The past few weeks putting this exhibit together has been an amazing experience. I was blown away at the response and the amount of people who participated in the anonymous apology submissions. Reading them all was thrilling, funny and at times, heartbreaking.  It was liberating and very scary to put my personal apologies out there, but many people told me that helped them be honest and authentic about what they were sorry for. I want to send out a huge thank you to all who participated. My hope is that you too may feel empowered by releasing your apologies and regrets out into the world. It made me realize we are more alike than we are different.

For those that weren’t able to attend the in-person Exhibit in Toronto Tuesday night, here is the ‘Sorry Exhibit’ online version :)-

Starting with Sorry…

Sorry Exhibit is a crowdsourced interactive Canadian Art Exhibit created and curated by Riva Di Paola.

It is composed of my personal apologies, along with hundreds of anonymous apologies received through this online form- https://goo.gl/forms/ivL7kdEqBerkHIiw1

Hundreds of apologies and regrets are sifted through and curated carefully. 

The apologies and regrets are separated. This demonstrates the difference between a true
apology, versus an apology to oneself. The true apologies are black and white. Handwritten on white cardstock in black ink. The regrets are written in black ink on varying shades of grey.

 

All of the cards are folded, as though they have been stuffed in an envelope and sent away. The envelope flaps conceal some of the apologies, so they may only be seen straight on.

 

 

 

Then, I invited people to experience the apologies together at the HashTag Gallery in Toronto.

 

People were encouraged to continue to participate by privately handwriting their own apology.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I had moved on”

“I’m sorry for not believing in myself at cheerleader try outs in grade 8 – only to be tracked down in grade 10 asking why I gave up. I’m sorry for not loving you. I’m sorry for making you think I did. I’m sorry for sometimes being a mean person. I’m sorry for not coming to visit. I’m sorry that it’s too hard to see you in your frail state. “

“I’m sorry I gave away my blue overall-shorts with sweet white flowers.”

“I’m sorry I lied. A lot. I’m sorry I put us through that. I’m sorry I can’t be your friend anymore. I’m sorry I’m so bad at confrontation that I let everyone walk all over me. Until I snap. I’m sorry that we can’t hang out any more. I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry.”

 

 

“I’m sorry for taking your Kenny Rogers concert ticket. I was a spoiled kid, and you would’ve loved the show.”

 

I invite you to scroll through the #WallOfApologies here-

Photos by: Joselynn Maas

Read more about how the exhibit came to be, here- https://gorubygarnay.com/2016/09/14/starting-with-sorry/

I urge people to continue to participate. I’m going to leave the anonymous online form open and would love to hear from you. This exhibit is far from over.

Thank you to CHIN Radio TV, CBC Here & Now, Metro Morning and TV Toronto for covering this quintessential Canadian event. Check back soon for interview links!