For centuries, people have created small objects and shrines to keep the people, places, beliefs, and memories they cherish close to them. From tiny devotional objects and amulets to keepsake boxes and personal shrines, these little collections have helped us carry pieces of what matters with us.

The pocket altar is a modern, creative take on this timeless idea. It doesn't need to be religious or follow any particular rules. A pocket altar can hold a photograph, a found object, a tiny drawing, a note, a dried flower—or anything else that carries meaning.

Think of it as a tiny home for a memory: something made with your hands, filled with things you love, and small enough to carry wherever you go.

In this workshop, we'll create our own pocket altars as a way to explore creativity, honour our memories, and keep a little piece of what matters close at hand.

About the Artist:

Laura is a multidisciplinary artist based in Montreal whose practice explores memory, migration, material culture, and the relationship between land and belonging. Working across ceramics, textiles, community workshops, and bio-material experimentation, she creates objects and installations that function as vessels for stories, collective rituals, and emotional landscapes. Her work often draws from natural and reclaimed materials — including clay, fibres, plants, and mycelium — to investigate themes of transformation, care, and interconnectedness. Through participatory and research-based approaches, she is interested in how craft traditions, domestic gestures, and communal making can become spaces of healing, resistance, and cultural continuity..