Chase for more

Chase, an intimate exhibition by artist Jagdeep Raina, takes visitors on a journey through an array of personal stories and records of the Sikh diaspora – all drawn from his own lived experience as a community member and those of his family who migrated to Canada in the 1960s. Using both textiles and works on paper, he spotlights the histories of wider pioneering Kashmiri and Punjabi Sikh diasporic communities through archival imagery. Along with an array of textiles and drawings, the exhibition also contains two film works by the artist that document the remnants of India’s lost histories and heritage.

Raised and currently based in Guelph, Ontario, Raina’s work is multilayered in its intricacy and depth. His embroidered tapestries deconstruct myths and stereotypes, break down perceptions of a racialized and marginalized community and showcase scenes that are flawed, raw and real. The “chase for more”, as Raina calls it, can result in two different things. For people, particularly diasporas, the idea of chasing for a better life is positive and encouraged. However, at the same time, it can also result in a scarcity mentality − which can further divide and alienate castes and classes based on economic status, gender, sexuality, nationality, race and religion. This notion poses as one of the exhibition’s biggest overarching themes. 

After paying a visit, we chatted with Raina about the making of this exhibition, his inspirations and his dedication to the art of using textiles as a medium to tell stories.  

AGOinsider: Can you tell us a bit about the inspirations behind Chase and what you're looking to evoke out of visitors to the exhibition?

Raina: Chase was inspired by thinking about the role historical memory plays in the shaping of communities that emerge by the complex forces of migrations; how communities come together, how they form and how they can also gradually erode and disperse over time.

AGOinsider: What are the challenges and advantages of using textiles as a material? 

Raina: The advantage of using textiles as a medium is that it's opened me up to an ancient craft that has continued to thrive and find new ways of re-inventing itself, whether that craft be spinning, weaving, embroidery, quilting, sewing. One specific thing about the nature of textiles is that it can be quite time consuming. It doesn't always provide the immediacy of drawing, or sculpture, or photography, or video, but in a time where there is such an addiction to speed, it is nice to work with a medium where one is forced to slow down. 

Jagdeep Raina: Final days, 2019. Embroidery thread on muslin. Photo by Darren Rigo.

AGOinsider: Your artistic practice involves spotlighting traditional Phulkari embroidery techniques and Kashmiri shawls that come from your collective family history. What about these art forms draws you in?

Raina: Hailing from the region of Kashmir which borders Punjab, I became interested in connecting with these textiles from my ancestral heritage; their beauty, their artistry and their complicated histories. 

AGOinsider: A lot of your work is drawn from personal stories and records of you and your own family. What does sharing every day, unseen stories of the Sikh diaspora mean to you?

Raina: It allows me to realize that my story is not unlike anyone else's story, the tie that binds all of us together is the way we can connect to our larger histories and realize that we are a part of narratives that are larger than ourselves. We are all connected by our shared humanity. 

AGOinsider: Each exhibition run you have of Chase, you work with new collaborators to create a writing piece to display in the space. At the Textile Museum of Canada, you worked with Kathe Gray and Kim Anderson for Tapestries. How do you go about choosing who to work with and how does the collaboration complement your works? 

Raina: There is no set formula to how I choose who to collaborate with. Kim Anderson is an inspiring professor at the University of Guelph and I first heard about her work when she edited the anthologies: Indigenous Men and Masculinities: Legacies, Identities, Regeneration as well as Keetsahnak / Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters. I was very inspired by her work and invited her to contribute a text to the exhibition. In return, Kim also invited her colleague Kathe Gray to collaborate on a piece of writing for the exhibition, and the whole experience turned into this wonderful process of collaboration. 

At the Textile Museum of Canada, Chase is curated by Shauna McCabe and organized by the Art Gallery of Guelph with the support of the Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council of the Arts.  As the museum is currently closed due to government restrictions, this exhibition will be available for public viewing upon reopening. For details, visit https://textilemuseum.ca/event/jagdeep-raina-chase/.