Overview

How can the museum function as a space of self-discovery and restoration? In what ways can art and music become tools to assist in the process of healing? Awakened by the Unstruck is a collaboration between artist Nep Sidhu and UK-based arts organization Without Shape Without Form (WSWF) investigating both spiritual and material states of being through sculpture, drawing, sound, and simran, or Sikh mindfulness. By combining their respective arts practices–both of which are rooted in Sikh knowledge and traditions–they will create a new, immersive installation devoted to self-discovery and renewal. The installation will be activated through an omnidirectional sonic sculpture by Sidhu and mindfulness exercises that will be facilitated by members of WSWF in the gallery throughout the run of the show. The exhibition suggests that artworks can exist not merely as aesthetic objects but as living forms, mechanisms by which to explore well-being. Through the engagement of multiple senses, combined with mindfulness workshops, the exhibition invites visitors to discover the unstruck potential within themselves.

Nep Sidhu (b. 1981, London) is a Toronto-based interdisciplinary practitioner whose material investigations of textiles, sculpture, painting, video, and sound seek various possibilities for realizing and giving shape to the formlessness of the divine. He has previously exhibitied at the Aichi Triennale, Nagoya City Museum, Japan; Esker Foundation, Calgary; Frye Museum of Art, Seattle; Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow; Heard Museum, Phoenix; Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit; Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, among others. He is a member of the Black Constellation collective, designs adornment and clothing under the Paradise Sportif moniker, and helps run Sher-E Punjab, India with the local community. 

Without Shape Without Form (founded in 2017) is a non-profit arts organization that fosters creativity, dialogue, and social change through the arts, spirituality, and mind wellbeing. Their work is rooted in Sikh knowledge, which they define as a philosophy and way of life grounded in deep connection, equality, and social justice, and their mission is driven by courage, self-awareness, and compassion. They are headquartered in Slough, England.