Surrey, BC: Surrey Art Gallery will be hosting Everyday Monuments Panel Discussion and Book Launch that takes place Saturday, November 4 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Canadian born Artist Keerat Kaur, curator Keith Wallace, executive director of Chetna Organization Jai Birdi, and scholar Satwinder Bains will be present for the discussion. Admission is free.
The panel discussion will focus on the rooftop sculptures found in many Punjab villages and are the main subject of this photographic project by Mumbai-based photographer Rajesh Vora. The conversation will address some of the subjects and themes of the newly published catalogue Rajesh Vora: Everyday Monuments—The Rooftop Sculptures of the Punjab and related exhibition Rajesh Vora: Everyday Monuments that took place at Surrey Art Gallery in the spring of 2022.
For the exhibition, and related publication, Vora documented domestic sculptures mounted on rooftops in the northwestern Indian state of Punjab that tell a story of identity, diaspora, family, and culture. Made from rebar, wire mesh, cement, and paint, many of these intriguing objects serve as functional water tanks.
“Rajesh Vora has visited close to 150 Punjabi villages since 2014 to document these amazing sculptures,” noted Wallace, curator of this exhibition and contributor to the catalogue. “With Surrey being the hub of BC’s Punjabi population, Surrey Art Gallery is the natural location to exhibit his photographs.”
The publication Rajesh Vora: Everyday Monuments—The Rooftop Sculptures of the Punjab is co-published by Surrey Art Gallery and Figure 1 Publishing. The book includes writing by Satwinder Bains, Rahul Meholtra, Sajdeep Soomal, and interview between Rajesh Vora and Keith Wallace.
This event is co-presented with the South Asian Studies Institute at University of the Fraser Valley.
