Moozhan is grateful for the opportunity to work, play and create on the lands that have been tended to by the people of Sylix Okanagan Nation and to present this artwork as a guest on the lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̣wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ/selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Moozhan Ahmadzadegan’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moozhans_art/

Digitized Programming:

Creative Access Audio Tour:

Creative Access Audio Tour of the exhibition

Text transcripts and audio are available

Site map:

A PDF containing art work titles and materials. Two tactile maps have been created and are available at grunt gallery. Information about the 2D and tactile maps are available within the Creative Access Audio Tour and were used as a reference tool for self-guided movement through the show. Contact archives@grunt.ca to learn more about the tactile map.

Virtual Walkthrough:

We captured a 360 of the exhibition, but only have the rights to share 5 active shows at a time. Here is a short view of the dollhouse capture in a video. If you would like to experience our 360 capture of there hidden, far beneath and long ago, please contact archives@grunt.ca

Nee’ Shah | Our House

White bold sans-serif text outlines exhibition details on a black background. At bottom right is grunt’s logo in white. At centre, a landscape photo is featured. The image is taken from the interior of the Taathǜh, a large white canvas tent structure composed of different sizes of white and off-white weathered canvas stitched together with a variety of thread colours including black and orange. Stitched beadwork and fabric motifs adorn the tents’ walls and ceiling. Black PVC pipe with white sectioning provides a solid structure that the canvas fabric is attached to. The floor is grey polished cement with a small bright circle spotlight on the floor at centre frame, located by the front opening of the tent. The front opening is a symmetrical vertical slit with fabric cascading to the floor on both sides, forming a triangular open space for people to enter and exit the tent. The right side of fabric is tied by a black and orange material threaded through a small hole in the right wall of the tent. Visible through the tent’s opening at its front is a brightly lit gallery setting in which two people with dark bottoms and a blue and green puffer jacket stand side by side looking to the right and upwards.

Exhibition Title: Nee’ Shah | Our House

Artist: Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé.

Opening: Thursday, December 5 | 6 PM to 8 PM.

Exhibition Dates: December 5, 2024 to February 1, 2025.

CONTENT WARNING: 

This exhibition includes themes of loss, grief, mourning, and substance use. 

Hǫǫsǫǫ dìik’analta’ de’ (take care of yourself).

 

As a way to process grief and loss, Teresa Vander Meer-Chasse has created a literal and metaphorical shelter that has been reclaimed, reconstructed, and revitalized. Having found herself in deep internal conflict following the loss of yet another family member to substance use, Vander Meer-Chase invites you to enter Nee’ Shah | Our House to witness the importance of awakening sleeping materials as a method of navigating loss. Through the processing of natural materials with her family, Vander Meer-Chasse attempts to empower you to witness universal cycles of loss, grief, and mourning.



Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé reflects on the exhibition:

“Nee’ Shah | Our House began while pursuing my Masters of Fine Arts at Concordia University under the guidance and influence of my Grandma Marilyn John. The exhibition explores themes of grief, loss, and remembrance. By way of patches, I translate text I have sent to family members that I have lost or are currently experiencing substance use disorder. I do not personally experience substance use disorder; I am only a witness and a loved one to many that are experiencing or have experienced substance use disorder. Symbols, colours, and patterns that represent my Upper Tanana, Frisian, and French families and communities are present throughout the tent and act as protection, grounding, and connection. Natural materials were collected and processed collaboratively as a family and became a daily ritual in my self-growth and grief recovery.

A special tsin’’įį choh (big thank you) to everyone that has stood by my side as I grieve the recent passings of my Grandma Marilyn John, Brother Stewart Chassé, Uncle Patrick Johnny, Uncle Peter van der Meer, and Cousin Duncan Stephen.

I have been blessed with an abundance of teachers throughout my life, who share with me teachings, memories, stories, and language. This journey would not have been possible without contributors and supporters. Tsin’įį choh to my Ancestors, my family, my friends, my moosehide and fish tanning teachers, my Upper Tanana language teachers, and White River First Nation.”

 

Please note that the exhibition opening will be an alcohol-free event and a variety of non-alcoholic beverages will be available for free.

 

About the Artist:

Dineh k’èh Ddhälh kit Nelnah shǫǫsį’, nòodlèey k’èh Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé shǫǫsį’. Ts’òogot Gaay ts’änh diht’eh. Tthèe Tsa’ Niik ts’änh diht’eh. Amiskwaciy Wâskahikan dänh shih hǫǫłįį. Kwanlin dänh nìidhihshąąn. METULIYE Camosak tah huht’įįn. Shnąą Ttthìi’ Elgąy mǫǫsį’. Shnąą wunąą stsǫǫ Stsaay Ch’idzǜü’ mǫǫsì’, wunąą Nii’ii Jaiy, wunąą Laats’iih’ol, wunąą Gàan Dànihtl’įǫ. Shnąą wuta’ sts’aay Sid van der Meer moosi’. Shta’ Wilfred Chassé mǫǫsį’. Shta’ wunaa stsǫǫ Helen Chassé mǫǫsį’. Shta’ wuta’ sts’aay Louis Chassé mǫǫsį’.

Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé is a proud Niisüü Member of White River First Nation from Beaver Creek, Yukon and Alaska. She currently resides on Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ Territories in Victoria, British Columbia, although she travels home to the Yukon as often as she can. She is an Upper Tanana, Frisian, and French visual artist and curator. Her visual arts practice is invested in the awakening of sleeping materials and the reanimation of found objects that are rooted in understandings of identity. She has recently been exploring themes of grief, loss, family, community, and relationships in her installation works.

 

Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé’s Instagram page: www.instagram.com/teresasvc

Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé’s Website: www.teresavandermeerchasse.ca

Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ddhalhkitnelnah

 

Photo taken from inside of Taathǜh courtesy of Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé and Mike Thomas.

Digitized Programming:

Publication catalogue:

Designed by Vicky Lum and printed by Moniker Press, free, physical copies of the catalogue are available in the gallery while supplies last.

A PDF version with images is available to explore.
An Alternative-Text version is available to explore: Plain text, Audio.

Creative Access Audio Tour:

Transcript: HTML (open in new tab), Plain text (formatted for screen readers)

Site map:

A PDF containing art work titles and materials. This information is also available within the creative access audio tour. A tactile map was created for this exhibition and is available in gallery. For more information, contact archives@grunt.ca

Virtual Walkthrough:

We captured a 360 of the exhibition, but only have the rights to share 5 active shows at a time. Here is a short view of the dollhouse capture in a video. If you would like to experience our 360 capture of Nee’Shah|Our House, please contact archives@grunt.ca

The video is a silent pan through the show starting at the tent, installed against the west or left wall from the gallery entrance, and panning right before it flies up and shows the gallery as a “dollhouse” from above before coming back down and panning the east wall and ending looking out through the entrance windows and door.

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