The Ship of Tolerance

Marking its 20th anniversary and debut presentation in Canada, The Ship of Tolerance at Oakville Galleries brings together over 2,000 local children to create the ship’s sails—sparking dialogue around inclusivity, cultural diversity, respect, and visions for the future. Through collaborative conversations and creative expression, these young participants translate their ideas of tolerance into vibrant paintings, shaping a shared vision of understanding and possibility. The ship itself was constructed with the expertise of professional shipbuilders from Manchester, highlighting the project’s spirit of collaboration across generations and communities.

The Ship of Tolerance is presented in partnership with the Ilya and Emilia Kabakov Foundation and The National Gallery of Canada. The National Gallery of Canada’s National Engagement initiative is generously supported by Michael Nesbitt, with additional funding from the National Gallery of Canada Foundation.

About the Artists

Ilya and Emilia Kabakov have long been amongst the most celebrated artists of their generation, widely known as pioneers of installation art. Ilya Kabakov was born in 1933 in Dnepropetrovsk (now Dnipro) in Ukraine, formerly part of the Soviet Union. When he was eight, he moved to Moscow with his mother. He studied at the Art School of Moscow, and at the V.I. Surikov Art Institute. Artists in the Soviet Union were obliged to follow the officially approved style, Socialist Realism. Wanting to retain his independence, Ilya supported himself as a children’s book illustrator from 1955 to 1987, while continuing to make his own paintings and drawings. As an ‘unofficial artist’, he worked in the privacy of his Moscow attic studio, showing his art only to a close circle of artists and intellectuals and becoming the leader of the Moscow Conceptualist movement.

Ilya was not permitted to travel outside the Soviet Union until 1987, when he was offered a fellowship at the Grazer Kunstverein, Austria. The following year he visited New York, and resumed contact with Emilia Lekach. Born in 1945, Emilia trained as a classical pianist at Music College in Irkutsk, and studied Spanish Language and Literature at Moscow University before leaving the USSR in 1973. Ilya and Emilia began their artistic partnership in the late 1980s, and were married in 1992. Together, they have produced a prolific output of total installations and other conceptual works addressing ideas of utopia, dreams, and fear, all reflective of the universal human condition. Their work has been exhibited world-wide in leading museums and biennials. ArtNews Magazine listed the Kabakovs amongst the ten most important living artists in the world. 

Ilya and Emilia Kabakov have collaborated together since 1988. Sadly, Ilya passed away in May of 2023. Emilia continues realizing their projects into the future.