Two Artists to Receive Honorary Degrees at Simon Fraser University

Artists Zainub Verjee and Stan Douglas will receive honorary doctorates from Simon Fraser University later this year. 

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Zainub Verjee (courtesy SFU)

Verjee, also a writer, critic, arts administrator and public intellectual, is the executive director of Galeries Ontario/Ontario Galleries, a voice for galleries and museums in Canada. She has published commentaries in Galleries West, most recently a reflection on recent controversies related to figurative representations in Islamic art.

SFU said Verjee, who will receive the honour at spring convocation on June 6, has "raised the level of cultural policy debate and discussion on arts in Canada and beyond." 

Originally from Kenya, Verjee has a Bachelor's degree in business administration and economics from Simon Fraser University.

Her art has been shown at the Venice Biennale and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others. She has received a 2020 Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, and an honorary doctorate from OCAD University in Toronto.

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Stan Douglas (courtesy SFU)

Douglas, who will receive his honorary doctorate at fall convocation on Oct. 5, is one of Canada's most acclaimed contemporary artists. His film and photography work has focused on the role of media in shaping collective memory.

Douglas splits his time between Vancouver and Los Angeles, where he is chair of the graduate program at the ArtCenter College of Design. He is a graduate of Emily Carr University in Vancouver, which granted him an honorary degree in 2009. 

His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Vancouver Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Canada, among others.

He has had solo shows at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the Serpentine Gallery in London and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. He represented Canada at the 2022 Venice Biennale. 

Douglas has received the Scotiabank Photography Award and the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement.  

"Collectively, his work reflects intellectual and artistic freedom, and pivotal moments in the history of particular spaces," says SFU.

They are among a dozen recipients of honorary SFU degrees announced Wednesday.

Source: SFU