Outdoor artwork at Surrey Civic Plaza invites you to play in the clouds

Surrey, BC – Surrey Art Gallery is pleased to announce the next exhibition at their offsite UrbanScreen venue. Varvara & Mar: We are the Clouds opens on Friday, March 27. The artwork is on display every evening at Surrey Civic Plaza until May 4, 2025. Attendance is free. 

This interactive outdoor art installation returns to Surrey to invite passersby to join a community of floating, fluffy clouds. The artwork is designed to allow anyone passing through the Civic Plaza to directly participate in, and alter, its appearance.

Visitors can perform live in front of one of two onsite kiosks and have their silhouette transformed into a “cloud persona” that appears immediately on UrbanScreen, projected onto a brilliant blue sky across the side of Surrey Central Library. Capturing only the silhouette of a given participant, the technology allows all prospective cloud-makers to contribute to the formation of an ephemeral cloud community. The use of the silhouette is a reminder that everyone is welcome to participate.

Prior to the exhibition's original opening date in 2020, Surrey locals were invited to attend production workshops with the artists, where their on-camera performances were recorded to create the initial body of imagery. Varvara & Mar, an Estonia-based artist duo, used software designed specifically for this project in conjunction with a Microsoft Kinect camera. Curated by Assistant Curator Rhys Edwards, We Are the Clouds brings audiences together within a space of playmaking and creativity. 

“We Are the Clouds is a joyful celebration of the ways in which art can bring people together,” says Edwards. “Anyone, whether they’re local to Surrey or passing through, can join in with the dance in the clouds. In this work, our hope is to try to make a space where people can feel a moment of joy and tranquility amidst the stress of day to day life.” 

A short essay about We Are the Clouds titled “Soft, fluffy power,” by curator Stacey Koosel, is also available in the Surrey Art Gallery Presents publication series on the Gallery website.  

We Are the Clouds is the second exhibition to open at Surrey UrbanScreen after the site reopened in December 2024. The exhibition joins Surrey Art Gallery’s Spring 2025 exhibition series, coinciding with the Gallery’s 50th anniversary, which also includes A Tangled Thicket, a group show featuring the South Surrey-based Z·inc Artist Collective. Both exhibitions will be celebrated at the ‘Enter the Connectome’ art party on Saturday, April 26, at Surrey Art Gallery. This event takes place from 6 to 9pm, and attendance is free.  

About the artists 

Varvara & Mar is an artist duo established in 2009 by Dr. Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet Sola. Their collaborative practice delves into the intersections of art, technology, and society, crafting artworks that probe the profound transformations of the information age. Embracing themes such as artificial intelligence, robotics, interactivity, and public engagement, their work explores how digital advances reshape social landscapes and individual experiences. 

Their innovative projects, marked by a dynamic blend of conceptual depth and technical expertise, have been showcased at prominent institutions and festivals worldwide. Their exhibitions include the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York, FACT in Liverpool, the Santa Mònica Arts Center in Barcelona, and the Barbican and V&A Museum in London. They've also exhibited at the Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens, Ars Electronica Center in Linz, and ZKM in Karlsruhe, reflecting their widespread international acclaim. 

Dr. Varvara is an Associate Professor of Kinetic Imaging at VCUarts Qatar. Mar is a PhD candidate, a research fellow at BFM Tallinn University, and a visiting researcher at the Center for Humans & Machines at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. Together, Varvara and Mar also serve as Substitute Professors of Spaces as Processes at the Academy of Media Art Cologne. 

About Surrey Art Gallery

Founded in 1975, Surrey Art Gallery presents contemporary art by local, national, and international artists, including digital and audio art. Recognized for its award-winning programs, the Gallery engages children through to adults in ongoing conversations that affect our lives and provides opportunities to interact with artists and the artistic process. The Gallery is located at 13750 88 Avenue in Surrey on the unceded territories of the Salish Peoples, including the q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie), q̓ʷɑ:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ (Kwantlen), and Semiahma (Semiahmoo) nations. Surrey Art Gallery gratefully acknowledges operating funding from the City of Surrey, Province of BC through BC Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Surrey Art Gallery Association.