Thirza Schaap, Carnival, from the series Plastic Ocean, 2017–ongoing. Courtesy the artist. This work had been scheduled to be a public installation as part of the Contact Photography Festival.
Part of the Contact Photography Festival will be happening online this spring. The website for the annual festival went live this week—with the promise that it will be hosting more art than usual. Its public installation program and other events will open “on a case-by-case basis once public safety is assured and schedules are confirmed.” (press release)
An anonymous donor is providing aid for older Ottawa artists. The Ottawa Arts Council and PAL Ottawa are administering the $50,000 fund to provide short-term relief to 50 local freelance professional artists and arts workers aged 55-plus. The deadline to apply is April 3. (Ottawa Arts Council, Ottawa Citizen)
Stefanie Hessler has been appointed curator of the next MOMENTA Biennale de l’image. Drawing on a theme titled “Sensing Nature,” Hessler, currently the director of Kunsthall Trondheim in Norway, “will explore earth systems as narrators of their own logic.” It’s set to take place at various Montreal venues in September and October 2021. (MOMENTA)
Art Gallery of Windsor and Plug In ICA announce new staff. Jennifer Matotek has been appointed executive director of the Art Gallery of Windsor. She was most recently director/curator of the Dunlop Art Gallery in Regina, and has worked at the Toronto International Film Festival and Harbourfront Centre. Luther Konadu is now public programs coordinator at Plug In ICA in Winnipeg, and Madeleine Dafoe is their new communications coordinator. Both Konadu and Dafoe previously worked for the organization—Konadu in administration and youth program coordination, and Dafoe as communications intern. (Art Gallery of Windsor, Plug In ICA)
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is using a Listener-in-Residence project to help seniors under lockdown. Victoria-based artist Libby Oliver has been working as the AGGV’s Listener-in-Residence at Luther Court, a non-profit senior care home, to build relationships through conversations with residents. With the care home now under lockdown, Oliver and the AGGV are inviting the public to help make volunteer calls to seniors. (AGGV)
Galleries and businesses are donating personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 crisis. The National Gallery of Canada recently delivered 350 masks and 1,650 pairs of nitrile gloves to the Ottawa Hospital; Superframe in Toronto has provided free Plexiglas barriers to essential businesses while they also work on creating protective boxes for doctors to use when intubating patients. (@natgallerycan, @natgallerycan, @superframe)
