The Structure of Smoke examines how we live with fire now and in the future

The Structure of Smoke comes to Syilx territory in the Okanagan this summer, presented by the UBC Okanagan Gallery and UBC Vancouver’s Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery. Image courtesy Art Hunter.

• What: The Structure of Smoke
• Who: Artists Amber Frid-Jimenez, Samuel Roy-Bois, Heraa Khan, Jeneen Frei Njootli, Other Sights, Pratchaya Phinthong, Taylor Baptiste, Art Hunter, Andreas Rutkauskas, Susan Point and Woojae Kim
• Opening Reception: Thursday, May 21, 4-6 pm at UBC Okanagan’s FINA Gallery
• Exhibition Dates: Weekdays, May 21 to Aug. 18, 9 am to 4 pm
• Where: FINA Gallery, Creative and Critical Studies building, 1148 Research Road, UBC Okanagan

The UBC Okanagan Gallery, in collaboration with the Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery at UBC Vancouver, is excited to bring The Structure of Smoke exhibition to Syilx territory in the Okanagan this summer.

Co-curated by Melanie O’Brian and Tania Willard, The Structure of Smoke explores artworks that problematize the poetic, structural and political aspects of fire.

“This is the first time the Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery and UBC Okanagan Gallery have shared an exhibition across campuses,” says Willard. “This exhibition speaks to the interrelatedness of fire, Indigenous territories, ecologies, artists and audiences through contemporary art urging us to create new relations amidst them.”

In a region where wildfires regularly impact our lives and the landscape, The Structure of Smoke assembles artists who conceptualize our relationship to this challenging force of nature.

Throughout the exhibition, contemporary artists explore both the metaphorical and literal processes of fire and the spaces it creates and displaces.

In a range of media, including sculpture, video, screen prints, photography and painting, the works challenge the viewer to examine the ways in which we live with fire both now and in the future.

The Structure of Smoke features artists Amber Frid-Jimenez, Samuel Roy-Bois, Heraa Khan, Jeneen Frei Njootli, Other Sights, Pratchaya Phinthong, Art Hunter and Susan Point. The Okanagan version of the exhibit includes Taylor Baptiste, Andreas Rutkauskas and Woojae Kim.

The Structure of Smoke opens to the public on May 21 with a reception scheduled for 4-6 pm and includes a performance by Kim and Adrian Avendaño, two Vancouver-based sound artists.

They’ll perform the works in I hear a silent dissonance (2024) included in the exhibition. This work, formed in response to Kim’s visit to the 2023 McDougall Creek fire, is inspired by Korean percussion instruments and ceremonies—known as “Pul-i,” or untangling, the resonance of drums, and reference to ritual aims to foster empathy and repair.

The exhibition is open weekdays from May 21 to Aug. 18 at the FINA Gallery, 1148 Research Rd., on the UBC Okanagan campus. The reception and exhibition are free to attend and open to the public.

The Structure of Smoke is made possible by a grant from BC Arts Council and the support of the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. Programming is supported by the Strategic Equity & Anti-Racism Enhancement Fund.