The Royal Ontario Museum has temporarily closed its First Nations historical exhibition space after conversations with guests at the recent opening of an art exhibition by Cree artist Kent Monkman. “We came to feel that at a moment when we were welcoming Indigenous voices in a fuller way, we should be looking at all of the ways we present Indigenous material,” the Toronto museum's director Josh Basseches told the Globe and Mail. “We ended up feeling like we wanted to move immediately on this.” He said dioramas featuring costumed mannequins no longer seem appropriate. The space will be closed for a few months.
Curators from the Art Gallery of Ontario went shopping at Art Toronto late last month, acquiring 17 works and introducing several new artists to their collection. The acquisitions include two photographs by Nigerian-born artist Isabel Okoro, now based in Toronto, and a sculpture by Vancouver artist Jan Wade. Also acquired were a trio of sculptures by Mi’kmaq artist Ursula Johnson, two photographs and two multimedia sculptures by Inuvialuk artist Kablusiak, and a beaded installation by Niap, an Inuit artist. Other works were by Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Alicia Henry, Caroline Monnet, Emmanuelle Léonard and General Idea. The art fair at the Toronto Convention Centre saw participation by 90 galleries from across Canada and beyond.
The Eastside Cultural Crawl runs Nov. 17 to Nov. 20 in Vancouver with some 450 artists opening their studios and displaying their work to the public. The festival, produced by the Eastside Arts Society, has been running for more than 25 years. It features work by painters, jewellers, sculptors, furniture makers, weavers, potters, printmakers, photographers and glassblowers, ranging from emerging to internationally established artists. You can find the full program here.
The Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award is expanding its support to Inuit artists, including a top prize of $20,000. The award, overseen by the Inuit Art Foundation and the Winnipeg Art Gallery, will name a long list of 10 artists, who each receive $2,500. Five finalists will receive $5,000 each and participate in a group exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery next year. The winner receives a fully funded residency in 2024 and a solo exhibition the following year, with an accompanying publication and acquisition. The changes were made possible by funding from RBC Emerging Artists. The long list for the next award will be announced in March.
The 85/5 Visual Arts Foundation in Vancouver has announced the five emerging artists to receive this year’s Portfolio Prize: Durrah Alsaif, Mathew Andreatta, Manuel Axel Strain, Rebecca Bair and Bracken Hanuse Corlett. Each artist will receive $6,000. The prize was founded by five friends who graduated from Emily Carr University in 1985 – Douglas Coupland, Graham Gillmore, Angela Grossmann, Attila Richard Lukacs and Derek Root. This year's jurors – Lisa Baldissera, Nya Lewis and Elliott Ramsey – selected recipients based on nominations from the arts community.
The war in Ukraine is the focus of an Edmonton exhibition that opened Saturday at the Alberta Council for the Ukrainian Arts. It features an installation by Ruslan Kurt that that uses actual doors from the war-torn region to evoke the terrible cost of Russia's invasion nine months ago. Kurt, a Ukrainian-born artist based in Toronto, wanted to tell the stories of the millions of Ukrainians forced to leave their homes. The show includes doors from hospitals, schools and homes. Some are burned, others are riddled by bullet holes or shattered. The exhibition continues to Nov. 25.
Money, money! Among the shows coming up next year at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto is Defaced! Money, Conflict, Protest, which explores how artists have used currency for social commentary. The show is slated for the summer and comes from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Britain. Meanwhile, on the calendar for April is the Canadian première of MoMA's survey exhibition of Wolfgang Tillmans. Also watch for shows by Inuk artist Ningiukulu Teevee and Inuvialuk artist David Ruben Piqtoukun. Other shows will look at American photographer Arnold Newman, the work of Mary Cassatt and Helen McNicoll, and recently acquired photography. Find details of the full line-up here.
Loch Gallery in Calgary is holding an exhibition and sale of art from the collection of Gale and Henry Beaumont. The show, which runs from Nov. 19 to Dec. 19, will feature more than 400 works by some 100 artists. Henry, raised in Lethbridge, Alta., graduated from law school at the University of Alberta in 1956. He practiced with the Calgary firm Beaumont Church until his retirement in 2015 at the age of 83. In the 1970s, he helped establish the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. The sale features work by Maxwell Bates, David Blackwood, Illingworth Kerr, A.C. Leighton, Marion Nicoll, W.J. Phillips, Jack Shadbolt, John Snow and others. Works can be purchased in person or online at lochgallery.myshopify.com.
The Salt Spring National Art Prize is gearing up for its next contest with news that it has named its 2023 jurors. Serving are Northwest Coast artist Richard Hunt, Montreal gallerist Pierre-François Ouellette, Vancouver curator Helga Pakasaar and Gaëtane Verna, former director of The Power Plant in Toronto. Submissions open Jan. 3, with the deadline is May 31. Finalists will be announced in July and an exhibition opens in September. Winners will be announced in October.
