Aga Khan Museum’s 10th Anniversary Marked With the Exploration of Light
Light: Visionary Perspective explores the centrality of light in humanity and architecture
As the Aga Khan Museum celebrates its 10th anniversary, a new exhibition exploring the complex impact of light has been unveiled. Light: Visionary Perspective features works by Canadian and international artists and explores how light has shaped history and continues to influence our perceptions of the world around us.
Two Corners by artist Phillip K. Smith III.
The installations featured in Light: Visionary Perspective speak to and showcase many interpretations of the effects of light, both literally and symbolically. Through the use of auditory and visual stimulation, visitors of the exhibit will find themselves transported through the artists’ works as they experience the storytelling of light through different mediums.
Co-curated by the Museum’s associate curator Bita Pourvash and special projects curator Marianne Fenton, the installations and works featured in Light: Visionary Perspective take audiences through all realms of light – past, present and future – “to explore our shared humanity.”
mazinibii’igan / a creation, 2020, by Tannis Nielsen.
Exploring the origins of humanity is mazinibii’igan / a creation, by artist Tannis Nielsen. The immersive looped video installation dives into the origin of light with narration by Elder Marie Gaudet (Turtle Clan Anishinaabe from Wikwemikong).
South Korean artist Kimsooja’s piece To Breathe uses the museum’s courtyard as a proverbial canvas.
Korean artist Kimsooja uses To Breathe, a site-specific immersive installation, to harness natural elements of the building’s architecture to play with light using the windows surrounding the Museum’s courtyard.
Beyond the galleries, the Light: Visionary Perspective exhibition examines how light interacts with the Aga Khan Museum’s architecture and design. During its design process, His Highness the Aga Khan highlighted the “ephemeral yet essential qualities of light,” setting the tone for the building’s design inspiration. The building’s architect, Fumihiko Maki, utilized materials and methods to translate this inspiration into reality and allow the building to play with light no matter the time of year or weather.
The exhibit is on now until March 17, 2025.
