Keerat Kaur (1991-), Godāvarī-Satluj, 2024, gouache and gold foil on cardboard, 50.8 x 76.2 cm. Courtesy of the artist. © Keerat Kaur Inc.
Keerat Kaur (1991-), Godāvarī-Satluj, 2024, gouache and gold foil on cardboard, 50.8 x 76.2 cm. Courtesy of the artist. © Keerat Kaur Inc.
For Keerat Kaur, all creative processes begin with language. The works she presents here highlight the concept of Mithi Boli (Punjabi for “sweet speech”), which is central to Sikh thought: to speak with humility, love and truthfulness, all while resisting harshness.
Raised in the gurdwara—the Sikh place of worship, community and study—Keerat Kaur experienced storytelling as both expansive and embodied. She learned that speech manifests more than words: it can be melodic, generous and felt as much as heard.
Though many of her stories draw from Sikh history, the artist transforms her source material into vivid, surreal compositions. Figures dissolve into lush landscapes, symbolic motifs recur and mutate. Her works are, in her words, “personal mythologies.”
Through immersive world-building, Keerat Kaur creates dreamlike spaces that are at once disarming and strangely familiar. In these environments, language and imagination nourish one another, fostering art that exudes tenderness and wonder.
Keerat Kaur (1991-), Heart Cleanse, 2020, ceramic sculpture with glass beads on wire, 25.4 x 22.9 x 20.3 cm. Courtesy of the artist. © Keerat Kaur Inc.
A multisensory experience
Sweet Speech, which is Keerat Kaur’s first solo exhibition in a Canadian fine arts museum, centres on the artist’s voice. She articulates her intentions and visual language through her works, gallery texts and poetry written in her words. Even the music in the gallery is hers, creating a multisensory experience beyond the purely visual.
Keerat Kaur (1991-), Nīlā’s Janamsākhī (Nīlā’s Birth Story), 2025, gouache on board, 38.1 x 38.1 cm. Courtesy of the artist. © Keerat Kaur Inc.
Keerat Kaur is a Canadian artist of Sikh-Punjabi heritage whose multidisciplinary practice encompasses painting, sculpture, writing, music, public art and architecture. Rooted in the power of language, her work explores the subtle connections between the natural and the spiritual, drawing extensively from Indian philosophies.
As a polyglot, Keerat moves fluidly between Punjabi, French and Hindi, while deepening her study of the traditional Shahmukhi script and the Braj language. She studied at Western University, in biology and visual arts (2012), and later at the University of Toronto, graduating with a Master’s degree in architecture (2016). Expanding her creative horizons, she pursues rigorous study of Indian classical music (Dhrupad and Khayal) and traditional Pahari painting.
Keerat currently lives and works between Burnaby, British Columbia, and London, Ontario.
Keerat Kaur Photo: Mariam-Roujouleh
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Photo Thibault Carron
Credits and curatorial team
An exhibition organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
The exhibition is curated by Laura Vigo, Curator of Asian Art at the MMFA.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts thanks the Honourable Baljit Chadha and Roshi Chadha for their exceptional support in making this exhibition possible.
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Keerat Kaur (1991-), Heart Cleanse, 2020, ceramic sculpture with glass beads on wire, 25.4 x 22.9 x 20.3 cm. Courtesy of the artist. © Keerat Kaur Inc.
Keerat Kaur (1991-), Nīlā’s Janamsākhī (Nīlā’s Birth Story), 2025, gouache on board, 38.1 x 38.1 cm. Courtesy of the artist. © Keerat Kaur Inc.
Photo Thibault Carron
