Tiffin Talk: Reclaiming the Bloom: Pattern, Myth, and the Feminine
Sunday, July 12th, 2026
Ocean Artworks Pavillion
1531 Johnston St
Vancouver
BC V6H 3S6
Doors: 11:30am
Talk and Lunch: 12:00pm-2:00pm
Accessibility Information:
For information about seating, parking, washrooms, and other accessibility information see Ocean Artworks Pavilion Accessibility Page.
Floral motifs are, in many South Asian contexts, carriers of memory, sites of cultural knowledge, and an aesthetic practice of connection to land.
Keerat Kaur and Manjot Kaur reflect on their relationships with the natural world, and how they as artists work with floral imagery and botanical patterning as a form of reclamation. In this talk, they explore how recurring floral patterns become sites of reflection, reclamation, and renewal. By weaving plant forms with narratives of femininity, care, and embodiment, the artists consider relationships between people, land, and living.
This talk will be moderated by Jas Lally.
MAJOR PARTNER
SERIES SUPPORTING PARTNER
about the artists
Keerat Kaur
Keerat Kaur is a Canadian artist of Sikh-Panjabi heritage and a background as a licensed architect (OAA). Her ever-evolving multidisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture, writing, music, public art, and architecture. Rooted in the written word, her work weaves narrative and symbolism to explore themes of nature and spirituality, drawing deeply from Indic philosophies. In 2022, she self-published Panjabi Garden, a nature-inspired, illustrated Panjabi language-learning book that brings together her love of design, illustration, and language.
Educated in French Immersion, she speaks Panjabi, French, and Hindi, and is currently studying the Shahmukhi script and the Braj language. She holds a BA from Western University (2012) and a Master of Architecture from the University of Toronto (2016), and continues to expand her practice through formal training in Indian Classical Music (Dhrupad and Khayaal) and traditional Pahari painting.
Manjot Kaur
Manjot Kaur’s drawings, paintings, and Time-based media attempt to de-patriarch-ize the sovereignty of ecology and women’s bodies. She cross-pollinates ancient mythologies and histories to reflect on the relationship between humans and more than humans. Her works delve deep into intimate worlds encompassing the anthropology of wonder and awe, proposing narratives that imagine a multi-species future, by responding to ecological grief and loneliness through acts of care and kinship.
Manjot has received many prestigious grants and fellowships such as The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard University, Cambridge, USA in March - April 2023; Sustaina India Fellowship at CEEW (Council on Energy, Environment and Water) and Generator Art Production Fund grant from Experimenter Gallery, India in 2022.
Jas Lally
Jas Lally is a curator, art historian, and community builder with over a decade of experience working across the arts. She is currently Assistant Curator at the Surrey Art Gallery and serves as Board Chair of the Punjabi Market Collective. Her previous roles include positions with Capture Photography Festival, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Contemporary Art Gallery.
Lally has also contributed to the arts community through board service with the Richmond Art Gallery Association and the Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver. She has delivered public art tours for the cities of Richmond and New Westminster, helping audiences engage more deeply with artworks in public spaces. Grounded in engagement, her curatorial practice focuses on supporting and fostering meaningful connections between artists, audiences, and community.