Feb 7 | 2026 Winter Exhibitions Opening Reception
Saturday, February 7, 2026
2 PM to 4 PM
Free | Registration not required
About the Program
Join us for the opening of our 2026 Winter Exhibitions at the Varley Art Gallery of Markham. The afternoon will feature in-gallery talks by exhibiting artist Sameer Farooq and curator Anik Glaude, along with hands-on art activities for visitors of all ages. Light refreshments will be provided.
About “Sameer Farooq: The Fairest Order in the World”
Cape Breton born, Toronto based artist Sameer Farooq presents a new installation that offers a deeply poetic space to reflect on the fraught and violent histories of art and anthropological museums, their colonial origins, structures, and impulses.
With The Fairest Order in the World, Farooq probes notions of provenance, repatriation, and repair, composing a series of new and recent sculptures and images to articulate unique ideas for repurposing the emptied spaces of museums devoid of their spoils. Mining the possibilities offered by sustained engagement, Farooq invites us to envision what the museum might become through the mechanics of restitution, what it may shift to collect and document, and what kind of experiences it could nurture.
Curated by Mona Filip. Organized and circulated by Dalhousie Art Gallery.
About “Sketching the Past”
In the 1950s, Frederick Varley wandered the halls of Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) with pencil in hand. Sketching the Past invites visitors to share his careful observations and consider why we visit museums. Varley sketched in the Natural History and Art and Culture galleries, drawn especially to the Chinese collection and to visitors in the dinosaur halls. His studies capture fossils, sculptures, and cultural artefacts with the same precision as his portraits, revealing both artistic skill and curiosity. Through these drawings, we glimpse how the ROM displayed its collections in the 1950s and are invited to reflect on how museum collection practices, display methods, and storytelling have evolved, shaping the ways we remember and imagine our shared cultural heritage.
Curated by Anik Glaude.
