SURREY, B.C. - Surrey Art Gallery will host its annual media arts symposium, Weaving with Memories, on Saturday, November 21, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Gallery, with free admission, dialogue with exhibiting artists and a hands-on artmaking activity.
The symposium, announced by the City of Surrey on Thursday, October 29, 2026, is the 18th edition of the Gallery’s annual media arts symposium. It is presented in connection with two exhibitions, In the Folds of Memory and tender threads, and is co-convened by Manjot Bains.
The afternoon begins with artist Farheen Haq, who will share a new media work in progress. The work takes inspiration from the poetic form of the Urdu ghazal and its capacity to hold difference within two lines. Haq has been studying the couplets of 19th century Indian poet Ghalib and is creating a lyrical, gestural video work that reflects on how disunity can be held together with beauty and contemplation.
Bains will then lead a panel conversation with Haq and the two artists from the tender threads exhibition, Jonathan Alfaro and Sena Cleave. The dialogue will draw on themes connected to both exhibitions and on each artist’s practice.
The afternoon closes with an artmaking activity inspired by the works of Alfaro and Cleave in tender threads. The artists will share techniques of deconstructing found fabric and weaving with organic materials, and participants will have the opportunity to create their own weaving with provided materials.
For Surrey’s South Asian community, the symposium’s opening presentation carries a particular resonance. The ghazal is a form many Punjabi and Urdu-speaking families know from poetry and song, and Ghalib’s couplets remain among the most quoted lines in Urdu literature. A contemporary video work built from that tradition, presented in Surrey’s own public gallery, is a rare chance to see a familiar literary form treated as living art rather than heritage alone.
The symposium has a long history at the Gallery. While its first decade focused on sound art, aural experience and audio cultures, recent editions have examined international video poetry, dance, the COVID-19 pandemic and new digital art practices. Surrey Art Gallery, founded in 1975, presents contemporary art by local, national and international artists, including digital and audio art, and is located at 13750 88 Avenue in Surrey, on the unceded territories of the Katzie, Kwantlen and Semiahmoo Nations.
Admission is free. The Gallery’s announcement does not list a registration requirement, and readers planning to attend should check the Gallery’s program page closer to the date for any seating or participation details.
(Source: City of Surrey media release, October 29, 2026)
