Cardially Yours
An exhibition by Charles Romero Venzon featuring St. Boniface Hospital’s Cardiac Sciences
Opening reception: 6 – 9 pm, Thursday 23 January 2025
24 January – 23 May 2025
Artist talk 6.30 pm, 13 March 2025
Workshop by Charles Romero Venzon 11.30 – 1pm, Thursday 8 May, GBG. More details to follow.
Special presentation by Emily Phillips, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Cardiac Sciences Manitoba. Making Meaning of Early Mobility After Heart Surgery Though Body Mapping: An Artistic Understanding of the Experience. 12pm, Thursday 15 May, GBG.
Exhibition essay. Click here for French version. Click here for Tagalog version.
Located almost in the centre of our chests is a tough nugget of muscle—the heart. There is no other part of the body that has had as many songs sung and tales told about it. This exhibition is part of that tradition; its story is rooted in a place that strives to provide the best possible care for unwell hearts—the Cardiac Sciences of St. Boniface Hospital. Here, lens-based artist, Charles Romero Venzon, documented staff and physicians over several months performing many tasks in service to people’s hearts—from bed-making to surgery prep. Through this work he also explores his personal connection to the department—in 1995 his father’s life was saved by Cardiac Sciences—and this expanded the project beyond documentation into the life of his own family.
This project was commissioned by GBG Curator hannah_g and generously funded by the St. Boniface Hospital Foundation.
In Venzon’s words:
Cardially Yoursreflects a deeply personal and transformative chapter in my family’s life. On December 15, 1995, my father, Claro, underwent a 14.5-hour open-heart surgery to repair an ascending aortic dissection. The procedure involved replacing his aortic valve, root, and ascending aorta, as well as performing a single-vessel bypass to his right coronary artery. Thanks to the expertise of Dr. E. A. Pascoe and the dedication of his team of nurses and technicians at St. Boniface Hospital, the surgery was a success. At 56 years old, my father emerged from this ordeal, and we were blessed with 21 more cherished years with him.
Since his passing on June 6, 2019, countless moments have unfolded in my life that I wish I could have shared with him. I long for him to have witnessed how much his grandchildren—Sofia Horas Lopes-Venzon, Isla Vida Hazel Waller, and Beckett Carlos Waller—have grown. Most of all, I wish he could have met and loved the grandchild he never had the chance to know: Inèz Claro Danielle Venzon.
The illustrative work in this exhibition was inspired from the drawing exercises Inèz and I often do together. On the same sheet of paper, we each create our own versions of objects from her toy collection. I often imagine my dad and Inèz doing this activity together, their laughter filling the room as they compare their creations. T o honor Claro’s connection with all his grandchildren to him, I invited them to collaborate on drawings of his objects and articles of clothing that are cherished by me and other family members. These pieces weave together love, legacy, and the enduring bonds that link generations.
Cardially Yoursis both a tribute and an expression of gratitude. It honors Dr. Pascoe, his team, and the ongoing work of St. Boniface Hospital and Cardiac Sciences, whose commitment continues to save lives every day.
This project aims to encourage people to prioritize heart health; to encourage them to visit their doctor and undergo any necessary diagnostic tests like EKGs, stress tests, or echocardiograms. These measures can be life-saving, preventing more severe measures involving invasive surgeries such as fitting pacemakers, stents, or valve replacements.
By inviting you into the spaces where life-saving procedures take place, sharing my personal experience with medical requisitions, and highlighting the invaluable contributions of nurses, doctors, clerks, management, and service workers. I hope to show the medical world here is welcoming, compassionate, and connects so many of us.
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