Adonis Flores’s print Oratoria (2007) is part of the new Arts of One World wing of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, specifically in the “Recasting the Fabric of the Americas” section. Collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Gift of the Louise and Bernard Lamarre family.
The new Stephan Crétier and Stéphany Maillery Wing for the Arts of One World is opening at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The 10 refurbished galleries open to the public on November 9, featuring more than 1,500 objects and works by artists from Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Oceania and the Americas dating from the 4th millennium BCE to today. The 1,025-square-metre wing was conceived of five years ago, and is named “One World” to echo the concepts of Martinique poet and philosopher Édouard Glissant (1928–2011). (press release)
ImagineNative Film and Media Arts Festival in Toronto is now the first Indigenous film festival that can qualify films for Oscar consideration. It is now “a qualifying festival” for the best live action short category, the Canadian Press reports. In this case, any film that wins ImagineNative’s Cynthia Lickers-Sage Award can apply to be nominated for Oscars best live short. (Canadian Press/CBC)
An Anishinaabe drum in the collection of the British Museum should be interpreted and framed as a legal text—but it isn’t, says a leading scholar. In a recent a presentation at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit, York University law professor Jeffrey Hewitt, who is mixed-descent Cree, said one interpretation of the artwork is that it communicates an Anishinaabe law, but currently it “is only treated like a museum object, not like a legal text.” (Nunatsiaq News)
Could a National accessArts Centre be taking shape? JS Ryu, CEO of Calgary’s Indefinite Arts Centre, which is Canada’s oldest and largest disability arts centre, is looking to transform “the site surrounding IAC into the National accessArts Centre. Partly inspired by his time working at the Banff Centre, [Ryu] envisions NAC as a national destination for disability arts, purpose-built to be meaningfully accessible to everyone.” (Avenue Magazine’s “40 Under 40”)
The Mountain Standard Time Performative Art Biennial in Calgary has announced some of its 2020 partners and artists. RAVY Bienniale (Yaoundé, Cameroun), Asiatopia (Bangkok, Thailand), Kamias Special Projects (Quezon City, Philippines), and Catalyst Arts (Belfast, Northern Ireland), as well as Calgary organizations Stride Gallery, the New Gallery, TRUCK Contemporary Art and Untitled Art Society have curated a biennial artists roster. All eight artists will be sent on a fully funded residency, and the first four artists to be announced are KC Wei, Landry Mbassi, Stephanie Comilang and Halie Finney. (press release)
The Ottawa Art Gallery and the Ottawa Hospital are launching a “transformative art and wellness partnership.” Creative Wellness, launched last night, is multi-year collaboration between the hospital and the gallery that connects artists and communities with hospital researchers and clinicians to create original works of art to enhance common and clinical spaces. It aims to increase awareness of patient care at the Ottawa Hospital, incorporate art as part of the patient experience and further develop art as therapy programming. (press release)
Michael Gibson Gallery in London, ON, is celebrating 35 years in the art business. “In November 1984, I opened on what was then known as the Talbot Block,” Gibson says in an emailed statement. “I have been very fortunate to call London home and have worked hard to build a nationally recognized art gallery with nationally recognized artists. London has been a great base to work from, as the arts community is vibrant and loyal.” (press release)
