Piles of illustrations have accumulated over the past few months, as encouraged by co-curators Mel Granley and Jaimie Isaac, of all sorts of mushrooms and fungi inspired by the exhibition. Viewers are welcomed to share their artworks to showcase the intrinsic communal feeling inspired by our favourite symbiotic fungal friends.
Marianne Nicolson, Gerry Ambers and Siku Allooloo share a glimpse into the layers of conversations that unfolded throughout the exhibition, Woven In: Indigenous Women’s Activism and Media.
By Mel Granley, AGGV Assistant Curator (Michif and mixed-European)
The annual festivities of National Indigenous Peoples Day provide an opportunity for everyone in so-called “Canada” to embrace and celebrate the peoples who have tended to this land for time immemorial. Historically, this event has existed as a way for Indigenous people to uplift and show pride for our cultures in the face of discrimination and oppression. Today, while Indigenous people continue to push against those forces, June 21st has become a day for everyone to come together and consider their positions on the lands they live, and to celebrate the nations who have stewarded these beautiful lands for generations upon generations.
By Mel Granley, AGGV Assistant Curator
If you’re excited by all things mycorrhizal, then the AGGV’s upcoming exhibition Symbiosis is the show for you!
By Rain Cabana Boucher
In 2021, I was walking to my studio when I received a call from the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. I was unsure what the call could be about and was taken aback when I heard that I was a recipient of the Takao Tanabe Prize…
Art is everywhere: salon style walls, stacked on the floor, floating on shelves, brimming in boxes and perched on the desk. It’s a tidy and carefully organized inventory of eye candy. It is the dream office, and it belongs to our Art Rental and Sales Consultant, Karen Cooper.
By Cheryl L’Hirondelle
kinanāskomitinawaw – thank you to the lək̓ʷəŋən People, whose land the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is on and whose language and stories engage with this place more eloquently and accurately than these words and this short story can ever hope to. Regardless, thank you to the dedicated and caring AGGV staff and curator Jaimie Isaac for inviting me to share.
By Tyrone Elliott
I’ve been Cedar weaving since I was 4. In my mind, there was a distinct disconnect between what I did and what artists did. I’ve come to learn that while not necessarily everything is art, most things, if not everything, can be made into art.
Over the last few months, local film and dance artist, Kemi Craig (also Victoria’s newly selected Artist in Residence, 2022/24) has been hosting the Blackspace Sci-Fi Club at the AGGV. This exciting in-person series has been unfolding in conjunction with Kemi’s AGGV project Blueprints for the Afrofuture, which has (so far) featured a variety of virtual offerings and one in-person evening of sound and music with Hidden Variable.