'What was there before': Edmonton artist launches exhibit exploring ancestry

Artwork by artist Raneece Buddan can be seen at her exhibit at the Art Gallery of St. Albert on March 23, 2024. (Galen McDougall/CTV News Edmonton)

A new exhibit at the Art Gallery of St. Albert is inviting viewers to explore identity and ancestry through art.

Threading Through Time, an installation by artist Raneece Buddan, features textiles, ceramics and woodwork inspired by traditional practices.

Buddan created the artworks during her time at university. They were a way, she said, to explore her identity and cultural history.

"It's kind of threading through time of my understanding and learning and reconnection to my ancestry as a Jamaican woman of Afro- and Indo-Caribbean ancestry," Buddan said.

"Because of colonization and inter-servitude, we have combined all of our cultures into one Jamaican culture, but there's a loss of what was there before."

Buddan's work combines modern art and traditional stories, practices and traditions from Ghanaian, Nigerian and Indian art forms.

"She's exploring her identity and her ancestry, which I think identifies with a lot of our visitors," said the gallery's director Leah Louden. "And she's doing it in such a fabulous way."

The exhibit launched March 14 and runs until April 25.

Buddan hopes the show will inspire visitors to think about what they understand about Caribbean culture – and their own roots and backgrounds.

"I would hope people will see the Caribbean as not as a monolith, as there's so many different cultures just within it," she added. "Maybe you want to think deeper about where your family's from, maybe you want to learn more about your ancestry."

Buddan will be hosting a workshop April 6 at the Visual Arts Studios in St. Albert Place, where she will help participants create their own designs using block printing on fabric.

For more information on the show, visit the Art Gallery of St. Albert website.