Places We Live In: An Artists Feature

The exhibition Places We Live In delves deep into the natural world, our place in it and its place in us, from the point of view of artists in the AGGV’s permanent collection. In this article, we will look at a few of the Canadian artists featured in this exhibition, whose works impel us to look closely at the microcosm of life on earth, to look up to the sky and vast cosmos above us, and to look around at our natural surroundings that support life on earth.

10 Things To Know About Decorative Themes in Chinese Blue and White Porcelain

By Audrey Wang, AGGV Volunteer

With its origins in China, this quarter’s column of “10 Things To Know” will look at Chinese blue and white porcelain and its myriad decorative themes. Behind every design element are symbolic meanings relevant to the maker or to the eventual owner of the piece. What does each theme signify and what does that tell us about the piece?

The Art of the Install: Finding Flow When Hanging Art

Although learning the art of installation can take some time to get comfortable with, it doesn’t need to be daunting! In November, the AGGV’s Art Rental & Sales Consultant Karen Cooper spoke to a group of gallery community members, breaking down the ins and outs of hanging artwork and how to gain confidence in your install. Now you can learn too! Here, Karen shares her advice and experience as to the art of the install.

Celebrating Emily Carr’s 150th Birth Anniversary

By Audrey Wang, AGGV Volunteer

December 13th, 2021, marks the 150th anniversary of Emily Carr’s birth. Beyond this commemoration, the AGGV’s exhibition Emily Carr: Seeing + Being Seen features artworks that carry significance that is as relevant today as they were nearly a century ago when they were first made.

Rethinking Emily: The Responsibility We Carry

By Mel Granley, Guest Curator

Emily Carr has become almost synonymous with the Pacific Northwest; her work being displayed year-round in different exhibition contexts to ensure the satisfaction of visitors to the AGGV. This drive to see her work is directed by the idea of checking off a list of great and thoroughly known artists within the artistic canon. The issue? The “art canon” is heavily Euro-Western centered and very keenly demonstrates a bias for settler-European art, while largely failing to acknowledge the artistic merits of historic and contemporary BIPOC artists.

School Workshop, Snapshot: Mandalas, Music and Movement

By Alex Chen

“I don’t sing.” That’s what a majority of students admitted to me during a school workshop.  However, perhaps to their surprise, by the end of our hour-long workshop, the students were not only using their voices and bodies to make art, they were taking chances expressing their artistic observations, collaborating with their peers, and having fun doing so! In this year’s iteration of the AGGV’s School Workshops, spanning October to December, Jennifer Van de Pol (AGGV Educator for School and Family Programs), a class of UVic Indigenous Education Students headed by Dr. Carmen Rodriguez de France, and myself visited young learners in schools across the Greater Victoria Area to delve into the works by local visual artist Dylan Thomas (Qwul’thilum) as well as my own artistic practice as a classical musician and opera artist in Victoria.

Holding Ground: Intergenerational Legacies of Art and Resilience 

By Nikki Sanchez 

Before a global pandemic sent the world into wave after wave of lockdowns, there was a different wave of change rolling across Canada — a unified solidarity that was shutting down business as usual. It was a wave of solidarity with the Wetsu’wet’en communities of Unist’ot’en and Gidimt’en, who were under military occupation in their own territory as they stood in opposition of the Coastal Gas Pipeline. When Wet’suwet’en matriarchs called for the country to stand in solidarity with them, their call was heard from Vancouver to Winnipeg, Tyendinaga to Tkaranto. 

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