About this Event
ABOUT EXHIBITION
Latin America as a construct fulfills a modernity project to homogenize a region full of contradictions and layered histories. It is composed of a multitude of cultural, ethnic, political, social, economic, histories, and experiences, with fewer commonalities than differences. It is also a region marked by colonialism and neocolonial tendencies, continuously under threat by imperialist interests. This imposed construct is marked by centuries of violence, with the intention of erasing Indigenous presence. How can we celebrate Latin American Heritage Month in October, far away from the region, without challenging, questioning, and shifting this paradigm?
The exhibition Seeds of Our Ancestors invites viewers to question, reflect, and understand the nuances behind the construction of heritage and identity and instead seeks to draw attention to what has been ignored, erased, and neglected. The artists Hugo Bernilla and Maria Luisa de Villa search for wisdom from the land they come from, honouring Andean and Mesoamerican ancestral knowledge from those territories. Their artistic explorations and processes reclaim ancestral food technology and agricultural knowledge as critical to understand their Peruvian and Mexican identity, linking embodied memory and their connection to land. Celebrating and honoring millennial knowledge as integral and living within their own identities and heritage, these artists develop an aesthetic language that recognizes that food is heavily tied to land, memory and life.
Restoring relationships and recognizing value in Indigenous knowledge from Abya Yala, these artists recover and highlight the interconnections, purposes, and relationships that thrive despite colonial and imperial attempts to deny and erase.
PROGRAMMING
Opening Reception: Thursday, Oct 1st, 5-8pm, in-person
Artist Tour with Hugo Bernilla and Maria Luisa de Villa: Saturday, Nov 14th, 3-4 pm, in-person
Curator Tour: Saturday, Nov 28th, 3-4pm, in-person
ABOUT SUR GALLERY
Sur Gallery is Toronto's first gallery space dedicated to the exhibition and critical engagement of contemporary Latinx and Latin American Art and is a project of LACAP.
IIn partnership with Hispanic Canadian Arts & Cultural Association, and Hemispheric Encounters. Sponsored by SeeThough Web, and Benjamin Moore Maple Paints & Wallpaper.
Image credit: Hugo Bernilla, The Sound of a Childhood Memory, 2026, corn flour, husk, light bulbs, speaker, steel cable. Image courtesy of the artist.
For information contact:
416-654-7787
www.surgallery.ca
www.surgalleryvirtual.ca
www.facebook.com/LACAPsurgallery
https://www.youtube.com/user/lacapcanada/videos
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday to Friday noon-6:00PM / Sat 11AM-5PM
Location: 100-39 Queens Quay East, Toronto
Sur Gallery acknowledges the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts; Ontario Arts Council; Government of Ontario; Toronto Arts Council; and The City of Toronto through section 37.
Photographs and/or video will be taken at today's event. By entering the event premises, you consent to photography, audio recording, and video recording to be used for news, promotional purposes, advertising, or social media.
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Sur Gallery, 39 Queens Quay East, Toronto, Canada
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