Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
3 November 2020 Vol 5 No 22 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2020
From the Editor
Portia Priegert
This issue sees the launch of the first story in a special – and timely – three-part series, Art & Healing, which looks at the role the visual arts can play in the health of individuals and communities.
This first part, by longtime arts journalist Paul Gessell, focuses on art galleries in two Western Canadian hospitals, one in Edmonton and the other in Winnipeg.
It's challenging to operate any gallery during a global pandemic, but one housed in a hospital has many additional layers of complexity, as Leona Herzog, the director and curator of the Buhler Gallery in Winnipeg's St. Boniface Hospital, explains in our story.
Paul did his research before the second wave of the pandemic started to spike, so after learning of a COVID-19 outbreak at the Winnipeg hospital last week via CBC News, I reached out to Leona for an update.
She told me the Buhler had closed to the public, although staff and patients were still able to view the show by Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau. Then, later that week, public health officials issued a red alert in Winnipeg that forced wider closures of galleries and museums. Let's hope it's not a harbinger of what's to come elsewhere in Western Canada.
The second part of Art & Healing, which will run in our next issue, explores the role art therapy can play in mental well-being, while the final part looks at how mental wellness can be supported by social practice – working collaboratively with communities on participatory art projects aimed at promoting social or political change.
We decided to spread the series over three issues so we can continue to keep you fully updated on the latest regional exhibitions, including shows by artists from the African diaspora.
Galleries across the West have been supporting calls for equity by organizing the most exhibitions by Black artists that I've seen since taking over as editor of Galleries West in 2012. In this issue, our choice is a Vancouver show by Montreal-based Anna Binta Diallo, who was born in Senegal and raised in Manitoba.
In Alberta, Tyler Stewart writes about Lauren Crazybull's work as Alberta's first official artist in residence, including a mapping project that addresses Indigenous place names. He describes his efforts to avoid the settler tendency to lazily scan unfamiliar Indigenous words, pointing to the need for care and attention in decolonizing actions.
Crazybull's show is part of decolonization efforts underway at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery in Lethbridge, one of two galleries to receive an Indigenous name in recent days. Its Blackfoot name is Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin, which relates to the telling of new stories of the Blackfoot through images and writings.
Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Art Gallery's Inuit Art Centre was given an Inuktitut name, Qaumajuq, pronounced HOW-ma-yourq, meaning “it is bright, it is lit." The gallery itself received an Anishinaabemowin name: Biindigin Biwaasaeyaah, pronounced BEEN-deh-gen Bi-WAH-say-yah. It means “come on in, the dawn of light is here” or "the dawn of light is coming."
Also in this issue is a story about Brazilian-born feminist artist Tamires Para, who spent her recent residency at Harcourt House, an artist-run centre in Edmonton, researching the shadowy world of men's groups, including Incel and Men Going Their Own Way.
As well, Alberta art dealer Douglas Maclean reports on the national auction scene, including the growing number of online sales.
Our final piece looks at how another move to a digital model, this time by Canada's largest art fair, Art Toronto, is playing out in the West.
I'm curious how well this geographically diffuse virtual fair will work for Western Canadian gallerists, artists and audiences, and would love to hear about your experiences, including attendance and sales. If enough people respond (an email to editor@gallerieswest.ca would be great, or even a quick comment below) I will pull together a report.
Looking ahead to the next issue of Galleries West, expect reports on the opening exhibition at Ociciwan, a new Indigenous-run art centre in Edmonton, as well as the Saskatoon half of Borderline, the biennial that this year expanded across Alberta's provincial boundaries.
Keep well until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Paul Gessell, Douglas Maclean, Agnieszka Matejko, Tyler J. Stewart, John Thomson
We acknowledge the support of the Government of Alberta Media Fund, the Government of Canada Special Measures for Journalism Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts.
