Major exhibition of Yoko Ono's works opening at Vancouver Art Gallery

Vancouverites can celebrate the late John Lennon's birthday this Saturday at the launch of a new art exhibition featuring collaborative works the Beatles star worked on with Yoko Ono, the world-renownedartist and love of his life.

Growing Freedom: The instructions of Yoko Ono / The art of John and Yoko opens Oct.9 at the Vancouver Art Gallery and is a major survey exhibition celebrating the work of Ono, aconceptual and performance artist.

Organized into two parts, the first section invites viewers to participate in the creative process by followingtext instructions provided by Ono and, in a way, collaborate with her on some of her famed pieces.

This includes mending broken ceramics (Mend Piece,1966/2021), hammering nails into a canvas (Painting to Hammer a Nail, 1966/2021) and writing about their mothers on a sticky note and attaching it to the gallery wall (My Mommy is Beautiful, 2004/2021).

The second part of the show featurescollaborative work by Ono and Lennon on the subject of peace, including Bed-ins for Peace, which were filmed non-violent protests against war undertaken by the couple in 1969.

As the Vietnam War raged, the duo held two week-long performances where they sat in bed together.Derived from the idea of peaceful sit-in protests, the first was held in Amsterdam and the second in Montreal.

"The one thing that brought them together ... was to work for peace," said co-curator Cheryl Sim.

The exhibition is a dream come true for Sim, who contacted Ono with a written note in 2017 asking if the artist would be interested in having such a show staged in Vancouver. She was game.

"It's just all come together in a beautiful way," said Sim.

Two other installations connected to the exhibition include Arising and Water Event.

The former is an invitation from Ono to women to submit a picture of their eyes and a writtentestament about harm they have endured because of their gender.

The latter involves a number of local Indigenous artists invited by Ono to create a vessel that can hold water. According to Sim, Ono requested to work with these artists to reflect the significance of water to these communities.

Growing Freedom: The instructions of Yoko Ono / The art of John and Yokoruns until May 1.

COVID-19 safety protocols are in place including the need to book tickets in advance and wear a face mask when visiting the galley.