Tiffin Talk: Artist as Healer

Presented as part of Indian Summer Festival’s Tiffin Talks series

How can art hold grief? How can ritual create space for healing, and death deepen our connection to life?

As part of Indian Summer’s 2025 Artist As Healer residency, Varsha Gill and Shahir Krishna led a series of community workshops rooted in slowness, somatic care and ceremony. Blending natural dyeing, mindful movement, slow-textile arts, and ritual, they explored how creative practice can support inner transformation, particularly in relationship to grief, mortality, and dying.

This Tiffin Talk brings their inquiry to the table:
What happens when we sit with death not as an end, but as a mirror?
How might facing impermanence sharpen our sense of meaning, purpose, and love?

Joined by project director Pawan Deol as the moderator and residency mentor Farheen Haq, Varsha and Shahir will share their collective learnings and reflect on the meditative and communal power of art-making, and how re-envisioning death can transform our communities from within.

Following the conversation enjoy a warm meal served in Indian-style tiffins around a long table in the scenic Performance Works Courtyard surrounded by ocean, cedar, and sky.

Come to listen, reflect, and be nourished—literally and metaphorically.

 

🎟 Ticket Pricing

General Admission – $49 - includes a full tiffin lunch (excluding fees & taxes)

Please note: Prices displayed on the ticketing page include Showpass fees. Applicable taxes will be added at checkout.

 

Founding Cultural Partner: Canada India Network Society

Supported by: Metro Vancouver Cultural Grant

Festival Supporting Partner: Granville Island

 

Access Information:

Ocean Artworks is an outdoor, covered pavilion at street level, with no ramps or steps to enter. There are no bathrooms onsite.

 

For more comprehensive accessibility information see: Ocean Artworks Accessibility Page