Colours of sacredness might summon mystical visuals of gilded religious texts or richly decorated places of worship, but for hannah_g, its hues are all around us.
Galerie Buhler Gallery in St. Boniface Hospital opened What Colour is the Sacred? on Sept. 17. The multi-media show features paintings, sculptures, photographs and more by 20 contributors to explore the hues, textures and forms of sacredness.
As a curator of the gallery since 2022, hannah_g explained that the exhibition is derived from a book of the same name by the anthropologist Michael Taussig, but also from her experience working in a gallery within a hospital.
“Sacredness is something which I think about quite a lot,” she said. “Because we’re located in St. Boniface Hospital, there are so many small and very big sacred moments that happen.” She described transient scenes like someone helping a stranger with their walker, but also life-altering events like childbirth and death.
Despite the theme, the exhibition is secular, inviting visitors to contemplate the sacred beyond the bounds of religious traditions. Among the works displayed is a photograph of local drag queen Anita Stallion by Vi Houssin. The drag queen has raised a substantial amount for local charities, said the curator.
“[Stallion] creates a lot of community, a lot of care, a lot of love and support. And I think having a solid, supportive community that’s grounded in love and respect is a sacred thing. But initially, you may not think that a drag queen might have a connection with sacredness,” she commented.
Another photograph is “The Ice Cream Man” by Karen Asher, which shows a joyous man wearing a nasal cannula and holding an ice cream cone. The man’s identity and story are undisclosed.
“[Asher] has managed to catch this moment really beautifully in this picture of a joie de vivre, of this fleeting moment,” the curator said.
“The fact that the ice cream is nearly finished, that it’s melting, that it’s ephemeral […] can be a symbol of how transient these things are, and how valuable they are, how we should, hopefully […] pay attention to them.”
There is also a “Hope Tree” in the gallery where visitors can write their hopes on cards and tie them onto a suspended piece of bark. The hopes will be read aloud at the end of the exhibition and burned in the hospital’s back garden.
The gallery was founded in 2007 to address the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of patients, staff and community members at St. Boniface Hospital. hannah_g also noted that many visitors are patients, and there are staff members who come to play the piano in the gallery.
She hopes people will find their own shade of sacredness by connecting with the pieces.
“Often people come into this gallery because they need a quiet space. Something intense is happening in their life,” she said. “I think art galleries are sacred spaces, and so by coming in here, the hope is that people can make a connection which is meaningful for them.”
“It’s not a place of provocation. It’s a place of contemplation and imagination.”
What Colour is the Sacred? concludes on Nov. 26. Visit galeriebuhlergallery.ca for more information.
