Keerat Kaur's first solo exhibition in a Canadian fine arts museum, Sweet Speech, runs until September 20, 2026, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
The works in the exhibit speak to the concept of Mithi Boli, which is Punjabi for "sweet speech," a concept at the core of Sikh thought. It refers to the act of speaking with "humility, love and truthfulness," in the words of the exhibition page on the Museum of Fine Arts' website. The works in Sweet Speech are best captured by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Sustainable Cities and Communities.
Keerat Kaur is a Canadian with Sikh and Punjabi heritage, working in many mediums, from painting, sculpture, writing, music, and architecture. Her work, according to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, finds connections between the natural and spiritual worlds. Sikhism is a relatively young religion, created just over half a millenium ago in the Punjab region of South Asia, which, in the modern day, is divided between India and Pakistan.
While many of her works find their inspiration in Sikh history, Kaur finds herself digging deeper to create what she defines as "personal mythologies." These appear as fantastical images and dreamlike scenes, not only creating surreal images but also playing with depth and colour to create a world entirely her own.
