Kira Saragih
Based in xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ Territories (Vancouver, Canada)
kirakirawho@gmail.com
BIO
Kira Saragih (she/her) is an Indonesian (Sunda-Batak) artist and arts worker based on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, also known as Vancouver, BC. Her practice revolves around textiles, community-making, and friendship-building, as interconnected forms of artistic and cultural labour.
Through textiles, Kira explores how small, often overlooked elements of the everyday contribute to community-making in underappreciated ways, reflecting on how these subtle details act as indicators of broader ecological, social, or political conditions.
Kira organizes events and programs designed as platforms for gathering, exchange and feedback, creating spaces where friendships can bloom and ideas can cross-polinate. Her practice extends into her work within artist-run centres, where she sees arts administration as a form of cultural labor rooted in care, driven by the belief that how we build structures is as important as what we create.
She holds a BFA from Simon Fraser University.
EXHIBITIONS
2024 BFA Graduating Exhibition 2024: Look Both Ways, Audain Gallery, Vancouver
2023 BFA Project 2023: I’ll Be Your Mirror, Audain Gallery, Vancouver
2022 Aksara : prologue, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta
2022 Holiday Blowout Sale, Liquidation World, Vancouver
RESIDENCIES
2024 CAG Prize Residency, Vancouver
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
2026 Programs Manager, UNIT/PITT, Vancouver
2025 Archives Project Coordinator, UNIT/PITT, Vancouver
2024 Archives Assistant, grunt gallery, Vancouver
2024 Gallery Assistant, UNIT/PITT, Vancouver
2023 Textile Production Artist, The Only Animal Theatre, Vancouver, Canada
2023 Co-founder, ANTS/ASS Collective, Vancouver
2023 Visual Art Student Union President, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
2023 Archives and Communications Assistant, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver
2022 Volunteer, Contemporary Art Gallery
EDUCATION
2024 Bachelor of Fine Arts with Distinction, Visual Arts Major, Simon Fraser University
AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS
2024 Gerald and Sheahan McGavin Award
2024 Bob Rennie Undergraduate Award in Visual Arts
2023 Bice Caple Award
2023 Volunteers of the Burnaby Art Gallery Award in Visual Arts
2023 SFU Undergraduate Open Scholarship
2023 SFU Service Award - School for the Contemporary Arts
2022 SFU Undergraduate Open Scholarship