It is at the intersections of life, especially those we reach without plan or timetable, where the real power happens. Liane Regendanz arrived in Owen Sound with her partner Michael Craig, and found many of those intersections. This week we celebrated Liane's life, and an exhibit of her photography opened at the Grey Gallery. Proceeds will go to the Gitche Namewikwedong Reconciliation Garden, the place many will find another intersection - of past and future - where we will honour our commitment to truth and reconciliation.
From the brochure that accompanies the exhibit, My Heart in India:
Liane was passionately committed to the Gitche Namewikwedong Reconciliation Garden. Situated in Owen Sound’s Kelso Park, in the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, the Garden is a permanent reminder that Indigenous people were here first. We come together at the stone circle to celebrate their culture and spirituality; and to learn and reflect on the legacy of Residential Schools and persistent intergenerational trauma. The goal of this exhibition is to raise funds to help complete this project.
Liane would be proud that the Garden is close to completion, already working its magic. The circle is in place, the grandmother and grandfather stones are radiating their energy, and a spectacular, four-metre Sturgeon sculpture is on its way. All this requires funding. Hence, the exhibit’s 46 photos are for sale at Grey Gallery, with proceeds directed to the Reconciliation Garden.
All the photographs are “archival pigment prints” created from digital images to museum standards to guarantee longevity. The prints were made by Anna Prior, while the museum-standard mattes were made by Kamelia Pezeshki.
The photographs will be exhibited at Grey Gallery, 883 2nd Ave. E, Owen Sound, from September 22 to October 23, noon to 5 pm Wednesday to Saturday, and available online greygalleryshop.ca on October 1. By purchasing a photograph either in person or online through the shop (greygalleryshop.ca) you will be supporting a cause dear to Liane, and vital to the Owen Sound community.
From the curator:
Liane Regendanz was an adventurous woman with deep empathy and boundless love for her fellow humans. While she grew up in Toronto, her curiosity and thirst to learn about the world took her on a lifelong journey of exploration and self-discovery. Through courses at an alternative school, she developed an early interest in photography. As a rebellious teenager, but displaying a maturity beyond her years, she trekked to Europe, and at age 20 she travelled on her own to India and stayed for six months, learning the sitar.
Liane’s ‘young wandering spirit’ was nourished by India’s spirituality. She was touched by the humility and generosity of its people but disturbed by widespread poverty and inequality. This inspired her, when she returned to Toronto, to pursue a career as a community worker and social justice activist. Liane is remembered as the single-minded leader of St. Stephen’s Community House where, as Executive Director for eighteen years, she left a legacy of caring and advocacy.
The photographs in this exhibition are from her second trip to India (2005-06), mostly to the city of Varanasi, on the banks of the River Ganges, in Uttar Pradesh state. One of the most ancient continuously inhabited cities in the world, Varanasi is also the most sacred city in Hinduism.
Following in the footsteps of centuries of pilgrims, Liane was drawn by her quest for spiritual fulfilment. “Every moment is a spectacular photograph, almost impossible to describe,” Liane wrote in her journal. “That inner voice, I have been here before … it’s like blood running through my veins … my heart, my heart in India.”
In essence, photography is about communication, a visual language; Liane’s photographs are a testament to her ability to speak this language. Building 
on her affinity for the people, she was drawn to workers, especially women workers, and those forgotten individuals whose humble labours go unnoticed. She captured the interplay of light, along with the ordinary moments of people’s daily lives. Her key talent lay in recognizing that fleeting moment-in-time when the ordinary is revealed as sublime. For Liane, a photograph was like a poem, a haiku written with a camera.
Liane and I established the parameters of the project, working together virtually during the pandemic as a long selection process began. Sadly, she passed away on June 5th, a victim of multiple cancers that she bravely fought for ten years. Michael Craig and I resolved to complete the project. From a total of over 700, we offer you 46 superb images.
Vincenzo Pietropaolo, Curator
Toronto, August 2021
www.vincepietropaolo.com
