E-Flux : Ilya & Emilia Kabakov: Between Heaven and Earth and The Ship of Tolerance

Oakville Galleries

Oakville Galleries presents the exhibition Between Heaven and Earth and the project The Ship of Tolerance, by Ilya & Emilia Kabakov. The grand opening on Saturday May 31 will feature a concert by young performers, presented in Gairloch Gardens. The curator of the exhibition, The Ship of Tolerance and all programming is Séamus Kealy, Executive Director of Oakville Galleries.

The exhibition Between Heaven and Earth is presented at both our Gairloch Gardens and Centennial Square locations. This exhibition highlights a number of the artists’ works, including paintings, prints and installations, and spills out into the gardens with several larger artworks. The largest installation is The Ship of Tolerance, a 60-foot long, hand-crafted wooden ship with sails made from children’s paintings, presented lakeside in Gairloch Gardens for one year. Now, marking its 20th anniversary, its first appearance in Canada takes place at a critical time where a crossroads towards a new global order is visible. 

Séamus Kealy states, “To engage the Kabakovs’ work in such a project presents a momentous occasion, poignant especially in this time of global political discord and uncertainty. The future needs to be built on innovative ideas that embody tolerance, good will and respect, not their dark opposites as embraced by incapable leaders. Collectively we are invited to enable opportunities that compel us to envision our future together with hope, resilience, imaginative foresight and a global conscience. The art work of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov has long endeavoured to do just that. We welcome all people who journey over to Oakville to experience this marvelous and inspiring event.”

In Oakville, over 1300 children from local schools and diverse community groups have played a part in creating this project to date. These young participants converse together about inclusivity, different cultures, respect and creative ideas of the future. They create paintings that express their visions of tolerance and how that influences robust notions of humanitarianism in society. A selection of their resulting paintings are sewn together to create the ship’s sail, while the remaining paintings are displayed in Oakville locations. 

Presented adjacent to The Ship of Tolerance, this year’s Sunset Kino festival runs from June 26 to July 17. Founded by Séamus Kealy in 2017 in Salzburg, Austria, Sunset Kino is Canada’s outdoor, avant-garde cinema. This year’s theme is WHAT WAS THAT and will include films or programs by Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, Renèe Helèna Browne, Rabih Mroué, Faisal Anwar and Ala Roushan. 

Altogether this set of exhibitions, programs and installations is the most ambitious project by Oakville Galleries to date. The Ship of Tolerance is presented in collaboration with the Ilya and Emilia Kabakov Foundation, as well as with The National Gallery of Canada. The National Gallery of Canada’s National Engagement initiative is generously supported by Michael Nesbitt, with additional funding from the National Gallery of Canada Foundation.

About the artists
Ilya (1933–2023) and Emilia (b. 1945) Kabakov are globally recognized as the premier artists to emerge from the former Soviet Union and remain major figures on the international art scene. Working between painting, sculpture, prints, installations and total installations, the Kabakovs long collaborated on producing environments that fuse the everyday with conceptual and visionary elements. While their work is deeply rooted in the Soviet social and cultural context in which the Kabakovs came of age, their work still holds a deeply universal significance. Their work is represented in public and private collections globally and has been seen in major museums and biennales across the world. ARTnews named them among the world’s top 10 living artists. 

Oakville Galleries is a contemporary art museum presenting international and Canadian artists. Housed in a unique lakeside mansion and park as well as a white cube gallery downtown, Oakville Galleries is one of Canada’s leading contemporary art institutions. The Executive Director is Séamus Kealy. Supported by The Town of Oakville, Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council, sponsors, patrons and members.

Ilya & Emilia Kabakov
Between Heaven and Earth
May 31–September 20, 2025

Opening reception: May 31, 2–7pm, curatorial remarks and light refreshments offered

Oakville Galleries
1306 Lakeshore Road East
Oakville Ontario L6J 1L6
Canada

By Oakville Galleries for https://www.e-flux.com/