Earth from Punjab anchors new Toronto sculpture at Sikh temple
Soil carried from Punjab, India now forms part of a new outdoor sculpture in Scarborough, Toronto.
Toronto-based interdisciplinary artist Nirbhai (nep) Singh Sidhu created the large-scale work, titled “A Deathless Potential In Remembrance By You” (2026). It was commissioned by the Toronto Biennial of Art in Toronto and presented as part of the 2026 biennial, a free city-wide exhibition held every two years, according to The Art Newspaper.
The work stands permanently on the grounds of the Scarborough Gurdwara in Scarborough, Toronto. A gurdwara is a Sikh place of worship. It will stay there after the biennial closes.
Its core is a rectangular brick structure. Earth brought to Canada from the Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib site in Punjab, India was mixed with the bricks that form that structure. The form refers to the entombment of the sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
The sculpture centres on Jivan Mukti, a concept in Sikh thought that describes being spiritually liberated while still alive. The Biennial describes the work as giving physical shape to that idea.
Sidhu, born in 1981, works through labour-based knowledge production, Sikh interiority and blood memory, according to the Toronto Biennial of Art. In plain terms, his practice links hands-on making with inner Sikh life and inherited memory.
The Biennial states its mission is to make contemporary art accessible to everyone. It commissions artists to make new work in dialogue with Toronto’s local contexts, as described on its official site.
What makes this stand out is where people will meet it. The Biennial’s convening programme, “An Arrival, A Grounding, A Departure”, brings attendees together around the commission for a session titled “A Grounding”. For visitors, that means no ticket hall and no white cube. The work lives where worship, gathering and daily life already happen.
