Lauren Crazybull: Wish you were here | KSAHKOMIITAPIIKS, 2024-2025
Feb
20
to Nov 2

Lauren Crazybull: Wish you were here | KSAHKOMIITAPIIKS, 2024-2025

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Lauren Crazybull
Wish you were here

February 20—November 2, 2025

What is at stake when sacred Indigenous sites are commodified and commercialized within a tourism-based economy? What would it mean to access these sites today – both as Indigenous people and settlers – and to bear witness to the history of these lands?

Lauren Crazybull: Wish you were here reflects on our relationship to the ancestral lands that we inhabit, looking at the ways in which these familial and ancient places are transformed into heritage tourism sites that are both an extension and a reflection of the slow violence that is etched into their core.

In the summer of 2024, Crazybull visited a number of sacred sites on Blackfoot territory, including the Majorville Medicine Wheel and the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage site. Though far from being a tourist herself, Crazybull questions what it means to feel – or be treated – like a tourist on the land that her ancestors lived on for millennia. Subverting touristic tropes encountered on her trip – such as information signs, directional signage, and postcard imagery – the works in this exhibition ask us to rethink our relationship to these ancient sites, and to think of all of Blackfoot territory, including the land on which Contemporary Calgary is located, as equally sacred.

It is often said that Turtle Island is a haunted place – haunted by the loss, grief, and erasures that plague it as a result of settler colonial violence. In this new body of work, Crazybull attempts to grapple with this sense of loss, particularly the loss of ancestral knowledge, forging new connections to these sites – as well as her own family and relatives – by dismantling colonial frameworks of wayfinding, and replacing them with visual information that disrupts and challenges our understanding of what information is considered to be valuable; how this value is determined; and by whom.

In this exhibition, Crazybull reflects on what the land remembers; the ways in which these memories come to the surface; and the role that our bodies play in summoning these memories.


Upcoming Programs


Program Archive


About the Artist

Lauren Crazybull

Lauren Crazybull is a Niitsítapi (Member of Kainai First Nation), Dené artist currently living in Vancouver, BC. In her work, Lauren considers Indigenous presence and multiplicity through paintings, creating worlds where honest portrayals trespass onto romantic representations of Indigeneity. Working primarily in portraiture, a long-standing genre that is often embedded with an imbalance of power between the artist/viewer and sitter, Crazybull seeks to examine the relationship between herself as an artist and the individuals she paints. Through this ongoing work, Lauren uses her practice as a way to assert her own humanity, and advocate, in diverse and subtle ways, for the innate intellectual, spiritual, creative and political fortitude of Indigenous peoples.


About Ksahkomiitapiiks (Earth Beings)

Ksahkomiitapiiks is an annual residency of dynamic public programs and responsive art works that interrogate and nurture our relationships with the land.

Ksahkomiitapiiks, interpreted in English as “Earth Beings,” is an inclusive term serving as both a noun and a verb; embodying who we are and what we create as guests on this earth. An invocation for a blessing whenever spoken – a call for prayer, witness and inspiration, we are Ksahkomiitapiiks. This series is an introspection on our ever-evolving languages and ordnance of how we choose to honour the land we occupy, as well as our ancestral custodians. 

Ksahkomiitapiiks is developed in consultation with an Advisory Committee of Indigenous Community Members and Elders. This year’s Advisory Committee consisted of Faye HeavyShield, Clarence Wolfleg Sr., and Adrian Stimson, and Star Crop Eared Wolf.

Faye HeavyShield was the mentor of this year’s edition of the residency.


About the Mentor

Faye HeavyShield

Faye HeavyShield, of the Kainai (Blood) Nation, was born and raised on the Blood Reserve in Southern Alberta, and is a fluent speaker of her first language, Blackfoot. 

Heavyshield studied at the Alberta College of Art in 1980-85 and focused her art on images of memory, environment, body and language in a minimalist sense with land and rivers as significant influences.


About the Advisory Committee

Clarence Wolfleg Miiksika’am: Warrior, Leader & Teacher

Clarence Wolfleg is a member of the Siksika (Blackfoot) Nation. Elder Miiksika'am holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Mount Royal University; his exemplary leadership in Calgary, Alberta and Canada is recognized around the city. Born in 1948 in the Siksika Nation, Broken Knife, as he was called as a child, was barely seven years old when he was taken to live at the Old Sun Indian Residential school for five years. It was there he was named Clarence Wolfleg. Miiksika'am went on to attend public school, graduating from Crescent Heights High School in Calgary in 1966. At 17 years old, like his father had done before him, he joined the military, serving in the Canadian Regular Forces with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery where he would earn three medals. After serving in the United Nations' peacekeeping initiatives in Cypress and NATO Forces Continental Europe missions during the Cold War, his military service came to an end and soon after he became a  police officer with the Blackfoot Tribal Police, which he eventually headed. His other roles included directing outpatient services at Siksika Alcohol Services and serving ten terms on the Siksika Nation Council. He was also recognized with a headdress, given the name Miiksika'am, initiated into the Crazy Dog Society, and was bestowed a sacred bundle and warrior pipe from the Horn Society.

Elder Miiksika’am now speaks to younger generations about restorative justice, residential schools, and stories from his past. He is also a spiritual advisor for multiple groups and organizations and played a major role in facilitating the creation of the Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park.


Adrian A. Stimson

Adrian A. Stimson is a member of the Siksika (Blackfoot) Nation. He has a BFA from the Alberta University for the Arts and an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan. Adrian is an interdisciplinary artist who exhibits nationally and internationally. His paintings are primarily monochromatic, often depicting bison in imagined landscapes. Melancholic, memorializing, and sometimes whimsical, they evoke ideas of cultural fragility, resilience, and nostalgia. Stimson is renowned for his performance art, particularly his persona, Buffalo Boy, whom he embodies to consider the hybridization of the Indian, the cowboy, the shaman and Two Spirit being. His installation work predominantly examines the residential school experience; he attended three residential schools in his life and has used the material culture from Old Sun Residential School on his Nation to create works that speak to genocide, loss, and resilience. Stimson was awarded the Governor General Award for Visual and Media Arts in 2018, Reveal Indigenous Arts Award – Hnatyshyn Foundation in 2017, Blackfoot Visual Arts Award in 2009, Alberta Centennial Medal in 2005, and the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2003.

Star Crop Eared Wolf

Star Crop Eared Wolf is a Niitsiitapi multidisciplinary artist and member of the Kainai Nation. She graduated from The University of Lethbridge with a BFA in Native Art and Museum Studies. Working across painting, sculpture, photography, video, and beading, her practice explores themes centred around land, culture, and ongoing sociopolitical issues impacting Indigenous peoples. Star Crop Eared Wolf was the inaugural Ksahkomiitapiiks resident.


Supporters

 
View Event →
Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen: Hummingbird Guided Meditation
Mar
6
to Jun 29

Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen: Hummingbird Guided Meditation

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen
Hummingbird Guided Meditation

March 6—June 29, 2025

Hummingbird Guided Meditation is a cinematic installation presented as a series of meditations on life from the perspective of a hummingbird. The film’s seven scenes correlate to moments along the hummingbird’s yearly migratory ellipse. Super8 footage captured in an overgrown garden in Querétaro, Mexico and slowed to embody the hummingbird’s experience of time and space, opens a channel for speculative empathic exchange between species. From a perspective attenuated to the speed of beating wings, fragments of a second crystallize and blossom into blurred expanses.

Hummingbird Guided Meditation’s accompanying soundtrack is composed from field recordings on cassette tape captured over years and along the hummingbird's migratory path. Sources include the tolling of church bells, friends laughing, freight trains, a rehearsing marching snare, and a coal mine bus tour. Departing from the entanglements of field recording with New Age music and hobby naturalism, the sound is haunted and ambiguous, rarely resolving. Manually looped and interpreted by artifact-prone equipment, the murky, fluttering electronics evoke a magnetic and instinctual world.

Engaging with its namesake methodology, Hummingbird Guided Meditation both creates and problematizes an interspecies imaginary, implicating us through its bejewelled and intoxicating veil.

The digitized Super8 film by Miruna Drăgan was previously exhibited on a small monitor without sound at Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver in 2021 and as a single-channel projection with sound by Maggie Tiesenhausen at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Querétaro in Mexico in 2022. 

This iteration expands into a multi-channel projected installation with spatialized sound and a hummingbird narrator. The words of the hummingbird were written by Marianne Shaneen and voiced by Paulina Macías.


Upcoming Programs


Program Archive


About the Artists

Miruna Drăgan
(she/her)

Miruna Drăgan lives alongside Akokiniskway (the Rosebud River) and teaches in Mohkinstsis (Calgary) on Treaty 7 territory. With an intuitive approach, her work responds to observed synchronicities through a broad range of methods and materials, toward a subjective reimagining of archetypal myths and landscapes. Drăgan’s works come through in dreams or visions, reflecting themes of dispersion and transcendence, both as individual pieces and collectively within immersive environments, while offering themselves as new tools for divination or metaphysics. Recent exhibition venues include Doris McCarthy Gallery at the University of Toronto (2023), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo and Museo Regional de Querétaro (2022), Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver (2021), and Living Art Museum in Reykjavík (2019). Drăgan’s work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Calgary Arts Development, and the Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts). 


Maggie Tiesenhausen
(they/them)

Maggie Tiesenhausen is a northwest Albertan settler music producer and artist. Their auditory works present insurgent, speculative imaginaries, and rural cinema-verité in a complex balance. The sometimes-disparate elements in interplay—found sound, field recordings, barely-audible confessions, amplified noise floor, accidental recordings, amateur performance—bring clouded internal sites into view. Often emotionally charged, atmospheric, and unresolved, these aural worlds summon a cinematic visuality. Tiesenhausen lives in Treaty 8 territory, in the unincorporated hamlet of Demmitt, Alberta. They also share a collaborative singing practice with artist and musician Jen Reimer called Tunnel.



 
View Event →
June Clark: Witness
Apr
3
to Aug 31

June Clark: Witness

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

June Clark
Witness

April 3—August 31, 2025

June Clark: Witness is the first survey in Canada of the Toronto-based artist June Clark, who, since the late 1960s, has developed a unique and groundbreaking practice spanning photo-based work, text, collage, installation, and sculptural assemblages. Born in Harlem, New York, Clark immigrated to Canada in 1968 and subsequently made Toronto her home. The questions of identity formation and their connection to our points of origin fuel her practice. In this deeply personal exhibition, she explores how history, memory, and identity—both individual and collective—have established the familial and artistic lineages that shape her work.

Organized by The Power Plant, June Clark: Witness brings together four significant bodies of work that stretch from the 1990s to the present, many of them seen here for the first time. These include her iconic installations Family Secrets, 1992, and Harlem Quilt, 1997, a series of photo-based works from 2004 titled 44 Thursdays in Paris, Perseverance Suite (a new project the artist began in 2021), and Homage, a collection of sculptural assemblages.

The exhibition also includes a body of work titled Unrequited Love, that is dedicated to Colin Rand Kaepernick, the football quarterback who knelt during the national anthem in 2016 to call attention to the continued violence towards and oppression of Black people in America and around the world. Initially presented at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in tandem with June Clark: Witness at The Power Plant, Unrequited Love will be shown as part of this iteration of Witness at Contemporary Calgary.

June Clark: Witness is curated by Adelina Vlas & Frances Loeffler.

Initiated, organized and circulated by The Power Plant

 

Upcoming Programs


Program Archive


About the Artist

June Clark
(she/her)

June Clark (b. 1941, New York City) has earned national and international recognition for herphoto-based image works, installations and interventions. She holds a BFA and MFA from York University. Clark has had solo exhibitions at the Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto; Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; The Koffler Gallery, Toronto; and Mercer Union, Toronto. Clark’s work has been included in exhibitions at the Polygon Gallery, Vancouver; the University of Toronto Art Museum, Toronto; the Art Gallery of Ontario; the Textile Museum, Toronto; the National Gallery of Canada Ottawa; Agnès b., Paris; and Linda Kirkland Gallery, New York. She has completed residencies at the Studio Museum, Harlem; and the Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto. Her work can be found in the collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario; the Wedge Collection, Toronto; the National Gallery of Canada; the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, New York; the James Van Der Zee Institute, New York; and La galerie du jour agnès b, among others. The artist lives and works in Toronto, Canada.


About the Curators

Adelina Vlas, Head of Curatorial Affairs, The Power Plant
(she/her)

Adelina Vlas is the Head of Curatorial Affairs at The Power Plant, Toronto, where she leads the Exhibitions, Publications, and Public Programs and Outreach teams. At The Power Plant, Vlas has curated Jen Aitken: The Same Thing Looks Different and Meriem Bennani: Life on the CAPS. Previously, Vlas was Associate Curator of Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, where she organized special exhibitions and collection-based shows such as As If Sand Were Stone: Contemporary Latin American Art from the AGO Collection (2017), Hito Steyerl: This Is The Future (2019), and Haegue Yang: Emergence (2020). She was also the in-house curator for Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors (2018). Additionally, she has held curatorial positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Frances Loeffler, Curator of Exhibitions, The Power Plant
(she/her)

Frances Loeffler is the Curator of Exhibitions at The Power Plant, Toronto. Loeffler has held curatorial positions at arts organizations worldwide, including Oakville Galleries, White Cube, and the Liverpool Biennial. She has extensive experience curating numerous exhibitions, working closely with artists such as Etel Adnan, Sascha Braunig, Helen Cammock, David Hartt, Tamara Henderson, Runa Islam, Allison Katz, Leisure (Meredith Carruthers and Susannah Wesley), Tanya Lukin Linklater, Senga Nengudi, Paul P., and Shannon Te Ao, among many others. Many of her exhibitions have explored the crossover between art and language, and she has a specialized interest in the history of artist gardens.



 
View Event →
Presence
Jun
26
to Nov 9

Presence

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Presence

Abbas Akhavan, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal, Christine Howard Sandoval, Jayce Salloum, Linda Sormin, and Badlands Art Department x Lindsay Sutton

June 26—November 9, 2025

Presence is an exhibition about the ways we occupy and organize space, and the role it plays in shaping our sense of community. What makes a space hospitable for some more than others, and how do we find our place within space?

Drawing on the understanding of space as a socio-temporal construct, artists are invited to reflect on space as it is continually produced, contested and transformed. The exhibition is rooted in ideas of placemaking that centers community and networks of collective enterprise as cultural infrastructures in themselves, and is a gathering of projects and artworks that contemplates the evolving definitions of community and collectivity. 

Presence is a window into a larger ecosystem of practices that emphasizes and empowers the ordinary or commonplace. It reflects the ways we are present in the spaces we inhabit. While focusing on lived and embodied experiences, storytelling and popular practices, the artists invite us to journey with them, to trace, explore and expand the ways we think of communities.


Upcoming Programs


Program Archive


About the Curator

Kanika Anand (she/her)

Kanika Anand is the Senior Curator at Contemporary Calgary, Canada and co-curator of the Indian Ceramics Triennale, India. Her curatorial approach focuses on placemaking and social practices that interrogate structures of power and modes of engagement. Through a lens of interstitial discourse, constructs of time, social space, and traces of mobility remain a keen area of interest and research. 

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from Delhi University and a Master’s degree in Art History from the National Museum Institute, India. She has been curatorial fellow at the Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble, France (2012-13) and fellow at the Global Cultural Leadership Programme, organised by the Cultural Diplomacy Platform and the European Cultural Foundation (2018). She has worked extensively with galleries and institutions across North America, France and India and has worked on major exhibitions of work by Yoko Ono, Chitra Ganesh, Diane Arbus, Marcel Dzama, Paola Pivi. She has written for art journals like Ocula, Art India, and Art Basel and has contributed to several books on contemporary art.



 
View Event →
Sound Atlas Festival
Jun
27
to Jun 29

Sound Atlas Festival

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Sound Atlas Festival

June 27–29, 2025
Heather Edwards Theatre

Kick off the Summer with the joyously vibrant Sound Atlas Festival where whimsy meets the unexpected in this year’s SONIC PLAYGROUND, June 27-29. Revel in spectacular performances that amuse and delight, and bask in the charming, daring, evocative and playfully sinful music of 50+ living composers in a veritable feast for curious ears and imagination! SONIC PLAYGROUND brings together the best of contemporary classical music and leading artists, ensembles, and composers in our third annual new music festival. 

Joining our Sonic Playground as a first time Sound Atlas Festival goer? Take 50% off with NEW2SAF tickets, while supplies last!

We are pleased to offer Full Access festival passes and Ambassador passes to all three days and nine distinct sets so you don't miss a note. As always, you can expect world-class performances by local, national, and international artists of music solely by living composers in a dynamic and interactive sandbox of musical possibilities!


 
View Event →
Encompass the Galaxy |  Book Signing with Simone Elizabeth Saunders
Jun
28
12:00 PM12:00

Encompass the Galaxy | Book Signing with Simone Elizabeth Saunders

 

Video by DDG

Encompass the Galaxy
Book Signing with Simone Elizabeth Saunders

June 28
C Shop | 12-2 PM

Meet artist Simone Elizabeth Saunders and celebrate the launch of Encompass the Galaxy at an exclusive book signing in our C Shop. Drop in between 12–2 PM on Saturday, June 28, to purchase your copy and have it signed by the artist.


Simone Elizabeth Saunders. Rise up: Encompass the Galaxy, 2021.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Encompass the Galaxy

Simone Elizabeth Saunders: Encompass the Galaxy is a powerful debut monograph chronicling the rise and resonance of one of Canada’s most compelling contemporary textile artists. Spanning 40 works from 2020 to 2023, this richly illustrated volume captures a pivotal moment in both global history and Saunders’ personal artistic evolution.

During the COVID-19 pandemic and the global rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, Saunders’ vibrant, hand-tufted textiles—steeped in themes of Black womanhood, ancestral memory, and resistance—garnered international acclaim. Through her signature punch needle technique, she transforms fibre into a language of strength, storytelling, and survival.

This publication highlights Saunders' acclaimed series Protect Black Women, Ancestral Bodies, and Verchü and the Chronicles of the Unicorn, offering insight into her practice, process, and unwavering commitment to justice and joy. Alongside a foreword by editor Rachel Anne Farquharson, Encompass the Galaxy features texts by Julie Baumgardner and Julie Crooks, poetry by Saunders herself, and a Q&A between the artist and Contemporary Calgary's Senior Curator Kanika Anand—all of which contextualize Saunders’ work within broader conversations about race, gender, heritage, and materiality.

Published by Contemporary Calgary with generous support from The Flanagan Foundation, RBC, Dr. John Lacey CM, the Canada Council for the Arts, and other community partners, this book is a landmark contribution to the scholarship of Black Canadian art and a testament to Saunders’ enduring vision.

Simone Elizabeth Saunders: Encompass the Galaxy is now available for purchase in person at Contemporary Calgary’s C Shop or online.


Photo by: Devakaran

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Simone Elizabeth Saunders
(she/her)

Simone Elizabeth Saunders is an award-winning Canadian textile artist whose powerful tapestries have attracted the attention of galleries, media, and prominent collectors from around the world. Using a punch needle and tufting machine, she carefully hand-weaves each canvas with a strong focus on emulating Black womanhood, uplifting their joys, strength, and resilience. Her colourful textiles highlight motifs and iconography from her Jamaican heritage and engage with socio-cultural factors, reclaiming power from oppressive ideologies.

With two BFA degrees—one in Performance from the University of Alberta and the other majoring in Fibre (with distinction) from Alberta University of the Arts—Saunders weaves her theatrical experiences with her passion for diverse art history. She explores the beauty and vulnerability of Black women in connection to her own perspective as a proud, mixed-race Jamaican-Canadian. She has earned countless awards and acknowledgments for her work, receiving one of particular personal importance in 2023: a Calgary Black Chambers Achievement Award recognizing her efforts in highlighting and advancing Black and societal issues through the arts.

Saunders is actively creating new textiles from her studio in Moh’kinstsis (Calgary, Canada), with her work being displayed internationally, including recent exhibitions by Claire Oliver Gallery in Harlem, SCOPE and LOOP Miami, Expo Chicago, and at the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London, England. Other recent exhibitions include the Textile Museum of Canada (ON), Contemporary Calgary (AB), Minneapolis Art Institute (MN), the Mint Museum (NC), and ArtsWestchester (NY).

u•n•I•t•y: Simone Elizabeth Saunders was shown at Contemporary Calgary from November 4, 2021, to January 30, 2022.


 
View Event →
July | Open Studio for 55+
Jul
2
to Jul 30

July | Open Studio for 55+

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Open Studio for 55+

July 2025
Wednesdays | 1:00-4:00 PM

Join Contemporary Calgary at our drop-in Open Studio Session for 55+ on Wednesdays in July.

During this informal art-making drop-in session, participants are invited to bring their own projects along with any art and craft materials they are currently using. This time can be used not only for creating but also for connecting with other artists, fostering collaboration and inspiration.

For adults age 55+

FREE and no registration is required; simply check in with a gallery attendant at the front desk by signing your name each time on the sign-in sheet.

*If you have questions about this workshop please reach out to Beth Kane, Manager Visitor Experience at beth@contemporarycalgary.com 


By checking in with us at front desk to participate in this session, you agree to:

  1. Follow Contemporary Calgary staff instructions.

  2. Treat all staff, participants, and other visitors with respect.

  3. Behave in a safe and prudent manner.

Participants who do not comply with these rules may be temporarily or permanently suspended from the program.


 
View Event →
Conversations Across Continents
Jul
2
5:30 PM17:30

Conversations Across Continents

 

Conversations Across Continents

With Salimata Diop, Ablaye Mbaye, Catherine Sicot, and Adrian Stimson

Moderated by Mona Filip 

July 2
Dome Theatre | 5:30-7 PM

Join us for a panel discussion with Salimata Diop (French/Senegalese independent curator / artistic director, 2024 Dakar Biennial), Ablaye Mbaye (Senegalese storyteller, drummer, and Wolof dancer), Catherine Sicot (French/Canadian director/curator of Elegoa Cultural Productions/member of Interwoven Futures Collective), and Adrian Stimson (interdisciplinary artist and member of Siksika Nation/member of IF Collective) introducing their major artistic initiative – X2027: Thank You For Coming! – currently in development between communities, organizations, and institutions in France, Senegal, and Canada. 

The late 19th century saw a surge in colonial exhibitions across western Europe; occasionally focused on certain thematics and framed as international displays of cultural objects and new technologies, they were intended to boost trade and bolster popular support for the colonial empires of the time. Among these exhibitions was the La Rochelle Colonial Exposition, held in the summer of 1927. To mark the centennial of La Rochelle’s colonial exhibition, X2027: Thank You For Coming! will organize a series of counter-performances, interventions, and exhibitions to upend colonial outlooks. 

Salimata Diop, Ablaye Mbaye, and Catherine Sicot will be joining Adrian Stimson in Calgary/Mohkinstsis at the invitation of Shannon Bear Chief to visit and further deepen their collaboration with Siksika Nation. This conversation, moderated by Contemporary Calgary’s Chief Curator, Mona Filip, will offer audiences an overview of the panellists’ artistic practices and how they intersect to generate intercultural dialogue and decolonial actions.

The conversation will take place in English and French, with consecutive translation from French to English.

This panel is part of the speakers’ 10-day visit to Siksika/Calgary that is supported by Elegoa Cultural Productions through the Canada Council Strategic Innovation Fund – Cultivate program, in partnership with daphne, artist run centre in Montreal.


About the Speakers

Salimata Diop (she/her) is a Franco-Senegalese curator, art critic, and composer based between Dakar, Senegal, and La Rochelle, France. She is the former artistic director of the contemporary art fair AKAA (Also Known as Africa) and the co-creator and former director of the MuPho (Musée de la Photographie de Saint-Louis du Sénégal), the first West African museum dedicated to photography. In 2024, Diop was appointed artistic director of the 15th edition of the Dakar Biennale, a major event in the artistic scene on the African continent. Diop has lived in La Rochelle since 2020 and is involved in cultural life there. In her collaboration with IF Collective and the X2027 circle, Diop will create links with the Senegalese institutions and organizations such as MCN, IFAN Museum, University of Dakar UCAD, and RAW Material art center, among others.


Ablaye Mbaye (he/him) is the son of a line of griots. He grew up in the Wolof tradition of singing, drumming, storytelling, and dance. He is the most Senegalese of the Rochelais or the most Rochelais of the Senegalese. Mbaye has lived in La Rochelle and Sendou, Senegal for 30 years. He established a dance and drumming school that operates in both countries. He also works in schools, social centers, and nurseries where he teaches African choral singing, the gods and goddesses of the savannah: anchored to the ground with the head in the heavens, like giraffes, the agility of the feline, the ferocity of the lion, the stability and rooting of the baobab. Since 2020, he has been the founder and coordinator of the Maison de l’Afrique et des Caraïbes in La Rochelle and a new member of the Board of Directors of the Centre Intermondes.


Catherine Sicot (she/her) is an independent French/Canadian curator and cultural producer, founder of Elegoa Cultural Productions, and is currently based in Canada (Montréal) and France (La Rochelle). She previously lived and worked in Paris, Toronto, and Havana (Cuba). Taking a place-based approach, Sicot advocates for the role of the arts in shaping the socio-economic and political dynamics that define the contemporaneity of a place and its future. Working collaboratively and in a partnership framework based in Indigenous-led decolonial practices, she co-produces visual arts and media works and promotes their dissemination through exhibitions, artist residencies, symposiums, events, and publications. Sicot is a member of the Interwoven Futures Collective along with Barry Ace, Lori Beavis, Michelle McGeough, and Adrian Stimson.


Adrian Stimson (he/him) is a visual artist, member of the Siksika (Blackfoot) Nation, territory covered by Treaty No. 7 (Alberta), Canada. Stimson was a student and resident at the University of Guelph, and at the Banff Centre for the Arts. He holds a BFA with distinction from the Alberta College of Art and Design (now AUArts), and an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan. He received the Prize for influential alumni from the University of Saskatchewan in 2020, the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2018, and REVEAL – First Nation’s art award from the Hnatyshyn Foundation in 2017. He received the Blackfoot Visual Arts Award in 2009, the Alberta Centennial medal in 2005, and the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee medal in 2003. Stimson is a member of the Interwoven Futures Collective along with Barry Ace, Lori Beavis, Michelle McGeough, and Catherine Sicot.


About the Moderator

Mona Filip (she/her) is Contemporary Calgary’s Chief Curator. Her curatorial career spans two decades of developing critical visual art programs, supporting the production of new works, and introducing national and international artists to Toronto through first local exhibitions. As a former Curator at the Art Museum, University of Toronto, and previously Director/Curator of the Koffler Gallery, Filip has led numerous exhibitions, site-specific projects, public programs, and educational initiatives, focusing on themes of displacement and adaptation. Her projects have explored the intersections of collective memory, place, and belonging, examining artistic strategies that redress sidelined histories, restitution and repair, and storytelling as world-building. Originally from Bucharest, Romania, Filip holds a BFA from the Corcoran School of Art, Washington DC, and an MFA from SUNY at Buffalo. She has commissioned significant new works by Canadian artists such as Caroline Monnet, Sameer Farooq, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Karen Tam, and José Luis Torres, while also curating the first Canadian exhibitions of acclaimed international artists Raphaël Zarka, Christian Hidaka, Sigalit Landau, and Isabel Rocamora.


About Interwoven Futures

Interwoven Futures is a new collective formed by artists Barry Ace (M’Chigeeng Odawa), Adrian Stimson (Siksika, Blackfoot), curators Lori Beavis (Michi Saagiig-Anishinaabe/Irish-Welsh), Michelle McGeough (Cree Métis/Irish), and curator/cultural producer Catherine Sicot (French/Canadian). The collective evolved from the Mobile Decolonial Do Tank (MDDT), an Indigenous-led experimental project undertaken by the collective members with initial contributions from Georgiana Uhlyarik (Fredrik S. Eaton Curator of Canadian Art, Art Gallery of Ontario). The initiative is supported by Elegoa Cultural Productions in partnership with daphne through multiple grants from the Canada Council for the Arts since 2018, including Sector Innovation and Development (2023) and Strategic Innovation Fund (2024-25), French institutions, and other funders.


About the Mobile Decolonial Do Tank (MDDT)

The MDDT promotes contemporary Indigenous cultures from Turtle Island through international commissions, exhibitions, events, and other forms of dissemination based in interdisciplinary and intercultural decolonial actions. It provides cultural and educational institutions access to Indigenous expertise and knowledge custodians to ensure accurate interpretation, contextualization, and restitution of cultural property held in these collections. The MDDT is grounded in developing partnerships and guarantees an ethical remuneration to its collaborators. The MDDT is now transitioning into IF Collective to expand funding sources and involve all members in the governance, administration, and financial responsibilities of the project. Each member is currently developing their own artistic or curatorial project while contributing to the collective’s strategic vision / the overall direction of the project.



 
View Event →
Free First Thursday
Jul
3
5:00 PM17:00

Free First Thursday

 

Free First Thursday

July 3
5-9 PM

Join us for Free First Thursday on July 3 at Contemporary Calgary! Enjoy complimentary admission from 5–9 PM and take in a lively set by local favourites Rifle County Players, known for blending classic influences with a fresh, homegrown sound.

Get Stampede ready with a hands-on airbrush bandana workshop led by Calgary artist Karin McGinn. Learn how to use professional airbrush tools and explore surface techniques inspired by McGinn’s own artistic practice. No experience necessary—all materials provided.

Throughout the evening, enjoy a curated selection of wine, craft beer, and non-alcoholic beverages, along with a special cotton candy pop-up. Explore the exhibitions, take part in activations, and connect through contemporary art. All ages welcome.

Art for All – FREE with registration.

Drop-in exhibition tours:

  • 6 & 8 PM

On view:


 
View Event →
Pancake Breakfast at Contemporary Calgary
Jul
10
9:00 AM09:00

Pancake Breakfast at Contemporary Calgary

 

Pancake Breakfast at Contemporary Calgary

Thursday, July 10
9 AM-12 PM | Front Plaza

With the help of the Calgary Stampede Batter Boys and Western Welcome, we invite you to join us for a  FREE pancake breakfast, featuring live music by local musician Melody Stang, and drop-in art activities and line dancing with the team at Outlaw Dance.

All those cowpokes joining us on July 10th are encouraged to step inside and explore our Stampede exhibition, Kenneth Tam: Silent Spikes, available to view for free from 9 AM to 12 PM. 

Donations are welcome to support the art of community building, which we bring to life year-round here at Contemporary Calgary. 

FREE to the public—while supplies last. 


Supporters


 
View Event →
Kenneth Tam: Silent Spikes
Jul
10
to Nov 23

Kenneth Tam: Silent Spikes

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Kenneth Tam 
Silent Spikes

July 17—November 16, 2025

Silent Spikes uses movement, theatrical staging and historical narrative to question existing ideas about the performance of masculinity, and the way those normative performances become mythologized in figures like the cowboy.  If the cowboy can be understood as shorthand for a set of ideas that says as much about the violent foundations of maleness in the American imagination as it does about how we celebrate the values exemplified by this figure, then where do men of Asian descent find themselves within this representational landscape? And how can sensuousness complicate these performances, and allow for an erotics of both resistance and care? 

A major component of the video reflects on the entangled histories of Westward expansion and Chinese immigration, examining how they shape cultural myths and collective memory. Through a two-channel video installation and accompanying photographs, Kenneth Tam explores the performance of masculinity—how it is constructed, codified, and mythologized in the iconic trope of the cowboy.

References are made to the 1867 strike by Chinese railroad workers in the Sierra Nevada Mountains—one of the largest labour actions in U.S. history. Between the 1840s and 1870s, Chinese workers played a critical yet often overlooked role in constructing two transcontinental railways: the Central Pacific in the United States and the Pacific Railway in Canada. These histories are evoked through interpretive narration and filmed sequences shot in the abandoned tunnels of Northern California—monumental voids carved into the landscape by these workers, now haunting symbols of erasure and endurance.

In the making of Silent Spikes, Tam worked with a group of untrained Asian American men, inviting them into a collaborative and unscripted process. Some don cowboy attire and echo the gestures of rodeo riders, while others engage in loosely scored solo and group activities that blur the boundary between roleplay and self-expression. Through this process, new and expansive expressions of male identity emerge—shaped by tenderness, resistance, and emotional complexity. Through their unscripted collaboration, the artist and his participants honour inherited struggles while centring vulnerability and connection as reparative forms of male embodiment. 


Curated by Kanika Anand 


Upcoming Programs


Program Archive


Photo by: Shane Lavalette

About the Artist

Kenneth Tam (he/him)

Kenneth Tam was born in Queens, NY and attended the Cooper Union.  He is based in Houston, TX and is an assistant professor at Rice University, as well as faculty at the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College.  He has had solo exhibitions at Bridget Donahue, NY; ICA LA, CA; Queens Museum, NY;  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), CA; Cantor Arts Center, CA;  Ballroom Marfa, TX; and MIT List Visual Arts Center, MA. He was previously a Core Fellow at the MFAH, and is a recipient of grants from Art Matters, the Jerome Foundation, NYFA and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. He is represented by Commonwealth and Council in Los Angeles

Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Kenneth Tam uses video, sculpture, installation, movement, performance, and photography to examine themes including the performance of masculinity, the transformative potential of ritual, and expressions of intimacy within groups. Tam often implicates the male body in his projects, using humour and pathos to reveal the performative and unstable nature of identity, and often creates situations that foreground tenderness and vulnerability within unlikely settings.


About the Curator

Kanika Anand (she/her)

Kanika Anand is the Senior Curator at Contemporary Calgary, Canada and co-curator of the Indian Ceramics Triennale, India. Her curatorial approach focuses on placemaking and social practices that interrogate structures of power and modes of engagement. Through a lens of interstitial discourse, constructs of time, social space, and traces of mobility remain a keen area of interest and research. 

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from Delhi University and a Master’s degree in Art History from the National Museum Institute, India. She has been curatorial fellow at the Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble, France (2012-13) and fellow at the Global Cultural Leadership Programme, organised by the Cultural Diplomacy Platform and the European Cultural Foundation (2018). She has worked extensively with galleries and institutions across North America, France and India and has worked on major exhibitions of work by Yoko Ono, Chitra Ganesh, Diane Arbus, Marcel Dzama, Paola Pivi. She has written for art journals like Ocula, Art India, and Art Basel and has contributed to several books on contemporary art.



 
View Event →
Composite Landscapes: A Quilting Workshop With Lindsay Sutton
Jul
12
9:00 AM09:00

Composite Landscapes: A Quilting Workshop With Lindsay Sutton

 

Composite Landscapes: A Quilting Workshop With Lindsay Sutton

In partnership with Badlands Art Department

July 12
9 AM-6 PM | Drumheller

While enjoying the stunning vistas of Badlands Art Department in Drumheller, this workshop will guide participants through creating a mini landscape quilt with artist Lindsay Sutton of Henrietta Quilt Shop. 

Sutton will guide you through essential techniques, including turning under seam allowances, precision cutting, and needle control to learn the delicate art of appliqué, a hand-sewing method that allows you to create intricate designs. This day-long class will help you develop an understanding of colour combinations, contrast, and harmony while you experiment with spatial arrangements to add depth and dimension to your mini landscape quilt top. You will learn how to effectively position your appliqué pieces, create movement within your design and achieve a sense of balance and symmetry. Feel free to bring your own template, or create a unique freestyle design during class. Throughout the class, you'll receive personalized guidance and feedback to help bring your vision to life, allowing your mind to relax and your creativity to flourish through calming and meditative qualities of slow stitching.

Workshop fees include transportation from Contemporary Calgary to Drumheller and back, as well as lunch and materials. Contemporary Calgary will reach out to registered participants to inquire about any dietary restrictions prior to the workshop.

Kindly note that participants under the age of 18 need to be accompanied by a legal guardian. Accompanying adults/guardians are required to register for the workshop and pay the workshop fees.

Contemporary Calgary is supporting this off-site workshop by paying artist fees to the facilitators and subsidizing the workshop fees for participants.

Workshop fees: 150 CAD per person or 100 CAD for students.


Workshop schedule:

  • 9 AM: departure from Contemporary Calgary.

  • 11 AM: arrival in Drumheller.

  • 11 AM-1 PM: workshop begins.

  • 1-2 PM lunch.

  • 2-4 PM: workshop continues.

  • 4 PM: departure from Drumheller.

  • 6 PM: arrival at Contemporary Calgary.

This workshop is programmed in conjunction with Presence, on view at Contemporary Calgary until November 9, 2025.


About the facilitator

Lindsay Sutton
(she/her)

With a BFA in Drawing from the Alberta University of the Arts, Lindsay Sutton’s (she/her) practice spans multiple mediums and decades. Both a mother and a cancer survivor, Sutton uses quilting and weaving as part of her healing process. Her work has been celebrated in publications such as Uppercase Magazine, HGTV Canada, and the Edmonton Journal. Lindsay has been a returning artist in residence at Badlands Art Department, the subject of one of her three place-based quilts currently included in the exhibition Presence at Contemporary Calgary.


About Badlands Art Department

Badlands Art Department is an independent and multifaceted artist residency, studio and press located alongside the Rosebud River on Treaty 7 territory, the ancestral lands of the Blackfoot confederacy. Situated in the rugged Badlands of Drumheller, Alberta, B.A.D. is organized by artists Miruna Dragan and Jason de Haan. As part of our activities here, we invite artists to research and respond to various conditions of this unique site – including its history of coal and clay mining, continuing extractive industries of natural gas and cryptocurrency, as well as its paleontological, geological, and scientific significance. Layered with these unfolding ecosystems, B.A.D. fosters events and activities that take place on, or about, this land. We are committed to creating opportunities for community development between artists, elders, scholars, stewards, scientists, ecologists, and any others that are committed to teaching about, learning from, or contributing to this place.


Supporters


 
View Event →
Exhibition Opening | Kenneth Tam: Silent Spikes
Jul
17
6:00 PM18:00

Exhibition Opening | Kenneth Tam: Silent Spikes

 

Exhibition Opening
Kenneth Tam: Silent Spikes

July 17
6:00-9:00 PM

Join us on Thursday, July 17, from 6–9 PM for the opening of Silent Spikes, a solo exhibition by Kenneth Tam that reflects on the entangled histories of Westward expansion and Chinese immigration. Through a two-channel video installation and photographs, Tam explores how masculinity is constructed, codified, and mythologized, particularly through iconic figures like the cowboy. Rooted in the legacy of Chinese railroad workers, Silent Spikes evokes these histories through interpretive narration and filmed sequences, centring collaboration, vulnerability, and emotional complexity.

  • Doors
    6:00 PM

  • Remarks
    6:45 PM | Atrium

  • Artist Talk with Kenneth Tam
    7-8 PM | Heather Edwards Theatre

  • Galleries Close
    9:00 PM

FREE to the public. No registration is required.

Seating for the Artist Talk with Kenneth Tam is first come, first served.


Kenneth Tam 
Silent Spikes

July 17—November 16, 2025

Silent Spikes uses movement, theatrical staging and historical narrative to question existing ideas about the performance of masculinity, and the way those normative performances become mythologized in figures like the cowboy.  If the cowboy can be understood as shorthand for a set of ideas that says as much about the violent foundations of maleness in the American imagination as it does about how we celebrate the values exemplified by this figure, then where do men of Asian descent find themselves within this representational landscape? And how can sensuousness complicate these performances, and allow for an erotics of both resistance and care? 

A major component of the video reflects on the entangled histories of Westward expansion and Chinese immigration, examining how they shape cultural myths and collective memory. Through a two-channel video installation and accompanying photographs, Kenneth Tam explores the performance of masculinity—how it is constructed, codified, and mythologized in the iconic trope of the cowboy.

References are made to the 1867 strike by Chinese railroad workers in the Sierra Nevada Mountains—one of the largest labour actions in U.S. history. Between the 1840s and 1870s, Chinese workers played a critical yet often overlooked role in constructing two transcontinental railways: the Central Pacific in the United States and the Pacific Railway in Canada. These histories are evoked through interpretive narration and filmed sequences shot in the abandoned tunnels of Northern California—monumental voids carved into the landscape by these workers, now haunting symbols of erasure and endurance.

In the making of Silent Spikes, Tam worked with a group of untrained Asian American men, inviting them into a collaborative and unscripted process. Some don cowboy attire and echo the gestures of rodeo riders, while others engage in loosely scored solo and group activities that blur the boundary between roleplay and self-expression. Through this process, new and expansive expressions of male identity emerge—shaped by tenderness, resistance, and emotional complexity. Through their unscripted collaboration, the artist and his participants honour inherited struggles while centring vulnerability and connection as reparative forms of male embodiment. 

Curated by Kanika Anand 


Photo by: Shane Lavalette

About the Artist

Kenneth Tam (he/him)

Kenneth Tam was born in Queens, NY and attended the Cooper Union.  He is based in Houston, TX and is an assistant professor at Rice University, as well as faculty at the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College.  He has had solo exhibitions at Bridget Donahue, NY; ICA LA, CA; Queens Museum, NY;  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), CA; Cantor Arts Center, CA;  Ballroom Marfa, TX; and MIT List Visual Arts Center, MA. He was previously a Core Fellow at the MFAH, and is a recipient of grants from Art Matters, the Jerome Foundation, NYFA and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. He is represented by Commonwealth and Council in Los Angeles

Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Kenneth Tam uses video, sculpture, installation, movement, performance, and photography to examine themes including the performance of masculinity, the transformative potential of ritual, and expressions of intimacy within groups. Tam often implicates the male body in his projects, using humour and pathos to reveal the performative and unstable nature of identity, and often creates situations that foreground tenderness and vulnerability within unlikely settings.


About the Curator

Kanika Anand (she/her)

Kanika Anand is the Senior Curator at Contemporary Calgary, Canada and co-curator of the Indian Ceramics Triennale, India. Her curatorial approach focuses on placemaking and social practices that interrogate structures of power and modes of engagement. Through a lens of interstitial discourse, constructs of time, social space, and traces of mobility remain a keen area of interest and research. 

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from Delhi University and a Master’s degree in Art History from the National Museum Institute, India. She has been curatorial fellow at the Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble, France (2012-13) and fellow at the Global Cultural Leadership Programme, organised by the Cultural Diplomacy Platform and the European Cultural Foundation (2018). She has worked extensively with galleries and institutions across North America, France and India and has worked on major exhibitions of work by Yoko Ono, Chitra Ganesh, Diane Arbus, Marcel Dzama, Paola Pivi. She has written for art journals like Ocula, Art India, and Art Basel and has contributed to several books on contemporary art.



 
View Event →
Contemporary Kids: Stories Inside the Box
Jul
20
to Jul 27

Contemporary Kids: Stories Inside the Box

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Contemporary Kids: Stories Inside the Box

July 20 +27

1-2:30 PM or 3-4:30 PM
Workshop

Join us for a hands-on kids workshop inspired by Family Secrets, featured in the exhibition Witness by June Clark. Kids will bring their imaginations to life by creating miniature dioramas of their favourite room using small cardboard boxes as the base. Inspired by Clark’s exploration of personal stories and special places, kids will design unique boxed spaces by adding elements made from various art materials, natural objects, and string lights—transforming each box into a memory container that celebrates the family, moments, and rooms that matter most.

Our free onsite Contemporary Kids programs invite children to learn about modern and contemporary art through unique and engaging art activities. 

For children ages 5-12. Maximum group of 30 children, with one guardian per child.

Questions? Please visit our FAQ page.

Contemporary Calgary Educational Programs are often photographed. This photography includes the participants, parents or guardians and their creations. If you wish to not be photographed, please let Contemporary Calgary education staff know upon arrival and they will assist you.


The same workshop is offered in four sessions for your convenience: two sessions on Sunday, July 20 and two sessions on Sunday, July 27. Choose one session that suits your schedule best.


Sunday, July 20
1:00-2:30 PM


Sunday, July 20
3:00-4:30 PM


Sunday, July 27
1:00-2:30 PM


Sunday, July 27
3:00-4:30 PM


About our TD Educational Facilitators

Poppy Ghasemi (she/her)

Poppy holds a bachelor's degree in Museum Studies and a master's in Anthropology. The awards she received from the University of Manitoba supported her research on child neglect. She has over four years of hands-on experience working with children and youth in museums and schools in Iran, Turkey, and Canada. Before joining Contemporary Calgary, she was a program educator at the Manitoba Children's Museum. Poppy primarily focuses on activating children's critical and creative thinking skills while delivering programs in English, French, Farsi, and Turkish. She enjoys cooking and walking with her husky along the Bow River during her leisure time.

Dandan Gu (she/her)

Dandan Gu graduated from the Alberta University of the Arts with a Bachelor's degree in Visual Communication Design. Prior to that, she obtained her first bachelor's degree in Marketing from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, China. Dandan has worked as a graphic designer for various companies and creative projects. Currently, she passionately serves as an educational assistant for art-making programs within the community, sharing her creative expertise with young learners. In her free time, Dandan enjoys practicing ink art, Chinese calligraphy, and illustrating cats and people around her.


Supported by

 

Supported by

 
View Event →
Contemporary Connections: Spanish Tour
Jul
26
1:00 PM13:00

Contemporary Connections: Spanish Tour

 

Contemporary Connections: Spanish Tour

July 26
Ring Gallery | 1 PM

Discover Contemporary Calgary’s exhibitions like never before with Contemporary Connections, a guided tour of Presence offered in Spanish. Led by Natalie Melara this tour provides unique insights into our thought-provoking exhibitions, fostering conversation and meaningful connections in a welcoming and inclusive environment.  

After the tour, take the opportunity to explore our other exhibitions and enjoy everything Contemporary Calgary has to  offer. 

Vea detalles del recorrido en español

  • Admission: Included with the cost of entry—$12 daily admission, or by donation for visitors under 25. Memberships and Canoo passes are also accepted. Paid upon arrival.

  • Registration: Advance registration is encouraged, but walk-ins are welcome if space allows.

We invite you to share which languages you’d like to see in future tours as we continue to bring people together through the shared experience of contemporary art. Email us at info@contemporarycalgary.com with your suggestions!


About the Facilitator

Natalie Melara
(she/her)

Natalie Melara is a multidisciplinary artist based in Calgary, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Alberta University of the Arts; and has exhibited with the Art Gallery of Alberta, EMMEDIA, and Stride Gallery (Prairie Crocus). She is also part of the Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Melara is the recipient of multiple awards including the New Zones Gallery of Contemporary Art Scholarship and the Joane Cardinal-Schubert Memorial scholarship. She has obtained technical training in fashion design (Olds College, Olds, Canada) and architectural design (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Calgary, Canada), which informs the curiosity, development and exploration of her practice. Her artwork involves cultural investigation, the formation of a hybrid identity, and the overall beauty of the in-between.


Supported by

 

 
View Event →
Perspective Film Series: The Lighthouse (2019), dir. Robert Eggers
Jul
27
5:30 PM17:30

Perspective Film Series: The Lighthouse (2019), dir. Robert Eggers

 

Perspective Film Series:

The Lighthouse (2019), dir. Robert Eggers

July 27

5:30 PM | Dome Theatre

Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse (2019) is a psychological horror film set in the late 19th century. It centers around two lighthouse keepers, Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) and Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson), who are stranded on a remote island off the coast of New England. As the days pass, both men begin to lose their grip on reality. They experience bizarre, hallucinatory visions, and the oppressive isolation on the island seems to push them toward madness.

109 minutes, in English with English subtitles.

Disclaimer: This film contains difficult subject matter and imagery, including graphic violence and strong language, which may be triggering for some viewers.

FREE for members. Non-members: $10—your ticket to this screening includes admission to Contemporary Calgary. Our galleries are open from 12-5 PM for viewing prior to attending the program.



About Perspective Film Series

The 2025 edition of Perspective is curated by Muriel N. Kahwagi, Associate Curator at Contemporary Calgary. Drawing on Calgary's proximity to the Bow and Elbow Rivers and the role that each of them plays in the city, the series considers the ways in which bodies of water are used and weaponized as markers of land, becoming sites through which power is negotiated, practiced, and enacted. Featuring filmic works from a wide range of geographies and genres – including ethnographic films and artists' films – this year's edition reflects on water as a site of refuge; as a border; as a means to an escape; and as a character in and of itself.

About the Curator

Muriel N. Kahwagi ((she/her)) is a writer and curator, working primarily across publishing and programming. Her research is centered on the politics of collecting and archiving the performative; and the act of listening as a form of preservation in and of itself. In 2023, she was the TD Curatorial Fellow at Art Windsor-Essex, and a curator as part of Vtape’s Curatorial Incubator, v.19. She is currently the Assistant Curator at Contemporary Calgary, and a programmer at the Toronto Arab Film Festival.


Supported by

 
View Event →
Historic Calgary Week | From Cosmos to Culture: Calgary’s Centennial Planetarium
Jul
30
10:30 AM10:30

Historic Calgary Week | From Cosmos to Culture: Calgary’s Centennial Planetarium

 

Historic Calgary Week

From Cosmos to Culture: Calgary’s Centennial Planetarium

July 30
Heather Edwards Theatre | 10:30 AM-12 PM

Join Contemporary Calgary’s CEO, David Leinster, and Jonny Hehr, Partner, GGA-Architecture to explore the past, present, and future of the Centennial Planetarium, now home to Contemporary Calgary, the city’s largest non-collecting public art gallery. After exploring how the building has been modified over time, we’ll preview the Planetarium Transformation Project, an extensive renovation and redevelopment that will restore the original architectural intent of the building, add dedicated spaces for the exhibition of art, and position the building for a sustainable future. 

FREE with registration. 



 
View Event →

Exhibition Opening | Presence
Jun
26
6:00 PM18:00

Exhibition Opening | Presence

 

Exhibition Opening
Presence

Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal, Jayce Salloum, Christine Howard Sandoval, Abbas Akhavan, Badlands Art Department x Lindsay Sutton, Linda Sormin

June 26
6:00-9:00 PM

Join us on Thursday, June 26, from 6-9 PM for the opening of Presence, an exhibition that thinks through the ways we occupy and organize space, and how that shapes our sense of community. Rooted in ideas of placemaking that centers community and networks of collective enterprise as cultural infrastructures in themselves, Presence gathers projects and artworks that contemplate the evolving definitions of community and collectivity. 

As part of the evening, join exhibiting artist Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal for a conversation with Senior Curator Kanika Anand. Drawing actively on community as a source of strength, Cardinal’s practice has evolved from a place of deep self-reflection and is a form of embodied labour that encompasses oral teachings and ancestral knowledge. Building on this, they will speak about the making of their new work, Correction vs Punishment: The search of love and understanding.

  • Doors
    6:00 PM

  • Remarks
    6:45 PM | Atrium

  • Artist Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal In Conversation with Senior Curator Kanika Anand
    7-8 PM | Dome Theatre

  • Galleries Close
    9:00 PM

FREE to the public. No registration required.

Seating for Artist Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal In Conversation with Senior Curator Kanika Anand is first come, first served.


Presence

Abbas Akhavan, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal, Christine Howard Sandoval, Jayce Salloum, Linda Sormin, and Badlands Art Residency x Lindsay Sutton

June 26—November 9, 2025

Presence is an exhibition about the ways we occupy and organize space, and the role it plays in shaping our sense of community. What makes a space hospitable for some more than others, and how do we find our place within space?

Drawing on the understanding of space as a socio-temporal construct, artists are invited to reflect on space as it is continually produced, contested and transformed. The exhibition is rooted in ideas of placemaking that centers community and networks of collective enterprise as cultural infrastructures in themselves, and is a gathering of projects and artworks that contemplates the evolving definitions of community and collectivity. 

Presence is a window into a larger ecosystem of practices that emphasizes and empowers the ordinary or commonplace. It reflects the ways we are present in the spaces we inhabit. While focusing on lived and embodied experiences, storytelling and popular practices, the artists invite us to journey with them, to trace, explore and expand the ways we think of communities.

Curated by Kanika Anand.


About the Curator

Kanika Anand (she/her)

Kanika Anand is the Senior Curator at Contemporary Calgary, Canada and co-curator of the Indian Ceramics Triennale, India. Her curatorial approach focuses on placemaking and social practices that interrogate structures of power and modes of engagement. Through a lens of interstitial discourse, constructs of time, social space, and traces of mobility remain a keen area of interest and research. 

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from Delhi University and a Master’s degree in Art History from the National Museum Institute, India. She has been curatorial fellow at the Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble, France (2012-13) and fellow at the Global Cultural Leadership Programme, organised by the Cultural Diplomacy Platform and the European Cultural Foundation (2018). She has worked extensively with galleries and institutions across North America, France and India and has worked on major exhibitions of work by Yoko Ono, Chitra Ganesh, Diane Arbus, Marcel Dzama, Paola Pivi. She has written for art journals like Ocula, Art India, and Art Basel and has contributed to several books on contemporary art.



 
View Event →
Perspective Film Series: The Wind Will Carry Us (1999), dir. Abbas Kiarostami
Jun
22
5:30 PM17:30

Perspective Film Series: The Wind Will Carry Us (1999), dir. Abbas Kiarostami

 

Perspective Film Series:

The Wind Will Carry Us (1999), dir. Abbas Kiarostami

June 22

5:30 PM | Dome Theatre

A TV crew from Tehran arrives in a remote Kurdish village to film an unusual funeral ceremony but are stymied when the old woman they expect to die clings to life. A fablelike story about professional and personal frustration, this droll drama is the most tantalizingly opaque and allusive of Kiarostami’s films, containing numerous references to poetry and several key figures (including the old woman) who are never seen.

118 minutes, in Farsi with English subtitles.

FREE for members. Non-members: $10—your ticket to this screening includes admission to Contemporary Calgary. Our galleries are open from 12-5 PM for viewing prior to attending the program.



About Perspective Film Series

The 2025 edition of Perspective is curated by Muriel N. Kahwagi, Associate Curator at Contemporary Calgary. Drawing on Calgary's proximity to the Bow and Elbow Rivers and the role that each of them plays in the city, the series considers the ways in which bodies of water are used and weaponized as markers of land, becoming sites through which power is negotiated, practiced, and enacted. Featuring filmic works from a wide range of geographies and genres – including ethnographic films and artists' films – this year's edition reflects on water as a site of refuge; as a border; as a means to an escape; and as a character in and of itself.

About the Curator

Muriel N. Kahwagi ((she/her)) is a writer and curator, working primarily across publishing and programming. Her research is centered on the politics of collecting and archiving the performative; and the act of listening as a form of preservation in and of itself. In 2023, she was the TD Curatorial Fellow at Art Windsor-Essex, and a curator as part of Vtape’s Curatorial Incubator, v.19. She is currently the Assistant Curator at Contemporary Calgary, and a programmer at the Toronto Arab Film Festival.


Supported by

 
View Event →
Block Party
Jun
21
12:00 PM12:00

Block Party

 

BLOCK PARTY

June 21
Front Plaza | 12-3 PM

Join us for a summer BLOCK PARTY as we celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day and Neighbour Day with an afternoon of live music, exhibition tours, and creative activations. In partnership with the Downtown West Community Association and with support from the City of Calgary, Hereby Architecture, and Village Ice Cream, we’re transforming our front plaza into a space for reflection, connection, and community. In the event of poor weather, programming will move indoors.

Program Highlights:

  • Live performance by DoggTrixx (12:00–3:00 PM)

  • Live performance by Sarah Good Medicine (12:30 PM)

  • Live performance by Redfoot (Emil Starlight) (1:30 PM)

  • Live performance by Little Chief (2:30 PM)

  • Guided tours of Lauren Crazybull’s exhibition Wish you were here (1:00 & 2:00 PM)

  • Interactive art stations, including a Cyanotype Workshop by Neat Film Lab and custom button making

  • BonBon by HEREBY – a modular, participatory installation that reimagines public space through colour and form

  • Complimentary offerings, including face painting, popcorn, cotton candy, and ice cream cups from Village Ice Cream

Whether you’re coming for the art, the music, or the moment to gather with friends and neighbours, this is an open invitation to connect and create.

No RSVP required—just drop by and enjoy.


About the Workshop

Cyanotype Workshop

Cyanotype photography is a camera-less technique that involves laying an object or negative on paper coated with a solution of iron salts before exposing it to UV light and washing with water to create stunning white and Prussian blue images. Cyanotype is one of the first photographic processes ever developed. In this drop-in workshop, you will be creating a cyanotype photogram, made by arranging objects on the cyanotype sensitized paper. You will design, expose to the sun, and develop in water your own cyanotypes. A UV lamp will be available if the sun is not showing up that day. 


About the Performers

DoggTrixx

DoggTrixx is a multi-faceted artist that expresses himself through music, film, dance and visual arts. From DJing Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary block party in Edmonton to creating short horror films in his home nation of Siksika. Blackfoot pride and rowdy vibes shine consistently throughout his work.


Little Chief

Born and raised in Calgary, Little Chief is an Indigenous hip-hop artist from the Siksika Nation. As a member of the Tribe Artists Society, a Calgary-based hip-hop collective, Little Chief has carved out a unique space in the music world, where his art serves as both a personal narrative and a powerful commentary on the experiences of Indigenous peoples in urban environments.

 Blending high-energy lyricism, storytelling, and spoken word poetry, Little Chief’s work delves deep into the challenges and triumphs of navigating city life as an Indigenous person. His music and performances are not just about rhythm and rhyme but about preserving and amplifying the voices of those who have often been marginalized. Through his artistry, he captures the complexities of identity, culture, and community, offering listeners an authentic glimpse into the struggles and resilience of Indigenous peoples.

Little chief will be accompanied by “4syth” his finger drummer and trio mate from “tribe beatz” a newly formed hip hop group based in Calgary. 


Redfoot (Emil Starlight)

Redfoot, also known as Emil Starlight, is a Hip Hop artist, producer, and multimedia creator from the Tsuut’ina Nation. He is the founder of Limelight Multimedia, specializing in filmmaking, photography, graphic design, and audio production.

Redfoot’s passion for music began early—rapping himself to sleep as a kid—and took root in 2001 with the group The Brothaz Grimm. He released Tales from the Townsiteand produced Rap Rez Tha Basement, which debuted at the first-ever Hip Hop show at Dickens Pub in Calgary.

He has performed across Western Canada, with appearances at Edmonton’s Indigenous Hip Hop Show, Vancouver’s first Indigenous Hip Hop Festival, and the City of Calgary’s Mayor’s Celebration for the Arts. Redfoot also played a key role in organizing Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary in partnership with Tee Pee Treats Indigenous Cuisine, and the 51st anniversary with Tribe Artist Society.

Today, Redfoot serves as the creator and one of the leads of the YYC Mixtape Club—a grassroots collective supporting collaboration, mentorship, and growth for emerging artists


Sarah Good Medicine

Sarah Good Medicine [AKA DJ GoodMedicine and MEdz] is a Hip Hop Emcee and Deejay. She grew up stomping in the bush-city of Prince George, B.C. and her Native ancestors are Metis, Cree and Chippewa from the Manatoba and North Dakoda area. Sarah believes in being a good Aunty for her community in Mohkinstsis and feels that using her medicine (gifts) is why she, and all human beings, are here: to share our medicine.



 
View Event →
Contemporary Kids: Building Soundscapes with Musicians
Jun
15
to Jun 22

Contemporary Kids: Building Soundscapes with Musicians

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Contemporary Kids: Building Soundscapes with Musicians

June 15 + 22

1-2:30 PM or 3-4:30 PM
Workshop


Join us for a hands-on musical workshop! As part of the Sound Atlas New Music Festival and this year’s theme of “Sonic Playground,” this session is led by the talented musicians of the Festival’s Contemporary Performance Lab (CPL) Fellows.

Kids and artists will team up to create a graphic score—a playful way to show how music might sound using sculpture, collage, and craft materials instead of traditional notes. Through this collective process, kids will explore musical instruments, improvisation, and non-conventional music-making. Together, we'll turn the graphic score into a unique sound piece that brings our ideas and feelings about Calgary to life.

No experience required—just bring your imagination! Part of the workshop will be hands-on, creating the graphic score, and the other half will feature a live performance by SAF musicians, bringing the visual work to life in an unique sound experience.

Our free onsite Contemporary Kids programs invite children to learn about modern and contemporary art through unique and engaging art activities.

For children ages 5-12. Maximum group of 25 children, with one guardian per child. Questions? Please visit our FAQ page.

Contemporary Calgary Educational Programs are often photographed. This photography includes the participants, parents or guardians and their creations. If you wish to not be photographed, please let Contemporary Calgary education staff know upon arrival and they will assist you.


The same workshop is offered in four sessions for your convenience: two sessions on Sunday, June 15 and two sessions on Sunday, June 22. Choose one session that suits your schedule best.


Sunday, June 15
1:00-2:30 PM


Sunday, June 15
3:00-4:30 PM


Sunday, June 22
1:00-2:30 PM


Sunday, June 22
3:00-4:30 PM


About Sound Atlas New Music Festival (SAF)

Already in its third year, the Sound Atlas New Music Festival (SAF) is a musical expedition for adventurous listeners, composers, and artists. With this year’s theme, “Sonic Playground,” guests are invited to revel in a state of play where whimsy meets the unexpected in a veritable feast for curious ears and imagination.

This year, SAF is delighted to feature the spirited genius of our featured Korean-American composer Juri Seo, a “modern original” whose music has been praised for its extraordinary charm and inventiveness. Along with the rest of the wonderful artist lineup, guests can expect a wondrous and eclectic experience in music and sound, featuring performances from SAF’s host ensemble Latitude 49, local Calgary performers, and guests from across North America and beyond in a joyful explosion of friendship and creativity.

Sound Atlas New Music Festival is supported by Walt and Irene Deboni.

 

Director of Education, 2025 Sound Atlas New Music Festival: Yuan Ge

Yuan Ge holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Business & Management from Berklee College of Music and a Master’s degree in Music Industry Leadership from Northeastern University. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Music Education at the University of Calgary.

Originally from the music business world, Yuan spearheaded marketing efforts for artists such as Christina Aguilera and Kenshi Yonezu in his previous positions. Now with over four years of music education experience in both private and public capacities, he hopes to exercise his expertise in creative marketing and education as the Director of Education for this year’s Sound Atlas New Music Festival. In his spare time, Yuan likes to tinker with guitars, cameras, and cars.


Jerry Liao (Piano)

Born in Fuzhou, China, Canadian pianist Bo Xuan (Jerry) Liao resides in Calgary, Alberta, where he is an active soloist and collaborative pianist. Jerry is in his third year of a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at the University of Calgary, studying with Dr. Jani Parsons.

Most recently, Jerry won first prize in Category IV of the VI Vienna International Chopin Competition. He has had the opportunity to work with notable musicians including Steven Spooner, Henry Kramer, and Yakov Kasman.

In 2023, Jerry had the privilege of collaborating with acclaimed Chinese Canadian composer Vincent Ho, culminating in the world premiere performance of The Galloping Horse from The Twelve Chinese Zodiac Animals, Book 2.

In addition to his work as a piano soloist, Jerry is a passionate chamber musician and collaborator, recently performing John Burge’s Four Violin Concerto with violinists Isaac Willocks, Sora Kim, Ana Gonzalez Carmona, and Gaby Nunez. Jerry has an avid interest in the field of pedagogy and is a dynamic teacher of piano and music theory. Outside of music, Jerry enjoys playing badminton and eating delicious cuisine.


Teaghan Krahn (Cello)

Teaghan, age 16, started cello lessons with Beth Root-Sandvoss at 4 years old, and has been in the Cello Academy for Young Artists at Mount Royal University in Calgary since she was 6 years old. She is currently one of the Principal Cellos for the CYO and has been playing in the orchestra for the past 3 years. She has received many awards and scholarships for her cello playing, including a provincial recommendation from the Calgary Performing Arts Festival, the Jeanette Whitney Memorial Scholarship and scholarships from the Calgary Youth Orchestra. She was also named one of the ‘Stars of the Festival’ for the Calgary Performing Arts Festival in 2018 and 2024, and played in their gala concert. She was also a Contemporary Performance Lab Fellow for the Sound Atlas Festival in 2024. She was a finalist in the Canadian Music Competition in 2019 and won 1st place in the Contemporary Showcase Competition in 2017. She also plays piano and received First Class Honours with Distinction for her grade 8 exam in 2024 and received a Provincial Gold Medal from the Royal Conservatory for piano in 2021. She also received First Class Honours with Distinction for her Grade 10 cello exam in 2023. Teaghan enjoys playing in a piano trio with her sisters, regularly performing in church and seniors’ homes. She also enjoys reading, building Lego, and enjoying time with her family, friends and dog, Arwyn.


Aidan Rigor (Saxophone)

Aidan Rigor is a 4th-year student at the University of Calgary studying Music Performance for the saxophone. He has been studying under Dr. Jeremy Brown for over 10 years, taking classical saxophone lessons. Aidan was a member of the YYC Lab Band, University of Calgary Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz Orchestra, and was a member of saxophone quartets. Currently, Aidan is a member of a mixed trio of flute, saxophone, and piano called the Contour Trio. Throughout his studies, Aidan has taken a keen interest in saxophone extended techniques, which has led him to explore all kinds of contemporary works regarding circular breathing, multiphonics, and subtones.


Gabrielle Marquis (Flute)

Gabrielle Marquis is in the final year of her Bachelor of Music in flute performance at the University of Calgary, where she studies with Lucie Jones. A dedicated ensemble musician, she has served as principal flute with the University of Calgary Orchestra for the past three seasons and has been a member of the Wind Ensemble since the start of her degree. Outside of university, Gabby is a long-time participant in the Academy Programme for Young Artists at the MRU Conservatory. Alongside her performance work, she is passionate about music education and teaches privately. She also has a growing interest in instrument repair.


About our TD Educational Facilitators

Poppy Ghasemi (she/her)

Poppy holds a bachelor's degree in Museum Studies and a master's in Anthropology. The awards she received from the University of Manitoba supported her research on child neglect. She has over four years of hands-on experience working with children and youth in museums and schools in Iran, Turkey, and Canada. Before joining Contemporary Calgary, she was a program educator at the Manitoba Children's Museum. Poppy primarily focuses on activating children's critical and creative thinking skills while delivering programs in English, French, Farsi, and Turkish. She enjoys cooking and walking with her husky along the Bow River during her leisure time.

Dandan Gu (she/her)

Dandan Gu graduated from the Alberta University of the Arts with a Bachelor's degree in Visual Communication Design. Prior to that, she obtained her first bachelor's degree in Marketing from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, China. Dandan has worked as a graphic designer for various companies and creative projects. Currently, she passionately serves as an educational assistant for art-making programs within the community, sharing her creative expertise with young learners. In her free time, Dandan enjoys practicing ink art, Chinese calligraphy, and illustrating cats and people around her.


Supported by

 

Supported by

 
View Event →
Greetings from Blackfoot Territory: A Poetry and Writing Workshop With Henry HeavyShield
Jun
14
2:00 PM14:00

Greetings from Blackfoot Territory: A Poetry and Writing Workshop With Henry HeavyShield

 

Greetings from Blackfoot Territory: A Poetry and Writing Workshop With Henry HeavyShield

June 14
Workshop | 2-4 PM

What would a postcard addressed to the land have to say – and what would the land say in response, if it could?

Join us for a poetry workshop that invites folks from all walks of life to engage with Lauren Crazybull’s exhibition Wish you were here, currently on view at Contemporary Calgary. Drawing on Crazybull’s work, the workshop will explore themes of placemaking, memory, and our relationship to the land that we inhabit.

Facilitated by poet Henry HeavyShield, participants will navigate a series of writing prompts and conversations, using the series of postcards that were produced as part of Crazybull’s exhibition as a starting point.

This workshop is open to all participants who wish to engage with Crazybull’s exhibition, regardless of prior writing experience.

This program is organized in conjunction with Lauren Crazybull: Wish you were here, on view at Contemporary Calgary until November 2, 2025.

FREE with registration.


About the Facilitator

Photo by: Keilan HeavyShield

Henry HeavyShield (he/him) is a Blackfoot reader and writer from Kainai (Blood Tribe First Nation). He is a Writers’ Trust Bronwen Wallace Award finalist (2024, short fiction category) and Indigenous Voices Awards finalist for short fiction and poetry. His work has also been featured in The Capilano Review, Riddle Fence, ARC Poetry, Ex- Puritan, C-Magazine, and anthologized in Best Canadian Poetry. When not writing or curating his personal library, he gratefully keeps a day job at Blood Tribe Communications and in public art consulting.



 
View Event →
June | Open Studio for 55+
Jun
11
to Jun 25

June | Open Studio for 55+

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Open Studio for 55+

June 2025
Wednesdays | 1:00-4:00 PM

*Please note there will be no Open Studio session on June 4 - the first session of the month will be June 11.

Join Contemporary Calgary at our drop-in Open Studio Session for 55+ on Wednesdays in June.

During this informal art-making drop-in session, participants are invited to bring their own projects along with any art and craft materials they are currently using. This time can be used not only for creating but also for connecting with other artists, fostering collaboration and inspiration.

For adults age 55+

FREE and no registration is required; simply check in with a gallery attendant at the front desk by signing your name each time on the sign-in sheet.

*If you have questions about this workshop please reach out to Beth Kane, Manager Visitor Experience at beth@contemporarycalgary.com 


By checking in with us at front desk to participate in this session, you agree to:

  1. Follow Contemporary Calgary staff instructions.

  2. Treat all staff, participants, and other visitors with respect.

  3. Behave in a safe and prudent manner.

Participants who do not comply with these rules may be temporarily or permanently suspended from the program.


 
View Event →
Free First Thursday
Jun
5
5:00 PM17:00

Free First Thursday

 

Free First Thursday

June 5
5-9 PM

Join us for Free First Thursday on June 5 at Contemporary Calgary! Enjoy complimentary admission from 5–9 PM and take part in Printed Resistance, a zine-making takeover inspired by June Clark: Witness and the radical creativity of DIY culture.

From 5–8 PM, local artists Harvey Nichol and Blake McLeod will lead hands-on workshops exploring zines as tools for self-expression, resistance, and storytelling. Drawing from June Clark’s deeply personal work, participants will create their own zines around themes of identity, memory, and speaking truth to power. No experience necessary—just bring your voice and your story. All materials provided.

At 6:30 PM, join us for a panel discussion on zine-making as protest and personal archive, moderated by Beth Kane, Contemporary Calgary’s Manager of Visitor Experience and bookshop curator. The conversation will explore the power of independent publishing and its enduring cultural impact.

Throughout the evening, explore a special presentation of over 100 photographs from the legendary California-based zine Hamburger Eyes and founder Ray Potes—one of America’s most influential photo publications known for capturing the unseen and iconic moments of everyday life.

Throughout the evening, enjoy a DJ set by Pawnzi and a curated selection of wine, craft beer, and non-alcoholic beverages as you explore the exhibitions, engage in hands-on art-making, and connect through contemporary art. All ages welcome!

Art for All – FREE with registration.


About the Zine Workshop Facilitators/Panellists

Blake McLeod

Blake McLeod is an interdisciplinary artist and storyteller of Nehiyaw + settler descent from Fort St. John, BC, in Treaty 8 and has been living and working as a guest on Treaty 7 territory in Mohkinstsis / Calgary, AB, since 2013. McLeod is the Creative Director and Founder of CINIC Studio, an arthouse providing service work to collaborators and community designing and producing apparel, zines, stickers, photos, and video. Through the means of writing, illustration, photography, filmmaking, silkscreen printmaking, and music, they weave together narratives of Indigiqueer identity, space/placemaking, and the ongoing search for belonging amidst polite-washing and historical erasure in the prairies.

Harvey Nichol

Harvey Nichol is a Manila-born, Calgary-based independent comic book writer and multidisciplinary artist whose work explores themes of protest, identity, and cultural resistance. His debut comic, Aklas, meaning "to rise up" in Filipino, is a bold fusion of speculative fiction and social commentary, set in a dystopian future inspired by his lived experiences as an immigrant and former houseless youth. Through Aklas, Harvey uses visual storytelling to examine issues of displacement, power structures, and collective action. His unique style—what he calls social-folk-expressionism—combines folk motifs, street art aesthetics, and expressive character design to create stories that challenge dominant narratives and uplift marginalized voices. With Aklas, Harvey creates space for readers to engage with protest not just as an act of defiance, but as a necessary form of healing, survival, and imagination.


About the Moderator

Beth Kane (she/her) is an arts professional with over nine years of experience in the UK and Canada. Based in Mohkinstsís/Calgary, she is the Manager of Visitor Experience at Contemporary Calgary, where she also manages the gallery’s bookshop and curates book selections that connect with exhibitions and programming. Beth is a Board Member/Director of the Exposure Photography Festival, and her work focuses on accessible arts engagement, photography, and independent publishing. She has curated exhibitions for a range of organizations and written about zine culture for Elephant magazine, including the article Female Photo Zine Publishers Shaking Up the DIY Scene

www.bethany-kane.com


 
View Event →
LOOK25 Gala: Noir Nouveau
May
31
5:00 PM17:00

LOOK25 Gala: Noir Nouveau

 

Photo by: Phil Crozier


Relive the Night & Share: Click the button below to view event photos by Phil Crozier.


LOOK25 Gala: Noir Nouveau Raises Over $1.2 Million in Historic Support of Contemporary Calgary

Contemporary Calgary is proud to share the success of the LOOK25 Gala: Noir Nouveau, presented by MAWER. Welcoming over one thousand guests, the evening raised more than $1.2 million to support the gallery’s ambitious exhibitions and public programs.

Guests were welcomed with an intimate and elegant VIP Dinner, generously supported by returning sponsor Holt Renfrew. The dining experience was curated by Culinary Art Partner Concorde Entertainment Group, one of Calgary’s most esteemed hospitality leaders and the force behind many of the city’s favourite and award-winning restaurants. Emceed by Zoe Theodorou, the evening featured stirring live performances by Justine Tyrell and longtime collaborator Timothonius.

The LOOK25 Art Auction, generously sponsored by Heather Edwards, achieved a historic result—raising a record-breaking $633,300, the highest total in the event’s history. All 74 artworks—22 in the live auction and 52 in the silent—were sold, thanks to the incredible generosity of artists, gallerists, and collectors who donated works, and the passionate supporters who purchased them.

The live auction was our most energetic to date: nearly half of the works sold at or above fair market value, with one work by Maggie Hall reaching double its valuation. In total, the auction realized 95% of its combined fair market value—our strongest performance since LOOK began in 2014.

Among the highlights: a 1960 oil on canvas by Jean-Paul Riopelle, generously donated by board member Dr. John Lacey CM, sold for $170,000—marking the second major Riopelle work he has contributed to LOOK. Two additional historical works donated by Rogers Communications, by Christopher Pratt and William Perehudoff, sold for a combined $55,000, achieving 93% of their fair market value.

We extend our heartfelt thanks and congratulations to our outstanding auctioneer, Stephen Ranger, for leading this unforgettable white glove sale.

The festivities carried into the Ryan Green After Party, with entertainment sponsored by Cowboys Music Festival, including a showstopping performance by dancehall legend Sister Nancy. Her electrifying set, alongside performances by the Rondel Roberts Band and Jadé, filled the gallery with energy and celebration. The celebration culminated with unforgettable performances by Juno Award–winning DJ BAMBII and Calgary’s BUCCALTHEFT.

The atmosphere of the LOOK25 Gala was brought to life by local artist Simone Elizabeth Saunders, who returned to Contemporary Calgary as the inaugural LOOK Gala Curator. Saunders, whose solo exhibition u•n•i•t•y premiered at the gallery in 2021, infused the evening with her signature themes of joy, resilience, and empowerment. Her concept Noir Nouveau reimagined the elegance of Art Nouveau through a deeply personal lens, honouring her Jamaican Canadian heritage and artistic practice, she describes as “Black Nouveau.” Every detail, from performances to palette, was curated to inspire reflection, connection, and celebration.

We are also grateful to our Honorary Chairs: June Clark, Dr. John Lacey CM, and D’Arcy Levesque, who lent their distinguished support. We extend our deepest thanks to the sponsors, artists, gallerists, donors, and volunteers, whose vision and generosity made the event possible, and to the collectors who continue to shape the future of contemporary art in our city.

Since its inception in 2014, when the gallery first hosted LOOK in the then vacant Centennial Planetarium, the gala has evolved into a defining moment in Calgary’s cultural calendar. Today, events like LOOK continue to sustain and energize Contemporary Calgary’s mission to create access to contemporary art and ideas.

Thank you for your support!


Honorary Chairs

June Clark 
Dr. John Lacey CM
D’Arcy Levesque

LOOK25 Gala Curator

Simone Elizabeth Saunders

Art Auction Curators

Kanika Anand 
Muriel N. Kahwagi

Auctioneer

Stephen Ranger

Artists

Fiona Ackerman, Jen Aitken, Dick Averns, Ashleigh Bartlett, Jason Bartziokas, Nancy Boyd, Kevin Boyle, Billie Rae Busby, Oscar Cahén, Nathan Eugene Carson, June Clark, Heather Close and Sarah Nordean, Michael Corner, Chris Cran, Lauren Crazybull, Amy Dryer, Renée Duval, Megan Dyck, Marcel Dzama, Christian Eckart, John Eisler, Dennis Ekstedt, Rhys Douglas Farrell, Chris Flodberg, Rocio Graham, Jude Griebel, Julya Hajnoczky, John Hall, Maggie Hall, Marcia Harris, Faye HeavyShield, Alicia Henry, Jennifer Hornyak, Sharie Hunter, Geoffrey Hunter, Joshua Jensen-Nagle, Mitch Kern, Harry Kiyooka, Neshka Krusche, Bryce Krynski, Paul Kuhn, Marie Lannoo, Kenneth Lochhead, Tyler Los-Jones, Robert Marchessault, Billy McCarroll, Karin McGinn, Nate McLeod, Ron Moppett, Mark Mullin, Katie Ohe, Erik Olson, Evan Penny, William Perehudoff, Christopher Pratt, Darija S. Radakovic, Anthony Redpath, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Nick Rooney, Sylvia Safdie, Simone Elizabeth Saunders, Michael Smith, Jesse Stilwell, Cassie Suche, Han Sungpil, David Thauberger, Carl White, John Will, Mary Shannon Will, Kristine Zingeler.

Auction Contributors 

Oscar Cahén Estate
Maurice Dzama
Dr. John Lacey CM
Joanne Lochhead and the Lochhead Estate
Katie Ohe
Gaëtane Verna and Daina Augaitis
Rogers Communications Collection
Tiller Wolf Art Consulting
Anonymous Private Collections




 
View Event →
Perspective Film Series: Leviathan (2012), dir. Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor
May
18
5:30 PM17:30

Perspective Film Series: Leviathan (2012), dir. Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor

 

Perspective Film Series:

Leviathan (2012), dir. Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor

May 18

5:30 PM | Dome Theatre

On a fishing boat leaving New Bedford, Massachusetts, directors Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor follow a group of unnamed men as they venture out to sea. The film’s pacing mirrors the rhythm of the ocean and the daily routines of the crew, blurring the lines between day and night. The camera follows fish as they are hauled from the ocean in large nets, moving over the deck with waste from the sea, and climbing to the boat’s highest points. Through its experimental style and innovative use of technology, the film challenges traditional documentary filmmaking and redefines what the genre can achieve.

87 minutes.

FREE for members. Non-members: $10—your ticket to this screening includes admission to Contemporary Calgary. Our galleries are open from 12-5 PM for viewing prior to attending the program.



About Perspective Film Series

The 2025 edition of Perspective is curated by Muriel N. Kahwagi, Associate Curator at Contemporary Calgary. Drawing on Calgary's proximity to the Bow and Elbow Rivers and the role that each of them plays in the city, the series considers the ways in which bodies of water are used and weaponized as markers of land, becoming sites through which power is negotiated, practiced, and enacted. Featuring filmic works from a wide range of geographies and genres – including ethnographic films and artists' films – this year's edition reflects on water as a site of refuge; as a border; as a means to an escape; and as a character in and of itself.

About the Curator

Muriel N. Kahwagi ((she/her)) is a writer and curator, working primarily across publishing and programming. Her research is centered on the politics of collecting and archiving the performative; and the act of listening as a form of preservation in and of itself. In 2023, she was the TD Curatorial Fellow at Art Windsor-Essex, and a curator as part of Vtape’s Curatorial Incubator, v.19. She is currently the Assistant Curator at Contemporary Calgary, and a programmer at the Toronto Arab Film Festival.


Supported by

 
View Event →
Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story (2024)
May
15
5:30 PM17:30

Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story (2024)

 

Film Screening:

Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story (2024), dir. Alison Duke

May 15

Doors: 6:00 PM | Film begins: 6:30 PM
Heather Edwards Theatre

The iconic track “Bam Bam” has become a timeless reggae anthem and one of the most sampled songs in music history. But the powerful voice behind the hit — and the remarkable story of the woman who sang it — remains largely unknown.

In Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story, award-winning filmmaker Alison Duke brings Sister Nancy’s legacy to life through electric tour footage, intimate interviews with artists like Janelle Monáe, Young Guru, and Pete Rock, and rare archival glimpses into the roots of the dancehall movement.

Uplifting and unforgettable, this documentary celebrates a trailblazing artist whose voice broke barriers and whose story is a testament to resilience, authenticity, and the transformative power of music.

FREE with registration.

GIVEAWAY: All registered attendees will be automatically entered to win a pair of tickets to the LOOK25 Gala: Noir Nouveau Cabaret (value: $600), where Sister Nancy will headline a live performance! *You must be in attendance at the screening to be eligible to win.

This film is presented in collaboration with LOOK25 Gala: Noir Nouveau, presented by MAWER, featuring headline performer Sister Nancy. Special thanks to our Entertainment Sponsor, Cowboys Music Festival, for their generous support.


About Sister Nancy

Sister Nancy, aka Muma Nancy, real name Ophlin Russell-Myers, (born Ophlin Russell, 2 January 1962, Kingston, Jamaica) is a dancehall DJ and singer. She is known to the world as the first female dancehall DJ and was described as being a “dominating female voice for over two decades” on the dancehall scene. One of her most famous songs is “Bam Bam”, labelled as a “well-known reggae anthem” by BBC and a “classic” by The Observer.

First recorded in 1982, Sister Nancy’s Bam Bam took inspiration for its chorus from the Toots And The Maytals’ 1966 song of the same name, while its instrumental sampled Ansel Collins’ 1974 song Stalag 17. The song was produced by Winston Riley and appeared on Nancy’s One, Two album.

Billboard Magazine once noted that Nancy’s “Bam Bam is a strong contender for the title of most sampled reggae song of all time,” while the Rolling Stone cited the song’s extensive list of samples when the publication ranked it at No. 454 on their updated “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list in 2021.

According to WhoSampled, there are 128 songs that have sampled Sister Nancy’s tune, including Famous by Kanye West and Rihanna, BAM by Jay-Z and Damian Marley, Lost Ones by Lauryn Hill, Bomb by Chris Brown featuring Wiz Khalifa, and Do To Me by H.E.R.


Supported by

 
View Event →
Contemporary Connections: Mandarin Tour
May
10
1:00 PM13:00

Contemporary Connections: Mandarin Tour

 

Contemporary Connections: Mandarin Tour

May 10
Flanagan Family Gallery | 1 PM

Discover Contemporary Calgary’s exhibitions like never before with Contemporary Connections, a guided tour of June Clark: Witness offered in Mandarin. Led by Dandan Gu this tour provides unique insights into our thought-provoking exhibitions, fostering conversation and meaningful connections in a welcoming and inclusive environment.

After the tour, take the opportunity to explore our other exhibitions and enjoy everything Contemporary Calgary has to offer.

  • Admission: Included with the cost of entry—$12 daily admission, or by donation for visitors under 25. Memberships and Canoo passes are also accepted. Paid upon arrival.

  • Registration: Advance registration is encouraged, but walk-ins are welcome if space allows.

We invite you to share which languages you’d like to see in future tours as we continue to bring people together through the shared experience of contemporary art. Email us at info@contemporarycalgary.com with your suggestions!


当代联结:普通话讲解

5月10日 下午 1:00

在“当代联结”项目中,我们邀请您以全新的视角探索Contemporary Calgary!首场普通话讲解活动将由顾丹丹带您走入艺术家June Clark的展览Witness,深入感受作品背后的思想与情感。这场艺术之旅不仅呈现独特的艺术视角,更将激发深度对话,联结彼此,让您在开放与包容的氛围中,重新体会艺术的力量。

讲解活动结束后,欢迎您继续漫步展厅,探索更多精彩展览,尽享 Contemporary Calgary 带来的艺术体验。

门票:常规日票12加元(25岁以下访客可自愿捐款入场),会员及Canoo通行证有效。费用于到场时支付。  

预约:建议提前登记,若有余位亦接受现场参与。  

时长:1小时导览+自由问答/交流  

我们期待通过当代艺术的交流联结更多人。您希望未来推出哪种语言的讲解?欢迎发送建议至info@contemporarycalgary.com  


About the Facilitator

Dandan Gu
(she/her)

Dandan Gu graduated from the Alberta University of the Arts with a Bachelor's degree in Visual Communication Design. Prior to that, she obtained her first bachelor's degree in Marketing from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, China. Dandan has worked as a graphic designer for various companies and creative projects. Currently, she passionately serves as an educational assistant for art-making programs within the community, sharing her creative expertise with young learners. In her free time, Dandan enjoys practicing ink art, Chinese calligraphy, and illustrating cats and people around her.

顾丹丹是一位对当代艺术与中国文化充满热情的艺术教育者。她先后毕业于阿尔伯塔省艺术大学视觉艺术设计专业与上海理工大学市场营销专业。在投身艺术教育之前,她曾在多个设计项目中担任平面设计师,擅于将设计、叙事与文化元素巧妙融合。

现在,她专注于社区艺术教育,带领孩子们通过动手实践,以轻松有趣的方式探索艺术世界。她对插画与书法尤为热爱,常融汇传统与当代技法,探索多元的艺术表达。她喜欢画猫和身边的人,喜欢用简单温暖的笔触捕捉生活中不经意的瞬间。


Supported by

 

 
View Event →
May | Open Studio for 55+
May
7
to May 28

May | Open Studio for 55+

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Open Studio for 55+

May 2025
Wednesdays | 1:00-4:00 PM

Join Contemporary Calgary at our drop-in Open Studio Session for 55+ on Wednesdays in May.

During this informal art-making drop-in session, participants are invited to bring their own projects along with any art and craft materials they are currently using. This time can be used not only for creating but also for connecting with other artists, fostering collaboration and inspiration.

For adults age 55+

FREE and no registration is required; simply check in with a gallery attendant at the front desk by signing your name each time on the sign-in sheet.

*If you have questions about this workshop please reach out to Beth Kane, Manager Visitor Experience at beth@contemporarycalgary.com 


By checking in with us at front desk to participate in this session, you agree to:

  1. Follow Contemporary Calgary staff instructions.

  2. Treat all staff, participants, and other visitors with respect.

  3. Behave in a safe and prudent manner.

Participants who do not comply with these rules may be temporarily or permanently suspended from the program.


 
View Event →
LOOK25 Art Auction
May
1
to May 31

LOOK25 Art Auction

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

LOOK25 Art Auction

May 1—31, 2025

Visit givergy.com/look2025/ to explore the live auction items or start bidding on an incredible selection of silent auction items.


Contemporary Calgary is pleased to present LOOK25, an exhibition and auction featuring works by many of Canada’s most significant artistic talents, generously sponsored by HEATHER EDWARDS. This exhibition is built upon the extraordinary generosity of our friends and supporters who have contributed to the growing success of our contemporary art community here in Calgary and further afield.

The first LOOK Gala took place in 2014 as an art auction and fundraiser to support the establishment of Contemporary Calgary and to help realize a new vision for the Centennial Planetarium as a significant centre for art in Canada. Since then, we have grown the Gala into a signature event that is known across the country for its artistic vision and outstanding success.  

The Gala includes both live and silent auctions, offering guests the opportunity to support Contemporary Calgary while they grow their own art collections. With price points starting at $125, and works by over 75 acclaimed artists, the auctions offer something for everyone. This year's auction is especially noteworthy, with an outstanding selection of works from both established and emerging Canadian artists. 

Proceeds from the live and silent auctions support the artists directly as well as Contemporary Calgary’s expansive exhibitions and public programs.

We would like to thank the artists, gallerists, and community donors who have made the art auction possible through their vision and leadership. We are also grateful to the collectors in our community for supporting the LOOK auction and helping shape the future of contemporary art in our city.


How to Bid

Preview all auction offerings in person at Contemporary Calgary or online beginning May 1, 2025, at noon.

Silent Auction:

Bidding opens May 1 at noon and closes at 12:00 AM on June 1, 2025. Register and place your bids through the Givergy platform.

How to Bid and Donate on Givergy:

  • From the home page, select Silent Items, Live Items, or Donate

  • Bids can only be placed on Silent Auction items

  • To bid, select an item from the Silent Auction, click on it, and click “make a bid” at the upper right

  • Enter your bid and then click “Place Bid.” Use the “Max Bid” function, and the system will automatically bid for you up to the amount entered.

  • Register your details and then “Confirm Your Bid.”

  • Receive outbid text notifications and bid again!

  • If you are at the event, keep an eye on the leaderboard screens to see if you're still the leading bidder!

  • Don't want to lose out on your favourite piece? Click "Buy now" to purchase at twice the fair market value of a work. It's a win-win: you get the work and a tax receipt for the fair market value of the piece.

Live Auction:

The live auction takes place on May 31 during the LOOK25 Gala in the Dome Theatre. To bid in person, a VIP Dinner or Cabaret ticket is required. Limited seating is available and will be prioritized for participating bidders. We request that you register in advance to secure your paddle and place at the auction.

Not able to attend in person? No problem! Contemporary Calgary will accept absentee bids and live telephone bidding. Details on remote bidding are available here.

To learn more and register, contact us at donations@contemporarycalgary.com.


Honorary Chairs

June Clark 
Dr. John Lacey CM
D’Arcy Levesque

LOOK25 Gala Curator

Simone Elizabeth Saunders

Art Auction Curators

Kanika Anand 
Muriel N. Kahwagi

Auctioneer

Stephen Ranger

Artists

Fiona Ackerman, Jen Aitken, Dick Averns, Ashleigh Bartlett, Jason Bartziokas, Nancy Boyd, Kevin Boyle, Billie Rae Busby, Oscar Cahén, Nathan Eugene Carson, June Clark, Heather Close and Sarah Nordean, Michael Corner, Chris Cran, Lauren Crazybull, Amy Dryer, Renée Duval, Megan Dyck, Marcel Dzama, Christian Eckart, John Eisler, Dennis Ekstedt, Rhys Douglas Farrell, Chris Flodberg, Rocio Graham, Jude Griebel, Julya Hajnoczky, John Hall, Maggie Hall, Marcia Harris, Faye HeavyShield, Alicia Henry, Jennifer Hornyak, Sharie Hunter, Geoffrey Hunter, Joshua Jensen-Nagle, Mitch Kern, Harry Kiyooka, Neshka Krusche, Bryce Krynski, Paul Kuhn, Marie Lannoo, Kenneth Lochhead, Tyler Los-Jones, Robert Marchessault, Billy McCarroll, Karin McGinn, Nate McLeod, Ron Moppett, Mark Mullin, Katie Ohe, Erik Olson, Evan Penny, William Perehudoff, Christopher Pratt, Darija S. Radakovic, Anthony Redpath, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Nick Rooney, Sylvia Safdie, Simone Elizabeth Saunders, Michael Smith, Jesse Stilwell, Cassie Suche, Han Sungpil, David Thauberger, Carl White, John Will, Mary Shannon Will, Kristine Zingeler.

Auction Contributors 

Oscar Cahén Estate
Maurice Dzama
Dr. John Lacey CM
Joanne Lochhead and the Lochhead Estate
Katie Ohe
Gaëtane Verna and Daina Augaitis
Rogers Communications Collection
Tiller Wolf Art Consulting
Anonymous Private Collections



 
View Event →
Free First Thursday
May
1
5:00 PM17:00

Free First Thursday

 

Free First Thursday

May 1
5-9 PM

Join us for Free First Thursday on May 1 at Contemporary Calgary! Enjoy complimentary admission from 5–9 PM and be among the first to experience the LOOK25 Art Auction exhibition, sponsored by Heather Edwards. This exceptional showcase features works generously donated by some of the nation’s most celebrated artists, many of whom will be in attendance. On view from May 1–29, the exhibition offers an exciting opportunity to preview and place advance bids ahead of the LOOK25 Gala: Noir Nouveau, presented by MAWER, on May 31.

The evening also marks the book launch of Encompass the Galaxy by LOOK25 Gala Curator Simone Elizabeth Saunders, where you’ll have the opportunity to preview the book and place pre-orders.

Enjoy live music from Calgary musicians Jani Parsons and Chris Sies. Their performance, Piano Nouveau Electronique, draws from French piano music of the Art Nouveau era, reinterpreted and altered with electronics. Expect a mesmerizing soundscape—an elusive and psychedelic blending of nature, space, sound, and time with music by Debussy, Ravel, and Satie.

From 5–8 PM, drop in for a FREE hands-on art-making session inspired by our current exhibitions. All ages and skill levels are welcome!

Enjoy a curated selection of wine, craft beer, and refreshing non-alcoholic beverages as you explore, create, and connect through contemporary art.

Art for All. No registration required. All ages welcome.

On view:


 
View Event →
Exhibition Opening | LOOK25 Art Auction
May
1
5:00 PM17:00

Exhibition Opening | LOOK25 Art Auction

 

Exhibition Opening

LOOK25 Art Auction

May 1
5-9 PM

We invite you to join us on Thursday, May 1, from 5–9 PM for the opening of the LOOK25 Art Auction exhibition sponsored by Heather Edwards— an exceptional showcase featuring works by many of Canada’s most significant artistic talents for our annual live and silent auction.

This year, the LOOK Gala titled Noir Nouveau focuses on the themes of solidarity, joy, and resilience. It draws inspiration from nature and builds on the strength of community. We look to the expressions of makers within our community to drive us forward, especially in uncertain times. LOOK invites us to come together, to celebrate the creative spirit, and to think deeper about our collective future.

The auction will be on display at the gallery from May 1–29, 2025, offering the public a unique opportunity to view the works in person and place advance bids ahead of the LOOK25 Gala: Noir Nouveau, presented by MAWER, on May 31.

  • Doors Open
    5:00 PM

  • Remarks
    6:30 PM | Atrium

  • Galleries Close
    9:00 PM

FREE and open to the public. No registration required.

This exhibition opening is presented in collaboration with FREE First Thursday.

The LOOK25 Art Auction is generously sponsored by Heather Edwards, with special thanks to Kanika Anand, Senior Curator, and Muriel N. Kahwagi, Associate Curator at Contemporary Calgary, who are serving as Auction Curators. We are deeply grateful to the artists, gallerists, sponsors, donors, collectors, and committee members whose continued support strengthens Calgary’s vibrant arts community. Proceeds from the auction directly support Contemporary Calgary’s exhibitions and public programming.

Bidding for silent auction items opens on the Givergy platform at 12:00 PM on May 1. Get ready to browse and bid on an incredible selection of works and experiences, with the silent auction running until 12:00 AM on June 1. Live auction items will be available exclusively at the LOOK25 Gala: Noir Nouveau on May 31. Stay tuned—another email will land in your inbox once the auction is live with full instructions on how to register and place your bids.

LOOK25 Gala: Noir Nouveau tickets are on sale now—get your ticket before midnight on May 2 to be entered to win one of two $500 gift cards to the CORE Shopping Centre.*

*This giveaway is open to all residents of Canada. No purchase necessary, click here for complete contest rules.


Honorary Chairs

June Clark 
Dr. John Lacey CM
D’Arcy Levesque

LOOK25 Gala Curator

Simone Elizabeth Saunders

Art Auction Curators

Kanika Anand 
Muriel N. Kahwagi

Auctioneer

Stephen Ranger

Artists

Fiona Ackerman, Jen Aitken, Dick Averns, Ashleigh Bartlett, Jason Bartziokas, Nancy Boyd, Kevin Boyle, Billie Rae Busby, Oscar Cahén, Nathan Eugene Carson, June Clark, Heather Close and Sarah Nordean, Michael Corner, Chris Cran, Lauren Crazybull, Amy Dryer, Renée Duval, Megan Dyck, Marcel Dzama, Dennis Ekstedt, Rhys Douglas Farrell, Chris Flodberg, Rocio Graham, Jude Griebel, Julya Hajnoczky, John Hall, Maggie Hall, Marcia Harris, Faye HeavyShield, Alicia Henry, Jennifer Hornyak, Sharie Hunter, Geoffrey Hunter, Joshua Jensen-Nagle, Mitch Kern, Harry Kiyooka, Neshka Krusche, Bryce Krynski, Paul Kuhn, Marie Lannoo, Kenneth Lochhead, Tyler Los-Jones, Robert Marchessault, Billy McCarroll, Karin McGinn, Nate McLeod, Ron Moppett, Mark Mullin, Katie Ohe, Erik Olson, Evan Penny, William Perehudoff, Christopher Pratt, Darija S. Radakovic, Anthony Redpath, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Nick Rooney, Sylvia Safdie, Simone Elizabeth Saunders, Michael Smith, Jesse Stilwell, Cassie Suche, Han Sungpil, David Thauberger, Carl White, John Will, Mary Shannon Will, Kristine Zingeler.



 
View Event →
Perspective Film Series: The Sea Ahead (2021), dir. Ely Dagher
Apr
20
5:30 PM17:30

Perspective Film Series: The Sea Ahead (2021), dir. Ely Dagher

 

Perspective Film Series:

The Sea Ahead (2021), dir. Ely Dagher

April 20

5:30 PM | Dome Theatre

After a long time gone, Jana, a young woman, suddenly returns to Beirut. She finds herself reconnecting with the familiar yet strange life she had once left. As the city's residents fear a possible tsunami, Jana's world begins to unravel.

116 minutes, in Arabic with English subtitles.

FREE for members. Non-members: $10—your ticket to this screening includes admission to Contemporary Calgary. Our galleries are open from 12-5 PM for viewing prior to attending the program.



About Perspective Film Series

The 2025 edition of Perspective is curated by Muriel N. Kahwagi, Associate Curator at Contemporary Calgary. Drawing on Calgary's proximity to the Bow and Elbow Rivers and the role that each of them plays in the city, the series considers the ways in which bodies of water are used and weaponized as markers of land, becoming sites through which power is negotiated, practiced, and enacted. Featuring filmic works from a wide range of geographies and genres – including ethnographic films and artists' films – this year's edition reflects on water as a site of refuge; as a border; as a means to an escape; and as a character in and of itself.

About the Curator

Muriel N. Kahwagi ((she/her)) is a writer and curator, working primarily across publishing and programming. Her research is centered on the politics of collecting and archiving the performative; and the act of listening as a form of preservation in and of itself. In 2023, she was the TD Curatorial Fellow at Art Windsor-Essex, and a curator as part of Vtape’s Curatorial Incubator, v.19. She is currently the Assistant Curator at Contemporary Calgary, and a programmer at the Toronto Arab Film Festival.


Supported by

 
View Event →
Contemporary Kids: Appreciation of Home and Land
Apr
20
to Apr 27

Contemporary Kids: Appreciation of Home and Land

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Contemporary Kids: Appreciation of Home and Land

April 20 + 27

1-2:30 PM or 3-4:30 PM
Workshop

Join us for a sign-making workshop inspired by Wish you were here by Lauren Crazybull! Through hands-on activities, kids will bring their experiences and connection to the land to life by creating their own personal signs, reflecting their love for the earth while exploring Crazybull’s journey and her bond with her ancestral home.

Our free onsite Contemporary Kids programs invite children to learn about modern and contemporary art through unique and engaging art activities.

For children ages 5-12. Maximum group of 20 children, with one guardian per child. Questions? Please visit our FAQ page.

Contemporary Calgary Educational Programs are often photographed. This photography includes the participants, parents or guardians and their creations. If you wish to not be photographed, please let Contemporary Calgary education staff know upon arrival and they will assist you.


The same workshop is offered in four sessions for your convenience: two sessions on Sunday, April 20 and two sessions on Sunday, April 27. Choose one session that suits your schedule best.


Sunday, April 20
1:00-2:30 PM


Sunday, April 20
3:00-4:30 PM


Sunday, April 27
1:00-2:30 PM


Sunday, April 27
3:00-4:30 PM


About our TD Educational Facilitators

Poppy Ghasemi (she/her)

Poppy holds a bachelor's degree in Museum Studies and a master's in Anthropology. The awards she received from the University of Manitoba supported her research on child neglect. She has over four years of hands-on experience working with children and youth in museums and schools in Iran, Turkey, and Canada. Before joining Contemporary Calgary, she was a program educator at the Manitoba Children's Museum. Poppy primarily focuses on activating children's critical and creative thinking skills while delivering programs in English, French, Farsi, and Turkish. She enjoys cooking and walking with her husky along the Bow River during her leisure time.

Dandan Gu (she/her)

Dandan Gu graduated from the Alberta University of the Arts with a Bachelor's degree in Visual Communication Design. Prior to that, she obtained her first bachelor's degree in Marketing from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, China. Dandan has worked as a graphic designer for various companies and creative projects. Currently, she passionately serves as an educational assistant for art-making programs within the community, sharing her creative expertise with young learners. In her free time, Dandan enjoys practicing ink art, Chinese calligraphy, and illustrating cats and people around her.


Supported by

 

Supported by

 
View Event →
Calgary on Purpose: An Evening of Conversation and Connection
Apr
16
7:00 PM19:00

Calgary on Purpose: An Evening of Conversation and Connection

 

Calgary on Purpose

April 16

7 PM | Heather Edwards Theatre

We seek a Calgary united in trust, strong in joy. Division stains our public conversations and our politics but that is not where our city is. We have big things to do, and big, hard things can only be done together. Come celebrate with an evening of delight, conversation and community connection. 

The event begins at 7 PM April 16 in the Heather Edwards Theatre in Contemporary Calgary with four talented Calgarians showcasing their work, followed by insightful interviews led by the incomparable Dave Kelly. We’ll conclude the program by 8:30 PM, though the bar will remain open for those who wish to continue the conversation.

Enjoy the remarkable skills of filmmaker, festival director and international hip hop musician CONTRA (Priya Ramesh), the unparalleled industry innovator, entrepreneur and the founder and owner of the Calgary-based international fashion agency Mode Models Kelly Streit and the championship fiddler and composer of the Calgary Stampede theme song Denis Dufresne who, with his wife Megan Konschuh form the Canadiana music duo, The Charms. Dave Kelly will share a new story reflecting on our shared sense of place, and then invite us to join in an open forum, discussing our collective hopes, concerns, and dreams.

Thanks to the generous partnership of Contemporary Calgary, the support of many volunteers and Calgary Arts Development, the evening is free to the public. Please register to reserve your seat—and invite friends and colleagues.

Our aim is to encourage our beloved Calgary to be an example of how the people of the world can live well together. In that spirit, we stimulate conversation, curiosity and delight in the skills, stories, aspirations and goodwill of our neighbours on this land.

Join us in fostering appreciation, curiosity and shared purpose across our beloved city!


About the Speakers


Supported by

 
 
View Event →
Material & Embodiment
Apr
14
to May 2

Material & Embodiment

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Ceramic Mural by Mandolin Martin

Material & Embodiment

A Ceramic Student Exhibition – AUArts

April 14—May 2, 2025

Material & Embodiment explores the intersection of form, process, and meaning in contemporary ceramic practice. This exhibition features work by emerging artists who engage with clay as both a material and a conceptual medium. Through various techniques—hand-building, wheel-throwing, and experimental approaches—each piece reflects a unique dialogue between materiality and human experience.

As clay shifts from soft to solid, from earth to object, it retains traces of touch, intention, and transformation. This exhibition invites viewers to explore ceramics not only as an artistic form, but as a vessel of embodied experience where material and meaning are deeply intertwined.

Join us in celebrating the depth and versatility of ceramics.


About the Artists

Eryka Bruder

I am a ceramicist who primarily works with mid-fire clay, underglazes, and glazes due to their excellent color retention properties. My work balances two stylistic approaches—one that embraces bright, vibrant colors and intricate details, and another that leans toward neutral, natural tones. My forms are typically medium in scale, incorporating a combination of smooth surfaces and sharp, angular elements. 

Growing up in a small town in Southern Alberta, I have always felt a deep connection to the land, and natural elements such as plants and wildlife frequently appear in my work. This connection is central to my sense of identity and place. At the same time, I am drawn to travel as a means of self-discovery, which has led me to explore themes of saving money and the relationship between financial planning and exploration. My travels, particularly to the Netherlands, have sparked an interest in Delftware ceramics, and I have begun incorporating aspects of this traditional practice into my surface designs.  


Maria Jose Frausto Ontiveros

I’m Maria Jose Frausto Ontiveros, I’m currently an undergraduate student in the School of Craft at the Alberta University of Arts. Working to develop my ceramic work to display new and challenging skills while celebrating my Mexican heritage through traditional Mexican ceramic techniques.


Mandolin Martin

Mandolin Martin is a ceramics major at Alberta University of the Arts. As a multidisciplinary artist, she primarily focuses on pottery, drawing inspiration from her deep connection to the natural world. Growing up in the mountains and forests of rural British Columbia, Martin finds influence in nature’s forms, designs, and concepts. 

Her artistic journey reflects the ever-changing landscape through experimentation and atmospheric firings. By utilizing a variety of techniques, surface designs, forms, and glazes, her work emulates atmospheric effects. Through this process, she seeks to capture the variability and constant state of transition inherent in all natural things.


Minh Nguyen

Minh Nguyen is a Vietnamese-Canadian artist specializing in ceramics. She has been practicing art for seven years at Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts), where she has been a student since 2018. Currently majoring in ceramics, she has dedicated the past three years to exploring the medium in depth.

Born and raised in Vietnam, a country where the land is embraced by both sea and mountains, Minh draws inspiration from nature, which is a central theme in her work. She is fascinated by the idea of preserving natural elements, capturing them in ceramic forms that resemble artifacts in her own Cabinet of Curiosities.

During her time at AUArts, Minh has also explored other artistic disciplines, including glass, graphic design, and animation, all of which inform her creative practice. She is set to graduate in Spring 2026.

As an artist, Minh aspires to share the beauty and stories of her homeland through her work while also raising awareness of critical social issues, from environmental conservation to gender equality—all through the lens of nature. Looking ahead, she hopes to exhibit her work widely, using


Tess Swain

Tess Swain was born and raised in the small rural Alberta town of Rocky Mountain House. They moved to Mohkinstis, also known as Calgary in 2019. They are currently an undergraduate student at the Alberta University of the Arts pursuing a BFA majoring in Ceramics. Art has always been an important aspect of their life, growing up with interests and experience with music, theatre, and the visual arts. Tess’ art practice connects to their identity and experiences as a queer person with autism and ADHD. Their art looks at mental health struggles and they also explore texture and themes of nature.


Ashlynn Tsoi

Ashlynn Tsoi is a ceramic artist specializing in both sculptural and functional ceramics. Born in Calgary, Alberta, and raised in Bragg Creek on Tsuut’ina Treaty 7 land, she comes from a multicultural background, with a Chinese father and a Caucasian mother. Her artistic practice is deeply influenced by relationships, conversation, and a profound connection to the natural landscapes she grew up in. She values the ever-growing support of her community, including mentors, siblings, family, friends, and the children she hopes to inspire.



 
View Event →
Artist-led Tour: Efflorescence/The Way We Wake
Apr
5
2:00 PM14:00

Artist-led Tour: Efflorescence/The Way We Wake

 

Artist-led Tour: Efflorescence/The Way We Wake

April 5
Ring Gallery | 2-3 PM

To mark the closing of Rajni Perera & Marigold Santos: Efflorescence/The Way We Wake, please join us for a guided tour of the exhibition led by Marigold Santos.

In this tour, Santos will reflect on some of the major themes in the exhibition, as well as on her collaborative practice with Rajni Perera.

Rajni Perera & Marigold Santos: Efflorescence/The Way We Wake is on view at Contemporary Calgary until April 6, 2025.


About the Artist

Marigold Santos (she/her) was born in the Philippines, and immigrated with her family to Canada in 1988. She pursues an interdisciplinary art practice that examines notions of heritage, folklore, motherwork, and decolonization presented within the otherworldly. Her paintings, drawings, sculptures, and tattoo work explores self-hood and identity that embraces multiplicity, fragmentation, and empowerment, as informed by diasporic experiences. She holds a BFA from the University of Calgary, and an MFA from Concordia University. As a recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, she continues to exhibit widely across Canada.



 
View Event →
Exhibition Opening | June Clark: Witness
Apr
3
5:00 PM17:00

Exhibition Opening | June Clark: Witness

 

Exhibition Opening
June Clark: Witness

April 3
5:00-9:00 PM

Join us for the opening of June Clark: Witness on Thursday, April 3, from 5-9 PM. This exhibition marks the first survey in Canada of American-born, Toronto-based artist June Clark, highlighting her groundbreaking practice across photography, text, collage, installation, and sculptural assemblages. In this deeply personal exhibition, Clark explores themes of identity, memory, and history, illuminating the familial and artistic lineages that have shaped her work.

The evening features an In-Conversation with June Clark and Julie Crooks, Curator, Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). Crooks curated Unrequited Love at the AGO while Witness was on view at The Power Plant in the summer of 2024. This iteration of Witness brings together works from both exhibitions.

  • Doors
    5:00 PM

  • Remarks
    6:30 PM | Atrium

  • In-Conversation with June Clark and Julie Crooks
    7:00 PM | Heather Edwards Theatre

  • Galleries Close
    9:00 PM

FREE to the public. No registration is required.

Seating for In-Conversation with June Clark and Julie Crooks is first come, first served.

This exhibition opening is presented in collaboration with FREE First Thursday.


June Clark
Witness

April 3—August 31, 2025

June Clark: Witness is the first survey in Canada of the Toronto-based artist June Clark, who, since the late 1960s, has developed a unique and groundbreaking practice spanning photo-based work, text, collage, installation, and sculptural assemblages. Born in Harlem, New York, Clark immigrated to Canada in 1968 and subsequently made Toronto her home. The questions of identity formation and their connection to our points of origin fuel her practice. In this deeply personal exhibition, she explores how history, memory, and identity—both individual and collective—have established the familial and artistic lineages that shape her work.

Organized by The Power Plant, June Clark: Witness brings together four significant bodies of work that stretch from the 1990s to the present, many of them seen here for the first time. These include her iconic installations Family Secrets, 1992, and Harlem Quilt, 1997, a series of photo-based works from 2004 titled 44 Thursdays in Paris, Perseverance Suite (a new project the artist began in 2021), and Homage, a collection of sculptural assemblages.

The exhibition also includes a body of work titled Unrequited Love, that is dedicated to Colin Rand Kaepernick, the football quarterback who knelt during the national anthem in 2016 to call attention to the continued violence towards and oppression of Black people in America and around the world. Initially presented at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in tandem with June Clark: Witness at The Power Plant, Unrequited Love will be shown as part of this iteration of Witness at Contemporary Calgary.

June Clark: Witness is curated by Adelina Vlas & Frances Loeffler.

Initiated, organized and circulated by The Power Plant


About the Artist

June Clark
(she/her)

June Clark (b. 1941, New York City) has earned national and international recognition for herphoto-based image works, installations and interventions. She holds a BFA and MFA from York University. Clark has had solo exhibitions at the Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto; Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; The Koffler Gallery, Toronto; and Mercer Union, Toronto. Clark’s work has been included in exhibitions at the Polygon Gallery, Vancouver; the University of Toronto Art Museum, Toronto; the Art Gallery of Ontario; the Textile Museum, Toronto; the National Gallery of Canada Ottawa; Agnès b., Paris; and Linda Kirkland Gallery, New York. She has completed residencies at the Studio Museum, Harlem; and the Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto. Her work can be found in the collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario; the Wedge Collection, Toronto; the National Gallery of Canada; the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, New York; the James Van Der Zee Institute, New York; and La galerie du jour agnès b, among others. The artist lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

About the Curators

Adelina Vlas, Head of Curatorial Affairs, The Power Plant
(she/her)

Adelina Vlas is the Head of Curatorial Affairs at The Power Plant, Toronto, where she leads the Exhibitions, Publications, and Public Programs and Outreach teams. At The Power Plant, Vlas has curated Jen Aitken: The Same Thing Looks Different and Meriem Bennani: Life on the CAPS. Previously, Vlas was Associate Curator of Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, where she organized special exhibitions and collection-based shows such as As If Sand Were Stone: Contemporary Latin American Art from the AGO Collection (2017), Hito Steyerl: This Is The Future (2019), and Haegue Yang: Emergence (2020). She was also the in-house curator for Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors (2018). Additionally, she has held curatorial positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Frances Loeffler, Curator of Exhibitions, The Power Plant
(she/her)

Frances Loeffler is the Curator of Exhibitions at The Power Plant, Toronto. Loeffler has held curatorial positions at arts organizations worldwide, including Oakville Galleries, White Cube, and the Liverpool Biennial. She has extensive experience curating numerous exhibitions, working closely with artists such as Etel Adnan, Sascha Braunig, Helen Cammock, David Hartt, Tamara Henderson, Runa Islam, Allison Katz, Leisure (Meredith Carruthers and Susannah Wesley), Tanya Lukin Linklater, Senga Nengudi, Paul P., and Shannon Te Ao, among many others. Many of her exhibitions have explored the crossover between art and language, and she has a specialized interest in the history of artist gardens.



 
View Event →
Free First Thursday
Apr
3
5:00 PM17:00

Free First Thursday

 

Free First Thursday

April 3
5-9 PM

Join us on April 3 at Contemporary Calgary for Free First Thursday, with complimentary admission from 5–9 PM! Enjoy an evening of contemporary art as we extend our hours, inviting you to explore our galleries and participate in special programming. Be among the first to experience June Clark: Witness and hear directly from the artist in conversation with Julie Crooks, Curator of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). The evening also features a performance by The People’s Poet, Wakefield Brewster, live music by Jazz pianist Timothonius and vocalist Jane Madeleine (8 PM), along with a selection of wine, craft beer, and refreshing non-alcoholic beverages to sip and enjoy.

From 5–8 PM, enjoy a FREE drop-in art-making session inspired by our current exhibitions. All ages and skill levels are welcome!

This is an all-ages event—an open invitation to explore, create, and connect through contemporary art.

Art for All—FREE with registration.


Supported by

 
View Event →
April | Open Studio for 55+
Apr
2
to Apr 30

April | Open Studio for 55+

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Open Studio for 55+

April 2025
Wednesdays | 1:00-4:00 PM

Join Contemporary Calgary at our drop-in Open Studio Session for 55+ on Wednesdays in April.

During this informal art-making drop-in session, participants are invited to bring their own projects along with any art and craft materials they are currently using. This time can be used not only for creating but also for connecting with other artists, fostering collaboration and inspiration.

For adults age 55+

FREE and no registration is required; simply check in with a gallery attendant at the front desk by signing your name each time on the sign-in sheet.

*If you have questions about this workshop please reach out to Beth Kane, Manager Visitor Experience at beth@contemporarycalgary.com 


By checking in with us at front desk to participate in this session, you agree to:

  1. Follow Contemporary Calgary staff instructions.

  2. Treat all staff, participants, and other visitors with respect.

  3. Behave in a safe and prudent manner.

Participants who do not comply with these rules may be temporarily or permanently suspended from the program.


 
View Event →
Efflorescence / The Way We Wake Exhibition Tour: Carte Blanche to Dianne Miranda
Mar
29
5:00 PM17:00

Efflorescence / The Way We Wake Exhibition Tour: Carte Blanche to Dianne Miranda

 

Efflorescence / The Way We Wake Exhibition Tour: Carte Blanche to Dianne Miranda

March 29
Ring Gallery | 5-6 PM

Join us for an interpretive tour of Rajni Perera & Marigold Santos: Efflorescence / The Way We Wake, led by Dianne Miranda. Drawing on their own experience as a Filipinx Calgarian and sharing personal insights into the work, Miranda will be making connections between both artists’ practices and the transnational dimensions of diasporic experiences.
This program is organized in conjunction with Rajni Perera & Marigold Santos: Efflorescence / The Way We Wake, on view at Contemporary Calgary until April 6, 2025.


About the Facilitator

Photo by Marigold Santos.

Dianne Miranda (they/them) was born and raised in the Philippines. They have been a grateful uninvited settler in Moh’kins’tsis for almost ten years now. Dianne is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Calgary completing a combined Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Arts in Gender and Sexuality Studies with an embedded certificate in Mental Wellbeing and Resilience. They work for The Gauntlet, the University of Calgary’s independent student publication as the Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator, where they primarily write about the arts community in their free time. Dianne has also been involved in the local Filipino/a/x community through a project commissioned by Filipinos Rising (FRIENDS) and Salingpusa Magazine. They strive to live by the value of kapwa in all aspects of their life.



 
View Event →
Perspective Film Series: Solaris (1972), dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
Mar
23
5:30 PM17:30

Perspective Film Series: Solaris (1972), dir. Andrei Tarkovsky

 

Perspective Film Series:

Solaris (1972), dir. Andrei Tarkovsky

March 23

5:30 PM | Dome Theatre

Solaris (1972) is one of Andrei Tarkovsky’s most iconic films. Based on the 1961 novel by Stanisław Lem, the film follows Kris Kelvin, a psychologist sent to a space station orbiting the planet Solaris to investigate the death of a doctor and the mental struggles of cosmonauts on the station. He soon discovers that the water on the planet is a type of brain which brings out repressed memories and compulsive obsessions.

166 minutes, in Russian and German with English subtitles

This screening is programmed in conjunction with Rajni Perera and Marigold Santos: Efflorescence / The Way We Wake, on view at Contemporary Calgary until April 6, 2025.

FREE for members. Non-members: $10—your ticket to this screening includes admission to Contemporary Calgary. Our galleries are open from 12-5 PM for viewing prior to attending the program.



About Perspective Film Series

The 2025 edition of Perspective is curated by Muriel N. Kahwagi, Associate Curator at Contemporary Calgary. Drawing on Calgary's proximity to the Bow and Elbow Rivers and the role that each of them plays in the city, the series considers the ways in which bodies of water are used and weaponized as markers of land, becoming sites through which power is negotiated, practiced, and enacted. Featuring filmic works from a wide range of geographies and genres – including ethnographic films and artists' films – this year's edition reflects on water as a site of refuge; as a border; as a means to an escape; and as a character in and of itself.

About the Curator

Muriel N. Kahwagi ((she/her)) is a writer and curator, working primarily across publishing and programming. Her research is centered on the politics of collecting and archiving the performative; and the act of listening as a form of preservation in and of itself. In 2023, she was the TD Curatorial Fellow at Art Windsor-Essex, and a curator as part of Vtape’s Curatorial Incubator, v.19. She is currently the Assistant Curator at Contemporary Calgary, and a programmer at the Toronto Arab Film Festival.


Supported by

 
View Event →
Contemporary Kids: Hummingbirds, Homes, and Journeys
Mar
23
to Mar 30

Contemporary Kids: Hummingbirds, Homes, and Journeys

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Contemporary Kids: Hummingbirds, Homes, and Journeys

March 23 + 30

1-2:30 PM or 3-4:30 PM
Workshop

Join us for a fun kids workshop inspired by Hummingbird Guided Meditation by Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen. Through hands-on activities, children will bring their imaginations to life by creating their own papier-mâché nests. They’ll explore the incredible migration journey of hummingbirds between Mexico and Canada—discovering what they see, experience, and how they carry their stories.

Our free onsite Contemporary Kids programs invite children to learn about modern and contemporary art through unique and engaging art activities.

For children ages 5-12. Maximum group of 30 children, with one guardian per child. Questions? Please visit our FAQ page.

Contemporary Calgary Educational Programs are often photographed. This photography includes the participants, parents or guardians and their creations. If you wish to not be photographed, please let Contemporary Calgary education staff know upon arrival and they will assist you.


The same workshop is offered in four sessions for your convenience: two sessions on Sunday, March 23 and two sessions on Sunday, March 30. Choose one session that suits your schedule best.


Sunday, March 23
1:00-2:30 PM


Sunday, March 23
3:00-4:30 PM


Sunday, March 30
1:00-2:30 PM


Sunday, March 30
3:00-4:30 PM


About our TD Educational Facilitators

Poppy Ghasemi (she/her)

Poppy holds a bachelor's degree in Museum Studies and a master's in Anthropology. The awards she received from the University of Manitoba supported her research on child neglect. She has over four years of hands-on experience working with children and youth in museums and schools in Iran, Turkey, and Canada. Before joining Contemporary Calgary, she was a program educator at the Manitoba Children's Museum. Poppy primarily focuses on activating children's critical and creative thinking skills while delivering programs in English, French, Farsi, and Turkish. She enjoys cooking and walking with her husky along the Bow River during her leisure time.

Dandan Gu (she/her)

Dandan Gu graduated from the Alberta University of the Arts with a Bachelor's degree in Visual Communication Design. Prior to that, she obtained her first bachelor's degree in Marketing from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, China. Dandan has worked as a graphic designer for various companies and creative projects. Currently, she passionately serves as an educational assistant for art-making programs within the community, sharing her creative expertise with young learners. In her free time, Dandan enjoys practicing ink art, Chinese calligraphy, and illustrating cats and people around her.


Supported by

 

Supported by

 
View Event →
Artist talk: Miruna Drăgan and Maggie Tiesenhausen
Mar
19
5:00 PM17:00

Artist talk: Miruna Drăgan and Maggie Tiesenhausen

 

Artist Talk: Miruna Drăgan and Maggie Tiesenhausen

March 19
Heather Edwards Theatre | 5-6:30 PM

Join us for a talk with Miruna Drăgan and Maggie Tiesenhausen, programmed in conjunction with their immersive moving image and sound work Hummingbird Guided Meditation, on view at Contemporary Calgary until June 29, 2025. Their audience-prompted conversation will focus on the evolution of this work and the individual and collective experiences that informed their collaborative process.


About the Artists

Miruna Drăgan (she/her) lives alongside Akokiniskway (the Rosebud River) and teaches in Mohkinstsis (Calgary) on Treaty 7 territory. With an intuitive approach, her work responds to observed synchronicities through a broad range of methods and materials, toward a subjective reimagining of archetypal myths and landscapes. Drăgan’s works come through in dreams or visions, reflecting themes of dispersion and transcendence, both as individual pieces and collectively within immersive environments, while offering themselves as new tools for divination or metaphysics. Recent exhibition venues include Doris McCarthy Gallery at the University of Toronto (2023), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo and Museo Regional de Querétaro (2022), Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver (2021), and Living Art Museum in Reykjavík (2019). Drăgan’s work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Calgary Arts Development, and the Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts).

Maggie Tiesenhausen (they/them) is a northwest Albertan settler music producer and artist. Their auditory works present insurgent, speculative imaginaries, and rural cinema-verité in a complex balance. The sometimes-disparate elements in interplay—found sound, field recordings, barely-audible confessions, amplified noise floor, accidental recordings, amateur performance—bring clouded internal sites into view. Often emotionally charged, atmospheric, and unresolved, these aural worlds summon a cinematic visuality. Tiesenhausen lives in Treaty 8 territory, in the unincorporated hamlet of Demmitt, Alberta. They also share a collaborative singing practice with artist and musician Jen Reimer called Tunnel.



 
View Event →
Free First Thursday
Mar
6
5:00 PM17:00

Free First Thursday

 

Free First Thursday

March 6
5-9 PM

Join us on March 6 at Contemporary Calgary for Free First Thursday, with complimentary admission from 5–9 PM! Experience an evening of contemporary art as we extend our hours, inviting you to explore our galleries and take part in special programming. Be among the first to see Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen: Hummingbird Guided Meditation, celebrate the closing of the 2025 Exposure Photography Festival and watch Riley JB in action taking tintype portraits. Enjoy curated music sets from SRRYNOTSRRY™ members Dempsey Bolton, Latisha, Lotus, Obsinema, Shemar & Trinity Kril, and sip on a selection of wine, craft beer, and refreshing non-alcoholic beverages.

From 5–8 PM, enjoy a FREE drop-in art-making session inspired by our current exhibitions. All ages and skill levels are welcome!

This is an all-ages event—an open invitation to explore, create, and connect through contemporary art.

Art for All—FREE with registration.

Exhibition Opening | Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen: Hummingbird Guided Meditation

  • Remarks
    7:00 PM | Atrium

Drop-in exhibition tours:

  • Ring Gallery Tour (Rajni Perera + Marigold Santos) at 6 & 8 PM

On view:


About Our FFT Partners


Exposure Photography Festival

The Exposure Photography Festival is a month-long celebration of photography across Alberta. They highlight exceptional contemporary work, create opportunities for emerging artists, and invite the public to engage with a wide variety of visual storytelling through juried open-call exhibitions and a diverse array of partner programming.

Since 2020, Contemporary Calgary has hosted Exposure’s open-call exhibitions: International Open Call and Emerging Photographers Showcase, as well as a solo exhibition featuring the previous festival’s Emerging Photographer of the Year. This year, Contemporary Calgary will also be hosting an additional exhibition as part of Exposure: Vivek Shraya: Niche.

Admission to the Exposure exhibitions is free and open to the public during regular gallery hours.

Click here to visit the Exposure Photography Festival website.


Supported by

 
View Event →
Exhibition Opening |  Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen: Hummingbird Guided Meditation
Mar
6
5:00 PM17:00

Exhibition Opening | Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen: Hummingbird Guided Meditation

 

Exhibition Opening
Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen: Hummingbird Guided Meditation

March 6
5:00-9:00 PM

Join us for the opening of Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen: Hummingbird Guided Meditation on Thursday, March 6, from 5–9 PM.

Hummingbird Guided Meditation immerses the viewer in moving image and spatialized sound, inviting embodied contemplation. Crafted with a speculative imagining of a hummingbird’s perspective of the world, this mesmeric installation opens a space for self-reflection, inter-species empathy, and attunement to the unseen forces that connect all things.

  • Doors
    5:00 PM

  • Remarks
    7:00 PM | Atrium

  • Galleries Close
    9:00 PM

FREE to the public. No registration is required.

This exhibition opening is presented in collaboration with FREE First Thursday.


Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen
Hummingbird Guided Meditation

March 6—June 29, 2025

Hummingbird Guided Meditation is a cinematic installation presented as a series of meditations on life from the perspective of a hummingbird. The film’s seven scenes correlate to moments along the hummingbird’s yearly migratory ellipse. Super8 footage captured in an overgrown garden in Querétaro, Mexico and slowed to embody the hummingbird’s experience of time and space, opens a channel for speculative empathic exchange between species. From a perspective attenuated to the speed of beating wings, fragments of a second crystallize and blossom into blurred expanses.

Hummingbird Guided Meditation’s accompanying soundtrack is composed from field recordings on cassette tape captured over years and along the hummingbird's migratory path. Sources include the tolling of church bells, friends laughing, freight trains, a rehearsing marching snare, and a coal mine bus tour. Departing from the entanglements of field recording with New Age music and hobby naturalism, the sound is haunted and ambiguous, rarely resolving. Manually looped and interpreted by artifact-prone equipment, the murky, fluttering electronics evoke a magnetic and instinctual world.

Engaging with its namesake methodology, Hummingbird Guided Meditation both creates and problematizes an interspecies imaginary, implicating us through its bejewelled and intoxicating veil.

The digitized Super8 film by Miruna Drăgan was previously exhibited on a small monitor without sound at Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver in 2021 and as a single-channel projection with sound by Maggie Tiesenhausen at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Querétaro in Mexico in 2022. 

This iteration expands into a multi-channel projected installation with spatialized sound and a hummingbird narrator. The words of the hummingbird were written by Marianne Shaneen and voiced by Paulina Macías.


About the Artists

Miruna Drăgan
(she/her)

Miruna Drăgan lives alongside Akokiniskway (the Rosebud River) and teaches in Mohkinstsis (Calgary) on Treaty 7 territory. With an intuitive approach, her work responds to observed synchronicities through a broad range of methods and materials, toward a subjective reimagining of archetypal myths and landscapes. Drăgan’s works come through in dreams or visions, reflecting themes of dispersion and transcendence, both as individual pieces and collectively within immersive environments, while offering themselves as new tools for divination or metaphysics. Recent exhibition venues include Doris McCarthy Gallery at the University of Toronto (2023), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo and Museo Regional de Querétaro (2022), Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver (2021), and Living Art Museum in Reykjavík (2019). Drăgan’s work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Calgary Arts Development, and the Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts). 


Maggie Tiesenhausen
(they/them)

Maggie Tiesenhausen is a northwest Albertan settler music producer and artist. Their auditory works present insurgent, speculative imaginaries, and rural cinema-verité in a complex balance. The sometimes-disparate elements in interplay—found sound, field recordings, barely-audible confessions, amplified noise floor, accidental recordings, amateur performance—bring clouded internal sites into view. Often emotionally charged, atmospheric, and unresolved, these aural worlds summon a cinematic visuality. Tiesenhausen lives in Treaty 8 territory, in the unincorporated hamlet of Demmitt, Alberta. They also share a collaborative singing practice with artist and musician Jen Reimer called Tunnel.



 
View Event →
March | Open Studio for 55+
Mar
5
to Mar 26

March | Open Studio for 55+

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Open Studio for 55+

March 2025
Wednesdays | 1:00-4:00 PM

Join Contemporary Calgary at our drop-in Open Studio Session for 55+ on Wednesdays in March.

During this informal art-making drop-in session, participants are invited to bring their own projects along with any art and craft materials they are currently using. This time can be used not only for creating but also for connecting with other artists, fostering collaboration and inspiration.

For adults age 55+

FREE and no registration is required; simply check in with a gallery attendant at the front desk by signing your name each time on the sign-in sheet.

*If you have questions about this workshop please reach out to Beth Kane, Manager Visitor Experience at beth@contemporarycalgary.com 


By checking in with us at front desk to participate in this session, you agree to:

  1. Follow Contemporary Calgary staff instructions.

  2. Treat all staff, participants, and other visitors with respect.

  3. Behave in a safe and prudent manner.

Participants who do not comply with these rules may be temporarily or permanently suspended from the program.


 
View Event →