Pandemic inspires Montreal artist to recreate her home in 500 clay figurines

‘Housewarming’ is Karine Giboulo's newest exhibition that explores feelings of isolation and daily lives during pandemic times

By: Ionna Hipolito

Montreal-based artist Karine Giboulo presents “Housewarming” at Gardiner Museum in Toronto as a reimagined version of her home, embodied in over 500 miniature polymer clay figures and furniture.

Sharing the then-common sentiment of being confined and stuck at home during the pandemic, Giboulo used her home as the base model for “Housewarming,” hoping to “explore the state of the world” through her art, as she mentioned in her interview statement. The exhibit is available for viewing from Oct. 20, 2022 to May 7, 2023, on the third floor at Gardiner Museum.

Giboulo began working on this project in 2020 as a creative outlet during the unprecedented time. The entire exhibition took about two years to complete, and the process of creating the clay figures started on her kitchen table.

“When I was in my home for the first two to three weeks, I was in shock and not really working,” Giboulo said. “After the initial shock, the more I worked, it became a really creative process for me. I was not able to do the work I was doing before — it helped me [cope].”

Having previously worked on paintings that featured “little figures” and their stories, Giboulo was inspired to create 3D versions of those figures. “I’ve never sculpted before that. I didn’t even have any equipment. I just went to an art store and bought this box of clay, and when I started to work with it, it was easier than doing 2D works,” she explained.

The artist said one of her favourite parts in putting together the exhibition was working with the museum staff and the exhibition manager through a Zoom meeting. “We built [the] whole house and placed the work, and it was super fun and really exciting.”

Giboulo invites visitors to immerse themselves in the experience and discover the stories told throughout the journey in her reimagined home. The miniature figures interact and blend with everyday household furniture to portray a bigger picture; there are also installations inside Amazon boxes that address social and environmental issues. The boxes can be located outside the "house" perimeter and inside rooms, but Giboulo provides the audience with a pamphlet that guides them through a recommended viewing order.

Miniature Amazon workers preparing packages in a warehouse created by Karine Giboulo and displayed at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto from Oct. 20, 2022, to May 7, 2023. (Ionna Hipolito/CanCulture)

For me, these were the most memorable rooms in “Housewarming:”

By My Door

A parcel is placed at the front of a door. Peer through a hole on the box, and you will see an Amazon warehouse with an array of masked employees preparing packages to be delivered to people in the safety of their homes. Giboulo does a wonderful job prompting visitors to reflect on the inaccessibility of remote work in specific industries and how much we rely on the labour of others to find comfort.

Miniature figures wait in line at the “food bank” to buy groceries, created by Karine Giboulo and displayed at the Gardener Museum in Toronto from Oct. 20, 2022, to May 7, 2023. (Ionna Hipolito/CanCulture)

My Kitchen

Within her simulated kitchen, Giboulo incorporates a reusable grocery bag as a “Food Bank.” In the kitchen, figures with masks sit over countertops, socially distanced and waiting in line. She uses the installation to highlight food insecurity amid the pandemic, its negative impacts on vulnerable community members and their struggle to obtain even basic necessities.

Miniature figures are trapped inside glass jars to visually represent social distancing and isolation. Created by Karine Giboulo and displayed at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto from  Oct. 20, 2022, to May 7, 2023. (Ionna Hipolito/CanCulture)

My Pantry

Straight ahead of the kitchen is Giboulo’s replicated pantry. On the shelves are figures of healthcare workers and the elderly encased in glass jars, emphasizing isolation and abandonment during a crisis. Seniors were among the most affected groups during the pandemic because of their weaker immune systems and susceptibility to getting sick.

“The pandemic just made a situation that already existed worse,” Giboulo said. With our busy lifestyles, we often need to remember to check up on our older relatives. The pandemic further restricted us from seeing them and caring for them as much as we did pre-pandemic. As both seniors and healthcare workers are trapped inside the jars, it symbolizes their isolation from their family, friends and loved ones. These jars are placed in the pantry to symbolize a place and an issue we do not visit frequently.

 In a chest drawer inside the bedroom, the clay figures portray the common exploitation of female labour workers in factory settings. Created by Karine Giboulo and displayed at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto from Oct. 20, 2022, to May 7, 2023. (Ionna Hipolito/CanCulture)

My Bedroom

This room is an inviting space with feminine touches. The bedroom’s chest of drawers reveals a clothing factory lined with masked female-presenting figures working on sewing machines. Giboulo highlights how society plays a role in gendered labour, consumption and waste while emphasizing women's exploitation in factory-like environments. “There’s also the [aspect] of closing those drawers and [staying oblivious] to things when we don’t want to see the truth,” Giboulo said.

The artist explains that this room resonated with her the most because of the personal touches about her grandmother, sickness and most importantly, herself. “This was a piece that really touched me.”

Visitors can follow the artist and her intimate journey with self-acceptance through self-portraits and personal traces in the installation.

Karine Giboulo is now working on a documentary for her next project; she expressed that “Housewarming” was a way for her to capture the last two to three years. “And in the next few years, this can be like an artifact of what happened.” And what continues to happen.

Carefully analyzing the figures makes it easier to relate to the stories and their characters. The artist playfully and realistically encompasses the state of our world while addressing other pre-existing political matters all through the tiny holes and detailed carvings that make up each piece.

The feeling of home: An exploration into ‘Afghanistan, My Love’

A new art exhibition provides a pair of fresh eyes on Afghanistan through the contemporary works of Afghan artists

By: Kaden Nanji

The staircase leading into the “Afghanistan, My Love” exhibition at Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. (Kaden Nanji/CanCulture)

Reflecting on their home, artists explore their nation’s identity — transcending any physical location — in Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum’s newest art exhibition, “Afghanistan, My Love.”

When searching for pictures of Afghanistan on Google, the top results are guaranteed to be filled with weapons and militias. The idea of Afghanistan as a violent combat scene, rather than a home to millions of individuals, has been perpetuated by the media for years. Since 9/11 and the War on Terror that followed, the image of Afghanistan in the Western eye has gradually deteriorated. Today, the idea of Afghanistan as anything beyond a warzone is unfathomable to some.

“Afghanistan, My Love” works against this stigma and acts as a reminder of the country’s culture and beauty beyond the commonly painted backdrop of war and destruction.

“Afghanistan My Love” highlights Afghanistan as a place of “cultural richness, diversity and deep love,” according to the Aga Khan Museum’s website. It offers visitors a glimpse into Afghanistan that paints it as more than a physical place, but as a home, a memory and an identity.

Showcasing the work of Toronto-based Afghan-Canadian artist Shaheer Zazai and those from the global grassroots art collective ArtLords, the exhibition was put together as a love letter.

“We try to consider relevant topics apropos to the time [and] we were keen to change the lens of Afghanistan,” said Marianne Fenton, Aga Khan Museum’s special projects curator.

ArtLords community mural projects in Kabul, Afghanistan showcased at the “Afghanistan, My Love” exhibition at Aga Khan Museum. (Kaden Nanji/CanCulture)

The first portion of the exhibit focuses on the work by ArtLords, their movement focusing on peace, empathy, kindness and accessibility for art in Afghanistan, South Asia and SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) countries, according to their mission statement.

Alongside members of the local community, ArtLords developed a series of interactive murals throughout Afghanistan on large walls, buildings and even blast walls — barriers designed to protect buildings and the individuals who reside in them. These murals depict different ideologies shared by communities including ending war, education for young girls and against government corruption.

As part of the exhibition, a portion of ArtLords’ community work in Afghanistan is showcased inside the museum. Through photographs of local Afghans decorating the murals, ArtLords aims to amplify Afghan voices.

 Shaheer Zazai’s traditional Afghanistan carpet renderings using Microsoft Word showcased at the “Afghanistan, My Love” exhibition at Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. (Kaden Nanji/CanCulture)

The second portion of the exhibition centres on the work of Afghan-Canadian artist, Zazai — focusing on the influence of Afghan culture and diaspora. 

Exploring the layers of his complex cultural identity while working with Afghan women weavers, Zazai creates traditional Afghan carpets by designing patterns using various tools within Microsoft Word, which he then repeats and formats to create the appearance of a traditional Afghan carpet. He then sends these prints to Kabul, Afghanistan, where they are weaved into intricate carpets.

“Zazai’s pieces are a testament to the unifying power of art created within the context of community and rich cultural histories,” reads the museum’s website. His work showcases the influence of intergenerational Afghan carpet-making, merging it with Western culture through technological tools as an Afghan in the diaspora.

“Afghanistan, My Love” encapsulates our shared humanity. Looking past the country’s stigmas and misconceptions, the featured creators demonstrate art as a powerful medium for connection during times of adversity.

 A postcard with a message to Afghanistan signed by museum visitors “Karen and Mauricia.” Visitors are welcome to participate in this interactive portion of the “Afghanistan, My Love” exhibition at Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. (Kaden Nanji/CanCulture)

To visit the Aga Khan Museum is to not only learn more about Afghan culture through a contemporary art exhibition, but to learn about the influence of different cultures in Canada, and how art can be seen as a visualized form of pluralism. When a group of people from different places work together to create something beautiful using the experiences and skills collected from their backgrounds, true works of art are formed.

Looking back at the gallery wall containing messages to Afghanistan from individuals from different places and walks of life, it’s easy to find one thing in common: a shared humanity. This exhibition is best expressed through the eloquent words on one of the postcards displayed: “I hope for the future to be a love and peaceful world, where kindness is nothing but eye contact, and where happiness is the reason to live.”

“Afghanistan, My Love” will be displayed at the Aga Khan Museum until April 10, 2023.

Light in the dark: combating seasonal affective disorder in Canada

By Nadia Brophy

During the winter months, you may experience feelings of sadness, lack of energy and motivation and difficulty sleeping. You also may be quick to chalk these feelings up to a simple case of the “winter blues.”

However, modern research has shown that for some people, these fluctuations in mood and behaviour are indicative of a type of major clinical depression known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Those affected by SAD will often experience more severe symptoms including insomnia, anxiety, appetite changes and weight gain.

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), about 2 to 3 per cent of Canadians will experience SAD in their lifetime, as the disorder is more common in northern countries that are exposed to daylight for less time during the winter. SAD is thought to correlate with the seasonal changes in exposure to light and its effect on the body’s internal clock in knowing when to be active.

If you have been impacted by SAD or know someone who is currently being affected, have no fear, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Institutions across the country are doing their part to combat the prevalent disorder by making large-scale, therapeutic treatment methods accessible to the public.

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Toronto has installed the Light Therapy exhibit, a singular room that is entirely white and doused in light from several sources, including multiple daylight-toned LEDs hanging from the ceiling and natural daylight that enters through three large windows. Controlled exposure to light is a common treatment prescribed to those affected by SAD as a way to reset the body’s internal clock to increase motivation and activity in patients. According to the CMHA, 60 to 80 per cent of people with SAD say light therapy helps alleviate their symptoms.

The interior of the Light Therapy room at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto. (CanCulture/Nadia Brophy)

The exhibit, created by Swedish architect and visual artist Apolonija Šušteršič, is part of the MOCA’s Art in Use project, which aims to use art in museums as a way to support public well-being and in the case of Light Therapy, to support mental health.

“The work is installed in the museum to discuss the potential for culture and art to improve happiness and well-being, as an art work and as a known therapy,” said November Paynter, the director of programs at the MOCA, in an email. “It also works to improve cognitive thinking and can be used as a meeting room and reading space to enhance thought and a place to gather and socialize and discuss.”

Socialization also plays an important role in the treatment of SAD to stimulate happiness and motivation, as according to the CMHA, it is common for affected individuals to avoid interacting with the people around them. At the Light Therapy exhibit, visitors are encouraged to talk among one another during their sessions.

Michael Bedford, a visitor at the exhibit, thinks Light Therapy is a step in the right direction for encouraging people with SAD to seek out treatment.

“I think when you have therapeutic methods like this, there’s a sense of community and there’s this breaking down of some of the stigma and silence around mental health,” said Bedford. “It’s more social motivation than it is individual-based therapy. People might be more willing to come to these things if they are looked at as a social activity.”

Libraries across Canada have also taken to the large-scale use of light therapy. It all began with Robin Mazumder, a PhD student in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Waterloo, who was inspired to help combat SAD after working as an occupational therapist in Edmonton treating people with mental health issues and noticing a change in his own mental health during the winter season.

Four years ago, Mazumder worked with the Edmonton Public Library to install three LED lamps used for light therapy in communal spaces around the building, launching Lightbrary, his project to promote country-wide accessibility to light therapy. According to Mazumder, the Lightbrary movement has reached several libraries across Canada since its launch, including in Toronto, Winnipeg and the Yukon.

Similar to the Light Therapy exhibit, Mazumder’s project also aims to not only expose the public to treatment methods, but also to promote the destigmatization of mental health.

“My goal was to start a conversation on mental health in general and have something to address the stigma of combating it in public spaces,” said Mazumder. “There’s a two-prong benefit to it; it’s accessing the lamps and getting people out of their homes.”

According to University Affairs, last year Mazumder took his mission to the University of Waterloo, filing a request for light therapy lamps to be installed on the campus to help prevent SAD from reaching the lives of students and to improve “campus life enhancement.”

“I just think that everyone should be able to access the lamps,” said Mazumder. “Students in general spend a lot of time inside at a computer and obviously the solution would be to have a better work-life balance, but that’s not reasonable for a lot of people for a number of reasons.”

According to Mazumder’s blog post on the Lightbrary website, he now turns his focus to working with Northern Light Technologies, the company he chooses to purchase the light therapy lamps from, to discount their lamps for other communities who wish to start their own Lightbrary initiative.

The Light Therapy exhibit at the MOCA is available for visit until April 30, 2019.

Gods in My Home gives an in-depth look at Chinese Lunar New Year traditions

By Chloe Cook

A shrine meant for holding spirit tablets or tablets of ancestors used for worship, 1644 - 1911. (CanCulture/Chloe Cook)

With the 2019 Chinese Lunar New Year festivities just beginning, the Royal Ontario Museum has installed a new exhibit that looks at the long-standing traditions of the festival.

Gods in My Home displays many different paintings, prints and artifacts from the 1900s, and beyond that shows the joyous time that is the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Traditionally, artworks like prints and paintings were hung in the main hall of a home to bring good fortune to the family in the new year. Gods in My Home showcases the kinds of art that families hung to create a festive atmosphere. The exhibit is on from now until Sept. 29.

The exhibit showcases everything from traditional art, to games, to instruments. It is intended to bring Chinese ancestral paintings and traditional popular prints together to explore and examine. There are also interactive activities throughout the exhibit as well as informative videos on display.

Copy of Ancestor Portrait of an Elderly Woman (1644 - 1911)

This is an example of an ancestor portrait, which was a popular way to pay tribute to relatives. The face of an ancestor was painted, then a body was chosen from a set of pre-made stamps and stamped on to the head.

Copy of Military and Civil Door Gods (1800s - mid-1900s)

Prints like these were placed on the doors of a home during new year celebrations. The military door gods kept away evil spirits and the civil door gods fostered prosperity for the family.

Copy of God of Earth (1800s - mid-1900s) and Figures of Tudi Gong (1644 - 1911)

Left: God of Earth (1800s - mid-1900s) - This is a print depicting Tudi Gong. Right: These decorative figures were placed around the home and represented Tudi Gong, the god of earth and a protective spirit of rural places.

Copy of Create Your Own Paper God

One of the many interactive activities in the exhibit is ‘Create Your Own Paper God.’ Various gods and deities were drawn on paper as a way for the people to communicate with them. After worship, the papers were stacked and burned to send the deities back to heaven.

Copy of Lady Mouse’s Wedding (1800s - mid-1900s)

Prints of folktales were common during the new year. This print depicts the tale of a mouse who is set to marry a cat, of who she believes is the strongest animal on earth. However, when the wedding begins, the groom starts to eat the guests.

Copy of Chinese Playing Cards (1800s - mid-1900s)

Families often gathered and played games during the Chinese Lunar New Year festivities. This is a traditional deck of playing cards used in the 1800s well into the 1900s.

Copy of Assorted Instruments (1800s - mid-1900s)

These are various instruments that are on display in the exhibit. There is an interactive element where you are able to hear what each instrument sounds like when it is played.

All images in this gallery were taken by Chloe Cook.

What Exactly is Chinese Lunar New Year?

The Chinese Lunar New Year is the day of the first new moon cycle of the year which typically falls around the beginning of February or late January.

It is one of the most important holidays in China, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore and many other Asian countries. The celebrations typically last for about 15 days.

Every year is represented by a different animal from the Chinese zodiac. Each animal symbolizes different traits for people born in that year, as well as predicts what the year holds for us all. 2019 is the  year of the pig, that symbolizes luck, good fortune, wealth and honesty.