Ghazaleh Avarzamani: Of Manual
Jun
4
to Oct 24
Exhibitions

Ghazaleh Avarzamani: Of Manual

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Ghazaleh Avarzamani. Of Manual, 2026.

Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Of Manual

June 4—November 8, 2026
Exterior Installation

In her layered, multidisciplinary works, Iranian-Canadian artist Ghazaleh Avarzamani examines familiar objects like board games, playgrounds, manuals, and nursery rhymes to uncover the invisible ways in which power dynamics are learned and perpetuated. For Contemporary Calgary’s façade, Avarzamani creates a panoramic image assembling a multitude of tokens and pawns into a cumulative manual where fragments of board-game logic form a single speculative landscape. 

Borrowing from the visual language of classic strategy games, the composition incorporates heraldic symbols that evoke national borders, territorial identity, and systems of authority. The board becomes a model of society: a controlled arena where movement is regulated, identities are assigned, and outcomes are shaped by rules that often remain hidden to the player. Viewers are invited to consider the implications of selecting pieces and entering the game, confronting through play the fraught idea of land as possession to be disputed, organised, and governed. 

The replicated icons and grids suggest methods of standardisation and obedience, while emblems of warfare, victory, and prestige point to the rewards attached to participation. Merging playful aesthetics with underlining tenors of control, Of Manual reflects on the subtle ways in which entertainment, competition, and territorial governance intersect, lifting the curtain to open possibilities for resistance and undoing.

Of Manual is on view in tandem with Avarzamani’s exhibition Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return, which runs from June 4—November 8, 2026.

Curated by Mona Filip. Supported by The City of Calgary’s Downtown In Motion Grant Program.

About the Artist

Ghazaleh Avarzamani (she/her)

Ghazaleh Avarzamani’s research aims at revealing and unsettling the often invisible social hierarchies that govern our lives. Through her practice, she explores the fallacies and inequities in our inherited knowledge and manuals. By creating visual narratives that simultaneously deconstruct and reconstruct time and space, she aims to reconfigure materials to highlight dysfunctionality and failure, utilizing collective human memory and knowledge that is often taken for granted. She reveals the extraordinary about the ordinary, and seeks ways to represent the otherwise taken-for-granted. 

Avarzamani holds an MFA from Central Saint Martins, London. Her work has been shown across a wide range of international venues, including Hayward Gallery, Delfina Foundation (London, UK - 2025), Dhaka Art Summit (2023), Aga Khan Museum (2021), MOCA Toronto (2021), Toronto Biennial (2022), Calgary Contemporary (2025), Rockefeller Foundation (2024), and Meet Factory (2023), among others. 

Her work is in private and public collections, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Google, Rockefeller Centre, Arsenal Contemporary, MOCA Toronto, TD Art Collection and Red Mansion.

 
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Adelita Husni Bey: Agency
Jun
4
to Nov 8
Exhibitions

Adelita Husni Bey: Agency

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Agency (2014), film still. High-definition video, 40’. Courtesy of the artist.

Adelita Husni Bey
Agency

June 4—November 8, 2026
Dome Theatre

2014, Rome, Italy.

Thirty-five students at Manara High School take part in a role-playing workshop modelled on a group exercise, derived from a 1970s UK critical civic studies curriculum method. Led by Italian-Libyan artist Adelita Husni Bey, the students are divided into five constituencies – politicians, activists, bankers, journalists, and workers – and asked to engage with pressing issues in contemporary Italian politics, including unemployment, snap elections, and natural disasters.

In the months leading up to the workshop, the students met with economists, trade union leaders, journalists, editors, and activists, nurturing a deeper understanding of the responsibilities, challenges, and limitations that colour and contour the roles they chose to play. More than a mere transfer of knowledge, these encounters act as a form of slow initiation. The workshop that follows is not a lesson in governance, but a rehearsal of it: a makeshift society in which competing groups seek to assert influence. Alliances must be constantly made and unmade, and no position holds without being continually defended. Everyone has an agenda, and every agenda is performed, tested, destabilised in real time.

The workshop unfolds through various stages. First, the day’s headlines are read from local newspapers; in response to those, the different groups develop strategies in relation to the unfolding of so-called historical events in the game. Then, the journalists prepare a newsreel, after which the different groups award each other “power points” depending on who they believe has retained or maintained power during that round of the game. These points determine the relative influence of each constituency in subsequent rounds, creating a shifting balance of power that structures the workshop as it progresses.

Throughout this exercise, power and authority are produced through a rehearsal of collective belief. Political agency flickers, earned and withdrawn in the same breath. It may be won, yet it is constantly questioned; public opinion can (and perhaps must) be shaped. As the workshop progresses, journalists continue to document the unfolding developments, becoming not mere observers, but active participants in the construction of the social reality around them. Information is power, but it also circulates unevenly; and positions of influence are constantly renegotiated.

Presented more than a decade after its completion, Husni Bey’s Agency (2014) is a documentation of this workshop, reflecting on the nature of power; the ways in which it manifests and operates; and how it may (or may not) be effectively used. Both disquieting and astute, the work resonates as urgently today as it did at the moment of its making, 12 years ago.

Curated by Muriel N. Kahwagi.

Please Note: The Dome Theatre will be closed on September 24; Adelita Husni Bey: Agency​ will not be on view on this date. 

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SOLD OUT | Historic Calgary Week: Exhibition Tours and Performance
Aug 2
Events, Erdem Taşdelen, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey, Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens, Haig Aivazian
SOLD OUT | Historic Calgary Week: Exhibition Tours and Performance
Events, Erdem Taşdelen, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey, Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens, Haig Aivazian
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Events, Erdem Taşdelen, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey, Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens, Haig Aivazian
Exhibition Opening | Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey + Haig Aivazia
Jun 4
Events, Exhibition Opening, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey, Haig Aivazian
Exhibition Opening | Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey + Haig Aivazia
Events, Exhibition Opening, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey, Haig Aivazian
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Events, Exhibition Opening, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey, Haig Aivazian

Photo by: Matteo Cattabriga

About the Artist

Adelita Husni Bey (she/her)

Adelita Husni Bey is an artist and pedagogue whose practice draws on anarcho-collectivism, theater, and legal anthropology. She organizes workshops and produces artworks using non-competitive pedagogical models within the framework of contemporary art. Involving activists, architects, jurists, schoolchildren, poets, and educators, her work creates temporary sites for collective study and rehearsal. She represented Italy at the 57th Venice Biennale (2017) and has exhibited in New Photography, MoMA, New York (2018); The Eighth Climate, 11th Gwangju Biennale (2015); and Really Useful Knowledge, Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid (2014). A 2020-2022 Vera List Center Fellow, her research examined how pandemics reshape social relations. For Sharjah Biennial 16 (2025) she produced Like a Flood, a film installation on water extraction, infrastructural afterlives, and adaptability. She is currently developing a long-term research and performance project on Porto Marghera's petrochemical plant, toxic legacies, and citizen science and has recently undertaken a residency at Ocean Space, Venice.

 
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Ghazaleh Avarzamani: Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return
Jun
4
to Nov 8
Exhibitions

Ghazaleh Avarzamani: Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return

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Ghazaleh Avarzamani 
Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return

June 4—November 8, 2026
Ring Gallery + Atrium

Notice: The butter sculpture at the centre of the exhibition attained its peak decay state over the last couple of weeks, and the decision was made together with the artist to remove it from the gallery. The artist intentionally used butter for this centerpiece to allow the organic material to alter and decompose according to the temperature and humidity conditions in the space. The work offered a way to see power collapse in real time, despite attempts to maintain it, as this precarious monument could not last. Eventually, it was responsibly discarded and replaced with a display documenting its existence and demise. This new phase of the exhibition continues until November 8, 2026.

Examining familiar objects and settings — playgrounds, board games, sport arenas — Ghazaleh Avarzamani traces the subtle architectures through which power is learned, rehearsed and maintained. What appears playful or ordinary reveals itself as something more insistent: a hostile choreography of rules, conquests and defeats insidiously shaping social and political life. Beneath the surface of games, manuals, fables, and educational references in Avarzamani’s works lie the economic, psychological and ideological structures that govern the ways in which people belong to society.

Avarzamani’s installations unfold as spaces that are at once seductive and destabilizing. Familiar forms return altered, carrying a quiet sense of unease. Nursery rhymes, games and instructions no longer function as benign cultural expressions, but as mechanisms through which societies naturalize obedience, hierarchy and collective fantasy. Poetic, sarcastic and politically incisive, her work attends to the paradoxes embedded within educational methodologies, exposing how systems of control often appear in the language of entertainment, participation and progress.

Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return extends this inquiry through a seemingly playful environment comprising sculptures, textiles, illustrative images, text, found and archival objects. Yet in this new installation, inspired by the Monopoly game, the stakes gradually emerge as more sombre. Cycles of labour, accumulation, exhaustion and repetition move through the space like rules of a game already in motion before the viewer arrives. Throughout the exhibition, each game token operates as an allegory of hierarchy, assigning value, status and movement. The familiar riding horse is replaced with a sardonic reference to the representation of the Prince of Wales and his horse at the British Empire Exhibition in 1925, where Canada famously presented a life-size butter sculpture of the royal in celebration of imperial power, directly linking the logic of Monopoly to the spectacle of territorial expansion, extraction and the gamification of ownership. Butter recurs throughout the exhibition as both material and metaphor: tied equally to the labour of churning and the volatility of churning markets, where instability, excess and collapse remain in constant circulation.

At a moment marked by large-scale political and economic shifts that often leave individuals feeling powerless, Avarzamani’s practice insists on the inherent possibilities of recognition. By making visible the systems that quietly organize daily life, her work opens a space for critical attention, disruption and refusal.

This exhibition acknowledges the conceptual contribution of Ali Ahadi, as part of the artistic collective, Freudian Typo, and his important role in the development of the works presented.

Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return runs from June 4—November 8, 2026, and will be on view in tandem with Avarzamani’s exterior installation, Of Manual.

Curated by Mona Filip.

Upcoming Programs

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Contemporary Connections: Tagalog Tour
Oct 24
Contemporary Connections: Tagalog Tour
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Program Archive

Featured
Contemporary Connections: Punjabi Tour
Sep 18
Events, Contemporary Connections, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Contemporary Connections: Punjabi Tour
Events, Contemporary Connections, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
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Events, Contemporary Connections, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
SOLD OUT | Historic Calgary Week: Exhibition Tours and Performance
Aug 2
Events, Erdem Taşdelen, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey, Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens, Haig Aivazian
SOLD OUT | Historic Calgary Week: Exhibition Tours and Performance
Events, Erdem Taşdelen, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey, Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens, Haig Aivazian
Read more →
Events, Erdem Taşdelen, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey, Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens, Haig Aivazian
Contemporary Connections: Tagalog Tour
Jul 24
Events, Contemporary Connections, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Contemporary Connections: Tagalog Tour
Events, Contemporary Connections, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
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Events, Contemporary Connections, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Contemporary Kids: Creating with Chance
Jul 19
Contemporary Kids, Events, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Contemporary Kids: Creating with Chance
Contemporary Kids, Events, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
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Contemporary Kids, Events, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Contemporary Connections: Punjabi Tour
Jul 17
Events, Contemporary Connections, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Contemporary Connections: Punjabi Tour
Events, Contemporary Connections, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
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Events, Contemporary Connections, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Contemporary Connections: Cantonese Tour
Jun 27
Events, Contemporary Connections, Exhibition tour, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Contemporary Connections: Cantonese Tour
Events, Contemporary Connections, Exhibition tour, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
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Events, Contemporary Connections, Exhibition tour, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Contemporary Connections: Farsi Tour
Jun 20
Events, Contemporary Connections, Exhibition tour, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Contemporary Connections: Farsi Tour
Events, Contemporary Connections, Exhibition tour, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
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Events, Contemporary Connections, Exhibition tour, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Contemporary Conversations: Ghazaleh Avarzamani in conversation with Mona Filip
Jun 6
Events, Exhibition Opening, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Contemporary Conversations: Ghazaleh Avarzamani in conversation with Mona Filip
Events, Exhibition Opening, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
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Events, Exhibition Opening, Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Exhibition Opening | Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey + Haig Aivazia
Jun 4
Events, Exhibition Opening, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey, Haig Aivazian
Exhibition Opening | Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey + Haig Aivazia
Events, Exhibition Opening, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey, Haig Aivazian
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Events, Exhibition Opening, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Adelita Husni Bey, Haig Aivazian

About the Artist

Ghazaleh Avarzamani (she/her)

Avarzamani holds an MFA from Central Saint Martins, London. Her work has been shown across a wide range of international venues, including Hayward Gallery and Delfina Foundation (2025, in collaboration with Ali Ahadi), Dhaka Art Summit (2023), Aga Khan Museum (2021), MOCA Toronto (2021), Toronto Biennial (2022), Contemporary Calgary (2025), Rockefeller Foundation (2024), and Meet Factory (2023), among others. She co-founded the collective Freudian Typo with Ali Ahadi in 2024.

Her work is in private and public collections, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Google, Rockefeller Centre, Arsenal Contemporary, MOCA Toronto, TD Art Collection and Red Mansion.

 
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Jane Jin Kaisen: Burial of This Order
Sep
3
to Jan 3
Exhibitions

Jane Jin Kaisen: Burial of This Order

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Jane Jin Kaisen. Burial of This Order (still), 2022.

Jane Jin Kaisen
Burial of This Order

September 3, 2026—January 10, 2027
Morris & Ann Dancyger Observatory Gallery

Burial of This Order brings together three works by Jane Jin Kaisen that underscore her ongoing interest in ritual, collectivity, capitalist critique, and the possibilities of social and political transgressions. 

The exhibition centres on Kaisen’s titular video installation (2022), through which the audience is invited to follow a funerary procession gathered to ceremoniously bury a world order built upon hierarchy and division. The social actors called on to perform this duty, including artists, poets and activists, transgress traditional ceremonial practices indicating that this ritualized enactment is a funeral without grievers, assembled to dismantle unlivable structures, rather than lament current conditions. The exhibition’s central work is accompanied by Sorrow Waters This Land (2024) and Dokkaebi (2024). The former focuses on the setting for the procession – a derelict resort on Jeju Island that was abandoned following the IMF financial crisis of the 1990s, now persisting as a crumbling ruin of capitalism. The latter features powerful Dokkaebi deities from Korean folklore, unpredictable tricksters who dance suggestively through the space, haunting or perhaps compelling the procession. 

The exhibition’s focal film builds towards a moment of revolutionary fervour when the procession refuses to complete their task and instead overthrows and dismantles prevailing power structures so that other narratives and realities can be imagined into being. Articulating their desires for transformation and disruption by way of collective emergence and rebirth, the mourners forsake the ritual burial but hold to their promise of elapsing this world order.

Curated by Noa Bronstein.

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Contemporary Conversations: Noa Bronstein in conversation with Mona Filip
Sep 19
Events, Jane Jin Kaisen, Contemporary Conversations
Contemporary Conversations: Noa Bronstein in conversation with Mona Filip
Events, Jane Jin Kaisen, Contemporary Conversations
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Events, Jane Jin Kaisen, Contemporary Conversations
Exhibition Opening | Curtis Talwst Santiago + Jane Jin Kaisen
Sep 17
Exhibition Opening, Events, Jane Jin Kaisen, Curtis Talwst Santiago
Exhibition Opening | Curtis Talwst Santiago + Jane Jin Kaisen
Exhibition Opening, Events, Jane Jin Kaisen, Curtis Talwst Santiago
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Exhibition Opening, Events, Jane Jin Kaisen, Curtis Talwst Santiago

Photo by Daniel Zox.

About the Artist

Jane Jin Kaisen
(she/her)

Jane Jin Kaisen (b. 1980 Jeju Island, lives in Copenhagen) is known for her visually striking, multi-layered, performative, poetic, and multi-voiced feminist works concerning memory, migration, and borders, conceived at the intersection of lived experience and larger political histories. Other long-term commitments revolve around nature and island spaces, alternative cosmologies, sustainability and the preservation of intangible cultures. Kaisen represented Korea at the 58th Venice Biennale and is the recipient of various recognition grants and awards. Recent exhibitions include the 13th Berlin Biennale, the 13th Seoul Media City Biennale, the Hawaii Triennial 2025, and the Korea Artist Prize 2024 at MMCA Korea. 

About the curator

Noa Bronstein
(she/her)

Noa Bronstein is a writer and curator based in Toronto whose practice is often focused on the social production of space, and thinking through how artists disrupt and subvert systems including those registering across social, political and economic structures. Bronstein has previously stewarded two leading artist-run centres through her role as the Executive Director of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography and Gallery TPW, and in 2018 held the position of Senior Curator for the City of Mississauga. Noa has curated and programmed projects/exhibitions at institutions across Canada, including at the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), The Rooms (St. John’s), Doris McCarthy Gallery (Toronto), and The New Gallery (Calgary). Her writing has appeared in publications including Artforum, Border Crossings, C Magazine, Canadian Art, esse art + opinions, PUBLIC Journal, and The Journal of Curatorial Studies. Bronstein is currently the Assistant Director of the Art Museum at the University of Toronto.

 
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Curtis Talwst Santiago: worlds, worlds, worlds
Sep
17
to Jan 3
Exhibitions

Curtis Talwst Santiago: worlds, worlds, worlds

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Curtis Talwst Santiago. A lineup for lineups must be Friday. Always that one barber on the damn phone! Bruh, can you please finish my fade!?, 2022 

Curtis Talwst Santiago
worlds, worlds, worlds

September 17, 2026—January 3, 2027
Flanagan Family Gallery

worlds, worlds, worlds explores how stories are held and carried across the vestiges of history and memory. Rooted in a form of world-building where inherited imagination meets critical fabulation¹, the exhibition celebrates polyphonic identities that negotiate different geographies across time, weaving the material, the fragmentary, and the ever-evolving within storytelling.

Central to the Contemporary Calgary presentation is a focused survey of Santiago's dioramas. Begun in 2008 and collectively known as the Infinity Series, these intimate works move fluidly between personal memories of Caribbean community life: basement dance parties, the quintessential barbershop, figures dreaming in the grass, and broader collective histories such as migration crises and the rise of territorialism in its many forms. These scenes are portrayed as something precious and deliberately sheltered, worlds that can be held in the palm of a hand, inviting careful observation of details often overlooked.

The dioramas are imagined within a scenography of transmission devices comprising horns, pipes, channels, and circuitry. Formed into sinuous volumes, these structures situate the exhibition across broader infrastructures of digital networks, material circulation, and regimes of surveillance capitalism², unfolding as an operative field in which meaning is generated, disrupted, and redirected. Together, they echo longer histories of movement, extraction, and displacement that continue to underwrite contemporary systems of connectivity and control. Made from cardboard, the material language extends Santiago's practice of crafting contained worlds like the jewellery boxes used to hold what is deemed precious before themselves being cast aside. That logic of containment and disposal is activated anew here. Cardboard, typically used to transport and protect objects prior to discard, becomes both vessel and structure, foregrounding the uneven politics of what is preserved, circulated, or rendered disposable. This transference of weight reflects the asymmetries of systemic power and selective memory, where what is amplified is not always what is most necessary to hear or remember.

With its visible strata and fragile edges, cardboard retains the imprint of pressure and time, operating simultaneously as surface, structure, and record. This textural sensibility resonates with Santiago's practice as a musician, where attention to rhythm, resonance, and disruption extends into the visual field. Horns and channels recur as devices that broadcast and carry messages, except here they appear to modulate our attention. In this expanded field, perception is not anchored in the visual alone; it is distributed across minor frequencies, subtle registers, and peripheral cues that ask to be heard as much as seen.

This exhibition is especially timely within the North American context, a land shaped by the encounters of peoples from the old and new worlds, where histories, stories, and identities are constantly intersecting and evolving. The condition of partial relay runs throughout, meaning formed through relation, interruption, and circulation. Rather than emerging as fixed or complete, stories unfold through fragments, detours, and acts of exchange, revealing how worlds are continually assembled through encounters with others.

At a moment when cultural gatekeeping, rigid hierarchies of knowledge, and fear of difference continue to structure public discourse, worlds, worlds, worlds affirms curiosity, exchange, and the will to community as practices of repair and collective imagining.

Curated by Kanika Anand.

Notes:

  1. Saidiya Hartman, “Venus in Two Acts,” Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism 12, no. 2 (June 2008): 1–14. Hartman introduces the term “critical fabulation” in relation to the gaps and silences of the historical archive.

  2. Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power (New York: PublicAffairs, 2019).

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Vethro Zero One: Performance Lecture
Sep 19
Events, Curtis Talwst Santiago, Exhibition tour
Vethro Zero One: Performance Lecture
Events, Curtis Talwst Santiago, Exhibition tour
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Events, Curtis Talwst Santiago, Exhibition tour
Exhibition Opening | Curtis Talwst Santiago + Jane Jin Kaisen
Sep 17
Exhibition Opening, Events, Jane Jin Kaisen, Curtis Talwst Santiago
Exhibition Opening | Curtis Talwst Santiago + Jane Jin Kaisen
Exhibition Opening, Events, Jane Jin Kaisen, Curtis Talwst Santiago
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Exhibition Opening, Events, Jane Jin Kaisen, Curtis Talwst Santiago

Photo by: Conrad Mirbach

About the Artist

Curtis Talwst Santiago (he/him)

Curtis Talwst Santiago puts entire worlds inside jewellery boxes. The dioramas, intricate handbuilt scenes no larger than a palm, are where his practice began and where it remains anchored, even as it has expanded into painting, sculpture, public art, and film.

Santiago was born in Edmonton and raised in Sherwood Park, Alberta, to Trinidadian immigrant parents. He grew up between two worlds, Caribbean household, Canadian suburb, and that double consciousness never left him. It shows up in the work: a barbershop scene beside a migration crisis, a basement dance party next to a border. Nothing in the Infinity Series stays safely in one world for long.

He came up through music. As a teenager he performed in an a cappella group, opened for Usher by 18, and earned a CBC Star Maker award at 23 before co-founding the funk band HI PHONIQS. His most recent solo full-length was recorded with Grammy Award winning producer Illangelo. Visual art eventually took over, but the musical foundation never disappeared, rhythm, resonance, and interruption run through everything he makes.

Art had always been there, in Vancouver it just took over. Friends who saw the work convinced him it belonged in galleries and museums, and he started to believe them. A flea market street vendor handed him his first ring box, setting the Infinity Series in motion. A knock on the right studio door led to a three-year mentorship with renowned First Nations artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. He later moved to New York, where a solo exhibition at the Drawing Center marked his arrival on the international stage.

His work is held in permanent collections including the National Gallery of Canada, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Lenbachhaus Munich. He is represented by Uffner & Liu, New York, and Martina Simeti, Milan, and lives and works in Potsdam, Germany.

 
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October | Drop-in Art Making
Oct
3
to Oct 31
Workshop, Events

October | Drop-in Art Making

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Drop-in Art Making

October 2026
Saturdays | 1-5 PM

Embrace creativity and exploration in our Saturday Drop-in Art Making program. This program is offered most Saturdays from 1-5 PM throughout the year. Materials and light instruction are provided, along with rotating themes and activities.

Our program encourages people of all ages to connect with modern and contemporary art through enjoyable and interactive creative experiences.

For October, join us to make:

  • October 3: Miniature woven tapestries

  • October 10: Recycled cardboard collographs

  • October 17: Foam relief prints

  • October 24:  NO SESSION

  • October 31: Reductive charcoal ghost drawings 

In addition to the above activities, there will be both a collage and drawing station available for creative free time during each session. 

These are drop-in sessions running from 1–5 PM. Come anytime — no registration is required. This program is free with admission. 

*If you have questions about this workshop, please reach out to Vanessa Lamb, TD Education Program Coordinator at vanessa@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.

About our Education Facilitators

Vanessa Lamb
(she/her)

TD Education Program Coordinator

Vanessa Lamb graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor’s degree in Art History and a minor in Museum and Heritage Studies. She has a deep passion for art, especially the conversations and change it can spark, leading her to have a people-centred approach in her work, and an unending curiosity to learn more. In her career, Vanessa has experience in arts administration, visitor experience, and both designing and implementing public programs, art workshops and elementary school programs. Her curiosity is visible in her own creative practice where she explores different mediums, subject matters and new techniques. Vanessa’s work often explores themes of memory, grief, and identity. When not working, she can be found embroidering, painting or exploring nature.

Vicky Xingyu Gu
(she/her)

TD Education Facilitator

Vicky Xingyu Gu is a Chinese animator who holds a BFA in Animation from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and an MFA in Digital Arts & Animation from the University of Southern California. During her studies, she explored narrative, documentary, and experimental forms of animation. Her works draw inspiration from cultural conflicts, emotional struggles, and societal issues, while experimenting with both digital and traditional media to create layered, hybrid, and provocative forms of storytelling. Since relocating to Calgary, she has become an active participant in the local arts community. She has been teaching various forms of animation with Quickdraw Animation Society and enjoys guiding participants of all ages through creative practices such as drawing, collage, mixed media, and visual storytelling. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and baking, watching animated movies, and playing horror games.

Teaghan Fetherstonhaugh
(she/her)

TD Education Facilitator

Teaghan Fetherstonhaugh graduated from the Alberta University of the Arts with a Bachelor of Design, majoring in Illustration and Character Design. She is a digital artist whose practice revolves around celebrating Queer experiences through comics and sequential art. She also loves to explore the stories of strange and wonderful characters in worlds that feel imaginative and nostalgic. Teaghan shares her comics online and has built an audience that resonates with her work and her message.Beyond her personal practice, Teaghan is a passionate facilitator who loves delivering fun and engaging programs to connect with her community. Still early in her career, Teaghan embraces opportunities to learn, grow, and evolve. When she’s not drawing, Teaghan enjoys spending time at home with her cats while reading a good book.

Supported by

 
 
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October | Open Studio for 55+
Oct
7
to Oct 28
Workshop, Events

October | Open Studio for 55+

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Open Studio for 55+

October 2026
Wednesdays | 1-4 PM

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

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 Vanessa Lamb, TD Education Program Coordinator, at vanessa@contemporarycalgary.com

OCTOBER SCHEDULE:

  • October 7

  • October 14

  • October 21,*

  • October 28

*This month we are offering a tour of selected work from our Curtis Talwst Santiago exhibition worlds, worlds, worlds on October 21 from 2:00-3:00 PM. 

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.

 
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Fluid Fest 2026 | Presented by Springboard Performance
Oct
15
to Nov 7
Events

Fluid Fest 2026 | Presented by Springboard Performance

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Fluid Fest 2026

Presented by Springboard Performance

October 15–November 7, 2026

Fluid Fest 2026 is a celebration of dance, contemporary performance and connection unfolding across the city. Framed by the curatorial invitation: This Messy Gorgeous Love, we invite artists and audiences into the unpredictable brilliance of bodies in motion, where uncertainty and precision share the same breath, and every work unfolds as a living question and response.

LEARN MORE

Mōnad | EBNFLŌH Dance Company

October 16
8:00-9:10 PM | Heather Edwards Theatre

GET TICKETS

Tickets starting at $40
Students: $25
Seniors: $25

"Mōnad is the fruit of an idea of art—other, subversive, uncompromising, radical in the best sense of the word—and which, through its pure strangeness and its delicious voluptuousness in awakening us from our torpor, young in mind and body, arouses our admiration."

Élie Castiel
KinoCulture Montréal

360 DJ Party | Afros in tha City

October 16
9:10 PM - 11:55 PM | Grotto

Get Tickets

Tickets starting at $15

Mōnad After Party, the 360 DJ experience is a curated musical event led by DJ Dooshima, founder of Afros in tha City.

More than a dance party, the 360 DJ Party extends the conversations of the festival into a shared space where audiences can connect through rhythm, movement, and celebration. Drawing from Afrobeat, amapiano, house, dancehall, hip hop, soul, electronic music, and global sounds, each set is intentionally crafted to create an atmosphere that is both welcoming and expansive.

Inspired by the idea that culture is interconnected, the 360 DJ Party invites people from all backgrounds onto the dance floor, creating a collective experience that celebrates curiosity, discovery, and joy.

The afterparty serves as an opportunity to continue building community long after the performances have ended.

Content Advisory:

  • Light sensitivity (dynamic lighting)

  • Elevated sound levels/music volume

  • Haze

This presentation is suitable for teens and adults. Children may attend with parental discretion. For more info, please email marketing@springboardperformance.com

 
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Perspective Film Series: Beauty and the Dogs (2017)
Oct
18
5:30 PM17:30
Film, Events

Perspective Film Series: Beauty and the Dogs (2017)

 

Perspective Film Series:

Beauty and the Dogs (2017), dir. Kaouther Ben Hania

October 18

5:30 PM | Dome Theatre

Get tickets

When Mariam, a young Tunisian woman, is assaulted by police officers after leaving a party, she is thrust into a night of relentless struggle. Determined to seek justice, she must navigate hospitals, police stations, and a system that seems determined to silence her and protect her abusers. As the night unfolds, Mariam fights not only to be heard, but to hold on to her dignity in the face of institutional indifference and intimidation.

Country: Tunisia, France, Sweden, Lebanon, Norway

95 minutes, in Arabic with English subtitles

Disclaimer: This film contains some difficult subject matter and imagery, including strong language, violent imagery, and references to rape and sexual violence, 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

Curated by associate curator Muriel N. Kahwagi, the 2026 edition of Perspective is conceived as a sustained meditation on disaster in its broadest and most resonant terms. While ecological catastrophe remains a central point of reference, the series extends beyond literal scenarios of environmental collapse or speculative visions of planetary ruin, approaching disaster as a condition that permeates both collective structures and private lives, unfolding across social, political, and emotional terrains. In this sense, disaster is understood not only as a single event, but as an ongoing state – slow, uneven, and often normalized through systems of power, habit, and belief. The films in this series examine how moments of crisis reshape perception and behaviour, revealing fractures in meaning, and reflecting on the ways in which hope may persist long after the moment of rupture has passed.

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.

 
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Damien Eagle Bear: when you see it
Oct
22
to Jun 27
Exhibitions

Damien Eagle Bear: when you see it

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Damien Eagle Bear. when you see it (film still), 2026. Video, sound, 5'. Courtesy of the artist. 

Damien Eagle Bear
when you see it

October 22, 2026—June 27, 2027

How do we see the world and how do we come to understand it? The significance of Indigenous knowledges and their deep relationship to the land should come as no surprise. However, the appreciation of these ancient sciences and ways of knowing continues to be minimized despite having been the backbone of survival on this land since time out of memory. 

when you see it contemplates a personal and cultural relationship to the land. Audiences are asked to confront their own comprehensions and connections to the land through these portraits of significant areas in Blackfoot territory.

Drawing from his experience as a documentary filmmaker, Damien Eagle Bear challenges the formal standards of the medium to embrace a Blackfoot gaze of the land.

Damien Eagle Bear is Contemporary Calgary’s 2026-2027 Ksahkomiitapiiks resident artist.

Upcoming Programs

Featured
Exhibition Opening | Damien Eagle Bear: when you see it
Oct 22
Events, Exhibition Opening, Damien Eagle Bear, KSAHKOMIITAPIIKS
Exhibition Opening | Damien Eagle Bear: when you see it
Events, Exhibition Opening, Damien Eagle Bear, KSAHKOMIITAPIIKS
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Events, Exhibition Opening, Damien Eagle Bear, KSAHKOMIITAPIIKS

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Featured

About the Artist

Damien Eagle Bear
(he/him)

Niitsitapii. Amateur Physicist. Frybread eating machine. 

Damien Eagle Bear is an award-winning filmmaker from the Kainai First Nation of the Blackfoot Confederacy, whose work explores the themes of belonging and Indigenous resilience. 

His work includes documentaries, mockumentaries, music videos, short films, and web series. His skill set includes directing, screenwriting, producing, editing, and cinematography. Damien has gained support for his projects from Telus originals, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Telefilm, Indigenous Screen Office, Creative BC, and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Damien's first feature documentary, #skoden, creates a three-dimensional portrait of Pernell Bad Arm, a man whose image was stolen for a viral meme; had its world premiere at Hot Docs in 2025, winning the Earl A. Glick Emerging Filmmaker Award, Vancouver Film Studios Award for Best BC Director at DOXA 2025 and Best Feature Film at the Oki Corral Film Festival. 

Damien’s work explores the themes of belonging and Indigenous resilience. His appreciation of the cinematographic art form leads him to work in multiple positions on projects, often digging his hands into the process of making each film. 

About Ksahkomiitapiiks (Earth Beings)

Begun in 2022, Ksahkomiitapiiks is an annual, Indigenous artist residency focusing on responsive practices and dynamic public programs that interrogate and nurture our relationships with the land.

Interpreted in English as Earth Beings, Ksahkomiitapiiks, is both a noun and a verb: embodying who we are and what we create as guests on this earth. Spoken aloud, it is an invocation — a blessing, a call for prayer, witness, and inspiration.

The residency is conceived as an active land acknowledgement, offering an alternative to static statements. It is intended as a process of collective learning – an opportunity for all peoples to reflect on our shared responsibilities as custodians of the land.

Through ongoing dialogue with the advisory committee and local Indigenous communities, we have come to understand that land-based knowledge is alive and resilient – carried within the body, collective memory, and the land itself. It is intuited and learned through observation and care, and is rooted in a relationship of stewardship, not ownership. Across cultures and histories, people have long lived in close relationship with the natural world, guided by practices of care, reciprocity, and respect for the land. Ksahkomiitapiiks was developed to create space for new generations of Indigenous artists to deepen that reconnection, to generate new knowledge, and to carry forward ancestral languages, practices, and relationships with the land.

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., Adrian Stimson, and Lauren Crazybull.

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, and 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.

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.

Supporters

 
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Exhibition Opening | Damien Eagle Bear: when you see it
Oct
22
6:00 PM18:00
Events

Exhibition Opening | Damien Eagle Bear: when you see it

 

Damien Eagle Bear. when you see it (film still), 2026. Video, sound, 5'. Courtesy of the artist. 

Exhibition Opening
Damien Eagle Bear: when you see it

October 22
6-9 PM

Please join us on Thursday, October 22, from 6-9 PM, as we celebrate the opening of Damien Eagle Bear: when you see it.

As the third artist in our Ksahkomiitapiiks residency, Damien Eagle Bear draws on his experience as a documentary filmmaker, challenging the formal standards of the medium to embrace a Blackfoot gaze of the land.

Guided by Mentor Faye HeavyShield, when you see it contemplates a personal and cultural relationship to the land. Audiences are asked to confront their own comprehensions and connections to the land through these portraits of significant areas in Blackfoot territory.

  • Doors
    6:00 PM

  • Remarks
    6:30 PM | Atrium

  • In-Conversation with artist Damien Eagle Bear and mentor Faye HeavyShield
    7:00 PM | Heather Edwards Theatre

  • Galleries Close
    9:00 PM

FREE to the public. No registration is required. 

Seating for In-Conversation with artist Damien Eagle Bear and mentor Faye HeavyShield will be first come, first served.

About the Artist

Damien Eagle Bear
(he/him)

Niitsitapii. Amateur Physicist. Frybread eating machine. 

Damien Eagle Bear is an award-winning filmmaker from the Kainai First Nation of the Blackfoot Confederacy, whose work explores the themes of belonging and Indigenous resilience. 

His work includes documentaries, mockumentaries, music videos, short films, and web series. His skill set includes directing, screenwriting, producing, editing, and cinematography. Damien has gained support for his projects from Telus originals, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Telefilm, Indigenous Screen Office, Creative BC, and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Damien's first feature documentary, #skoden, creates a three-dimensional portrait of Pernell Bad Arm, a man whose image was stolen for a viral meme; had its world premiere at Hot Docs in 2025, winning the Earl A. Glick Emerging Filmmaker Award, Vancouver Film Studios Award for Best BC Director at DOXA 2025 and Best Feature Film at the Oki Corral Film Festival. 

Damien’s work explores the themes of belonging and Indigenous resilience. His appreciation of the cinematographic art form leads him to work in multiple positions on projects, often digging his hands into the process of making each film. 

About Ksahkomiitapiiks (Earth Beings)

Begun in 2022, Ksahkomiitapiiks is an annual, Indigenous artist residency focusing on responsive practices and dynamic public programs that interrogate and nurture our relationships with the land.

Interpreted in English as Earth Beings, Ksahkomiitapiiks, is both a noun and a verb: embodying who we are and what we create as guests on this earth. Spoken aloud, it is an invocation — a blessing, a call for prayer, witness, and inspiration.

The residency is conceived as an active land acknowledgement, offering an alternative to static statements. It is intended as a process of collective learning – an opportunity for all peoples to reflect on our shared responsibilities as custodians of the land.

Through ongoing dialogue with the advisory committee and local Indigenous communities, we have come to understand that land-based knowledge is alive and resilient – carried within the body, collective memory, and the land itself. It is intuited and learned through observation and care, and is rooted in a relationship of stewardship, not ownership. Across cultures and histories, people have long lived in close relationship with the natural world, guided by practices of care, reciprocity, and respect for the land. Ksahkomiitapiiks was developed to create space for new generations of Indigenous artists to deepen that reconnection, to generate new knowledge, and to carry forward ancestral languages, practices, and relationships with the land.

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., Adrian Stimson, and Lauren Crazybull.

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

 
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Contemporary Connections: Tagalog Tour
Oct
24
12:00 PM12:00
Events

Contemporary Connections: Tagalog Tour

 

Installation view, Ghazaleh Avarzamani: Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return. June 4—November 8, 2026, Contemporary Calgary. Photo by Blaine Campbell.

Contemporary Connections: Tagalog Tour

October 24
Ring Gallery | 12-1 PM

Contemporary Connections is a guided tour series designed to make art accessible and engaging for Calgary’s diverse communities. These events create a welcoming and inclusive space for participants to explore our exhibitions and connect with others, fostering meaningful relationships through the shared experience of contemporary art.

Register Here

Admission: Free with advance registration; walk-ins welcome, space permitting

Exhibition Tour: Ghazaleh Avarzamani: Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return

Duration: 30-minute guided tour, followed by a post-tour conversation and optional mini mixer

Guide: Sophie Garcia is a Filipino educator and curator living and working in Mohkinstsis, Treaty 7 Territory. Originally from Manila, she immigrated to Canada in 2019 and draws on her lived experience as a newcomer in both her art and teaching practice. She is passionate about sharing diverse voices within the Canadian art landscape through community-rooted work in educational and artistic spaces. She has facilitated art workshops for children, newcomers, and older adults alongside non-profit organizations and has organized exhibitions across Calgary. Her curatorial work explores how belonging, memory, and identity are shaped by and rooted in the land. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Education with a minor in Museum & Heritage Studies from the University of Calgary, and currently teaches with the Calgary Board of Education.

We welcome your suggestions for future tours in other languages! Email us at info@contemporarycalgary.com

Contemporary Connections is supported by program partner Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation (ICAI)

 

Makabagong Koneksyon: Tagalog Tour

Sabado, Oktubre 24 | 12-1 PM | Ring Gallery

Ang Contemporary Connections ay isang serye ng guided tour na ginawa upang gawing mas inklusibo ang sining para sa iba’t ibang komunidad sa Calgary. Layunin nitong magbigay ng pagkakataon sa mga kalahok na tuklasin ang aming mga eksibisyon at makipag-ugnayan sa iba sa pamamagitan ng kontemporaryong sining.

MAGPAREHISTRO DITO

Pagpasok: Libre sa pagparehistro nang maaga; tumatanggap ng walk-ins kung may available na espasyo.

Titulo ng Kurator at ng Exhibition Tour: Ghazaleh Avarzamani: Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return

Tagal: Tatlumpung minutong (30 minutes) guided tour, na may kasunod na kuwentuhan at opsyonal na mini mixer.

Gabay: Si Sophie Garcia ay isang Pilipinang guro at kurator na naninirahan at nagtatrabaho sa Mohkinstsis, Treaty 7 Territory. Mula sa Maynila, lumipat siya sa Canada noong 2019 at ginagamit niya ang kanyang karanasan bilang bagong dating sa kanyang sining at pagtuturo. Mahilig siyang magbahagi ng iba’t ibang pananaw sa sining sa Canada sa pamamagitan ng mga proyektong pangkomunidad.

Siya ay nakapag-organisa ng mga art workshop sa mga bata, mga bagong dating, at mga senior kasama ng mga non-profit na organisasyon. Siya rin ay nakapag-organisa ng mga eksibisyon sa Calgary tungkol sa kung paano tayo nauugnay sa lupain, sa ating mga alaala, at sa ating pagkakakilanlan.

Nagtapos siya ng Bachelor of Fine Arts at Bachelor of Education na may minor sa Museum and Heritage Studies sa University of Calgary. Siya ngayon ay isang guro sa Calgary Board of Education.

Tinatanggap namin ang inyong mga mungkahi para sa mga susunod na tour sa iba pang mga wika! Mag-email sa amin sa info@contemporarycalgary.com.

Ang Contemporary Connections ay sinusuportahan ng program partner na Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation (ICAI).

 
 
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Contemporary Kids: Press Into Fall
Oct
25
1:00 PM13:00
Contemporary Kids, Events

Contemporary Kids: Press Into Fall

 

Contemporary Kids: Press Into Fall

October 25

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

Join us for a special workshop with artists Samantha Leriger and Monica Ila. Get ready to design, press, and create! Kids will explore colours and shapes as they turn a plain canvas tote into their own artwork in this vinyl heat press workshop. Inspired by the changes in nature and the autumn season, we will cut and layer vinyl before using a heat press to bring their compositions to life!

No experience needed—just bring your imagination, get creative, and take home a unique tote bag!

Kids are also welcome to bring one piece of their own fabric or cloth to this activity. Please make sure it is made from 100% natural fibres, such as cotton or linen.

Safety note: As this workshop uses a heat press to transfer vinyl to fabric, high temperatures are involved and there is a risk of heat-related injuries. The artists will supervise and assist participants in using the heat press safely.

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.

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

Questions? Please visit our FAQ page.

The same workshop is offered in two sessions on October 25 for your convenience. Please choose the session that best suits your schedule.

Sunday, October 25
1:00-2:30 PM

Register Here

Sunday, October 25
3:00-4:30 PM

Register Here

About the Artists

Samantha Leriger
(she/her)

Samantha Leriger (she/her) is an educator and emerging artist who resides in Calgary on Treaty 7 territory. While teaching math, science, and makerspace, she grew her appreciation for patterns, design, and the natural world. Her art practice involves writing, painting, illustration, and ceramics. She is grateful for the opportunity to learn, play, and create alongside others. 

Monica Ila
(she/her)

Monica Ila (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist from Calgary within the Treaty 7 territory of southern Alberta. Her work includes sculpture, murals, painting, and puppetry. Playfulness is at the heart of everything she makes. Monica is pursuing a BFA in Sculpture at the Alberta University of the Arts. She has had the privilege of exhibiting her artwork in galleries and public institutions across Canada. Monica believes that art is instrumental in bringing communities closer together and rediscovering the whimsy within our daily lives.

About our Education Facilitators

Teaghan Fetherstonhaugh
(she/her)

TD Education Facilitator

Teaghan Fetherstonhaugh graduated from the Alberta University of the Arts with a Bachelor of Design, majoring in Illustration and Character Design. She is a digital artist whose practice revolves around celebrating Queer experiences through comics and sequential art. She also loves to explore the stories of strange and wonderful characters in worlds that feel imaginative and nostalgic. Teaghan shares her comics online and has built an audience that resonates with her work and her message.Beyond her personal practice, Teaghan is a passionate facilitator who loves delivering fun and engaging programs to connect with her community. Still early in her career, Teaghan embraces opportunities to learn, grow, and evolve. When she’s not drawing, Teaghan enjoys spending time at home with her cats while reading a good book.

Vicky Xingyu Gu
(she/her)

TD Education Facilitator

Vicky Xingyu Gu is a Chinese animator who holds a BFA in Animation from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and an MFA in Digital Arts & Animation from the University of Southern California. During her studies, she explored narrative, documentary, and experimental forms of animation. Her works draw inspiration from cultural conflicts, emotional struggles, and societal issues, while experimenting with both digital and traditional media to create layered, hybrid, and provocative forms of storytelling. Since relocating to Calgary, she has become an active participant in the local arts community. She has been teaching various forms of animation with Quickdraw Animation Society and enjoys guiding participants of all ages through creative practices such as drawing, collage, mixed media, and visual storytelling. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and baking, watching animated movies, and playing horror games.

Supported by

 

Supported by

 
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Free First Thursday
Nov
5
5:00 PM17:00
Events

Free First Thursday

 

Free First Thursday

November 5
5-9 PM

REGISTER HERE

Join us for Free First Thursday at Contemporary Calgary, presented in partnership with Springboard Performance as part of Fluid Fest, featuring Silvering: In Community.

Silvering: In Community invites audiences into an evening of performance, movement and conversation that reframes aging as a source of creativity, connection and possibility.

Throughout the building, professional elder dancers and dance-curious community participants appear in unexpected encounters, including performances, conversations and shared experiences that respond to the architecture and artworks. The gallery becomes a place where age is embodied, celebrated and experienced.

As part of Fluid Fest, Silvering: In Community brings artists and community together to explore how the body continues to create, communicate and connect throughout life. Audiences are invited to move, encounter and participate.

What's happening

MOVE - Silvering: In Community

Throughout the evening, experience performances, movement and unexpected encounters throughout the building, featuring professional elder dancers and dance-curious community participants.

  • Tai Chi with Dana Luebke - Atrium

  • Seated Ballet Class - Hallway to the Flanagan Gallery

  • Walking Backwards with Dana Luebke - Heather Edwards Theatre

  • Performance with Brian Webb - Heather Edwards Theatre

  • For the Trees by Claudia Jane Moore - moving from the Atrium into the Grotto

  • Meeting Yourself Now with Kyrsten Blair - Grotto & Atrium

MAKE - Silvering Art Activation

Get creative with an art activation inspired by Silvering: In Community, exploring ideas of movement, memory, aging and connection.

SEE - Contemporary Calgary

Explore the exhibitions throughout the gallery and experience the artworks alongside the evening's performances and community encounters.

EAT & DRINK - Bar & Popcorn

Grab a drink from the bar, enjoy some popcorn and settle in for an evening of art, performance and community.

Art for All - FREE with registration.

 
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Contemporary Kids: Flute Toot-torial
Oct
4
1:00 PM13:00
Contemporary Kids, Events

Contemporary Kids: Flute Toot-torial

 

Contemporary Kids: Flute Toot-torial

October 4

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

Join us for a special flute workshop with Jiajia Li. For its simplicity, flute is one of the oldest instruments since the dawn of civilization. In this workshop, award-winning flutist Jiajia Li will guide us on how to make a DIY “flute”, teach some basic playing techniques, and show the beauty of the instruments connecting different cultures.

No experience required—just bring your curiosity! This workshop is led by the artist and will run for 75 minutes.

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.

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

Questions? Please visit our FAQ page.

The same workshop is offered in two sessions on October 4 for your convenience. Please choose the session that best suits your schedule.

Sunday, October 4
1:00-2:30 PM

Register Here

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

Register Here

About the Artist

Photo by: Yong Xu

Jiajia Li
(she/her)

Classically-trained flutist Jiajia Li is being praised as "one of the city's finest and most adventurous flautists”. She was the 2019 recipient of the “Stingray Classical Artist in Residency” at National Music Centre, 2025 Juno Award Nominee and 2026 Calgary Folk Music Award Nominee. Since finishing school in Germany and moving to Calgary in 2014, Jiajia has forged her identity through music and performance, cutting across a wide range of modern musical experimentations and traditions. Her wide interests in music have taken her on a journey from concert hall appearances with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra to improvised shows with the experimental concert series, “Bug Incision”, to directing a traditional Chinese ensemble, “Gai Lan Ensemble” and forming her latest fusion band, “Ginger Beef”.

Website: www.jiajiamusic.com
Instagram: @legato_gelato

About our Education Facilitators

Teaghan Fetherstonhaugh
(she/her)

TD Education Facilitator

Teaghan Fetherstonhaugh graduated from the Alberta University of the Arts with a Bachelor of Design, majoring in Illustration and Character Design. She is a digital artist whose practice revolves around celebrating Queer experiences through comics and sequential art. She also loves to explore the stories of strange and wonderful characters in worlds that feel imaginative and nostalgic. Teaghan shares her comics online and has built an audience that resonates with her work and her message.Beyond her personal practice, Teaghan is a passionate facilitator who loves delivering fun and engaging programs to connect with her community. Still early in her career, Teaghan embraces opportunities to learn, grow, and evolve. When she’s not drawing, Teaghan enjoys spending time at home with her cats while reading a good book.

Vicky Xingyu Gu
(she/her)

TD Education Facilitator

Vicky Xingyu Gu is a Chinese animator who holds a BFA in Animation from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and an MFA in Digital Arts & Animation from the University of Southern California. During her studies, she explored narrative, documentary, and experimental forms of animation. Her works draw inspiration from cultural conflicts, emotional struggles, and societal issues, while experimenting with both digital and traditional media to create layered, hybrid, and provocative forms of storytelling. Since relocating to Calgary, she has become an active participant in the local arts community. She has been teaching various forms of animation with Quickdraw Animation Society and enjoys guiding participants of all ages through creative practices such as drawing, collage, mixed media, and visual storytelling. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and baking, watching animated movies, and playing horror games.

Supported by

 

Supported by

 
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Free First Thursday
Oct
1
5:00 PM17:00
Events

Free First Thursday

 

Free First Thursday

October 1
5-9 PM

REGISTER HERE

Join us for Free First Thursday at Contemporary Calgary, celebrating the opening of Obsession, an exhibition presented in partnership with Ninetimes.  

Obsession brings together more than 250 rare skateboards from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, exploring skateboarding culture through graphic design, collecting and nostalgia. The collection belongs to Kevin Lowry, whose lifelong fascination with skateboarding and skateboard graphics has grown into an extensive collection featuring boards from iconic brands and influential artists.

For one night, the exhibition becomes a meeting point for art, skate culture, music and Calgary’s skate community.

What's happening

SEE — Obsession
Explore the exhibition and get a closer look at the stories, artists and graphics behind Kevin Lowry’s collection.

WATCH — Skate Videos
Head to the Heather Edwards Theatre for a continuous programme of skate videos curated by Kevin Lowry.

MAKE — Skate-Inspired Art
Get creative with skate-related art activities in the Atrium, with activities designed for both children and adults and inspired by skate culture.

SHOP — Art & Skate Books
Discover a new collection of artist publications, photobooks, and zines exploring the rich intersection of contemporary art and skate culture. 

MOVE — Skate Feature
Look out for a special skate activation (weather permitting). Please bring your own helmet to participate.

HEAR — Music
Enjoy a soundtrack curated to accompany Obsession and the skate-video era.

Grab a drink at the bar and enjoy popcorn while you explore the galleries and programming.

Art for All – FREE with registration.

 
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Obsession
Oct
1
to Oct 9
Exhibitions

Obsession

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Obsession

October 1—9, 2026
Grotto

Artfully documenting skateboard graphics from the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, Obsession traces Kevin Lowry and friends' lifelong fascination with skateboarding and graphic design. 

What began as a childhood interest has grown into a collection of more than 250 rare skateboards, including complete sets from iconic brands such as Alien Workshop, Habitat, Girl, and Chocolate.

Driven by nostalgia and a desire to preserve the memories and visual culture of skateboarding, Lowry has spent years tracking down individual boards and complete sets from collectors around the world. Obsession celebrates both the dedication of collecting and the enduring cultural impact of skateboard graphics.

The collection features work by influential skateboard artists including Evan Hecox, Don Pendleton, and Joe Castrucci, who transformed the skateboard deck into a canvas for distinctive visual languages and artistic expression.

The first iteration of Obsession was presented to mark the third anniversary of Ninetimes in Edmonton. This exhibition, presented in partnership with Contemporary Calgary, builds on that collection with several new additions.

Curated by Kevin Lowry.

Produced and circulated by Ninetimes.

 

About the Guest Curator

Kevin Lowry
(he/him)

Kevin Lowry is a Calgarian shopkeeper, Skateboarding Marketing Manager at adidas Canada, professional skateboarder, and avid skateboard deck collector. His curatorial practice began with the first iteration of Obsession at Ninetimes at their Edmonton location, building on his longstanding passion for collecting and preserving skateboarding memorabilia.

Focusing on objects and imagery connected to his childhood, Lowry’s practice is rooted in personal collections and collaborations with fellow collectors. His involvement in Calgary’s skateboarding community also extends beyond collecting, including the creation of skateable objects embedded within the Alberta landscape.

Ninetimes has been an important springboard for Lowry, helping facilitate and celebrate Calgary’s skateboarding community and its connections to a broader network of artists, skaters, collectors, and cultural makers.

 
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Pokaiks: The Children — National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Sep
30
11:00 AM11:00
Events

Pokaiks: The Children — National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

 

Pokaiks: The Children — National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

September 30
11:00–5:30 PM

Join Pokaiks Reconciliation Society at Contemporary Calgary on September 30 for a day of community, culture, learning and reflection in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Now in its 10th year, Pokaiks’ annual gathering brings people together through Indigenous arts, culture and community programming, creating opportunities to learn, connect and take part in meaningful reconciliation.

The day begins with the annual Pokaiks Reconciliation Walk, departing from River Hall at 11:00 AM and making its way to Contemporary Calgary, followed by opening ceremonies.

From 12:00 PM, explore programming throughout the gallery, including an Indigenous artisan market, community organizations, live performances, Tipi Talks, Indigenous games, family activities, workshops, films and a drum circle. Visitors can also enjoy Indigenous food, food trucks and a coffee cart throughout the afternoon.

There will be opportunities for both participation and reflection, including a quiet area hosted by Calgary Public Library and a dedicated Elder’s Niche.

The afternoon will conclude with closing ceremonies at 5:00 PM.

Everyone is welcome.

Event Schedule

  • 11:00 AM — Pokaiks Reconciliation Walk departs from River Hall (311 8 St SW, next to the 10th Street Bridge), ending at Contemporary Calgary.

  • 12:00 PM — Opening Ceremonies.

  • 12:00–5:30 PM — Performances, artisans, community organizations and family programming.

Please note: For all programming taking place inside Contemporary Calgary, only service animals are permitted in the building.

Programming and schedule details are subject to change.

Presented by Pokaiks Reconciliation Society in partnership with Contemporary Calgary.

 
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FRESH FRAMES
Sep
26
2:00 PM14:00
Events

FRESH FRAMES

 

FRESH FRAMES

September 26
2-4 PM | Heather Edwards Theatre

Get tickets

Join us for FRESH FRAMES as we celebrate Quickdraw's youth animation filmmakers, with a selection of colourful, creative, and sometimes ridiculous films made in our classes, workshops and camps. Directly following the youth filmmaker screening, we'll also be sharing a selection of kid-friendly films by local and international professional animators taken from our GIRAF4YOUTH showcase. Come for one or both screenings and enjoy an afternoon of wildly imaginative animation!

Free with registration.

 
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Calgary International Film Festival
Sep
24
to Oct 4
Events

Calgary International Film Festival

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Calgary International Film Festival

September 24-October 4, 2026

Get tickets

The biggest event of the year for Alberta moviegoers is back! The Calgary International Film Festival, presented by Servus Credit Union, is bringing the year’s most acclaimed and talked-about films—from Cannes and other leading film festivals around the world—to Calgary audiences from September 24 to October 4, 2026.

Whether you’re attending a handful of screenings or diving into the festival’s complete lineup, CIFF has something for every kind of moviegoer. From first-time attendees to dedicated cinephiles and industry professionals, CIFF is the perfect place for movie lovers to come together and experience the best in cinema.

To explore the full festival lineup and get your tickets, visit ciffcalgary.ca.

 
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Art Book Club | Developing Corbin Union OSOSO: Publishing as an Artist Collective
Sep
23
6:00 PM18:00
Events

Art Book Club | Developing Corbin Union OSOSO: Publishing as an Artist Collective

 

Art Book Club | Developing Corbin Union OSOSO: Publishing as an Artist Collective

September 23
6 PM

Join art book club

Join us for thoughtful conversations about art books - a dynamic format where artists continue to push boundaries, considering the book not just as an object but as a portal into their creative practices. As pioneering curator Seth Siegelaub insightfully stated, “Books and exhibitions are not separate, but extensions of the same idea.” Our Art Book Club embraces this philosophy, bridging the worlds of exhibitions and publications.

Led by Beth Kane, Visitor Experience Manager, each session offers fresh perspectives and deeper engagement with contemporary art and publishing. This is a book club for curious minds - readers, artists, and art lovers who view books as both inspiration and artistic practice. 

What to Expect:

  • Four sessions per year featuring guest speakers from the art and publishing worlds

  • A welcoming community of art book enthusiasts

  • A space for artists exploring the book as part of their own work

  • Opportunities to deepen your connection to contemporary art and/or publishing

  • Rich conversations with others passionate about art and ideas

Registration Fee:

  • $70/year includes three remaining sessions (#2-4), a welcome gift featuring items from the Contemporary Calgary Bookshop. All those in the Art Book Club community receive a 10% discount in the shop.

  • $30 for individual sessions. Attendees may register for each individual session but this option does not include the welcome gift, book, or shop discount.

Session 2: Developing Corbin Union OSOSO: Publishing as an Artist Collective

September 23
6 PM

Corbin Union, a collective of artists, writers, and curators, including core founding members Miruna Drăgan, Jason de Haan, and Warren McLachlan, has gathered annually in the former coal-mining town of Corbin, British Columbia since 2012 to produce a variety of collaborative and individual works. Guided by a conceptual framework of excavation and entombment, mirroring and refraction, one outcome of this ongoing practice is OSOSO, a series of exhibitions and publication projects.

Speakers Miruna Drăgan and Jason de Haan will discuss the collective’s approach to publishing and collaborative artistic production. They will trace the OSOSO publication (published by Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver) from initial concept through design and print, reflecting on how publishing becomes a valuable extension of the exhibition beyond the gallery space.

REGISTER HERE

Session 3: Simone Elizabeth Saunders, Encompass the Galaxy: From Studio to Publication 

Fall (date tbc.)
6 PM

Join acclaimed artist Simone Elizabeth Saunders, one of Canada’s most compelling contemporary textile artists, as she shares the creative journey behind her recent publication Encompass the Galaxy, published by Contemporary Calgary. This book showcases 40 works from 2020–2023, highlighting Saunders’ vibrant hand-tufted textiles and exploring themes of Black womanhood, ancestral memory, and resistance. Through her practice, Saunders transforms fibre into a language of strength, storytelling, and survival. This session offers insight into how artists can expand their work into print, engaging audiences through narrative, design, and materiality.

Session 4: Zine-Making Workshop & Program Celebration

December 9
6 PM

Artist Blake McLeod leads a hands-on workshop exploring zines as dynamic tools for self-expression and storytelling. Participants will create their own small publications and celebrate the culmination of the program with an informal sharing session.

Blake (they/them) is the Creative Director and founder of CINIC Studio, a creative practice and studio space born from a desire for safety, freedom, and collaboration. Working across drawing, writing, illustration, photography, videography, screen printing, and digital design, Blake centers storytelling as a means to connect, heal, and share experiences. Through CINIC Studio, they bring together techniques, insights, and practices to support others in building confidence, fostering belonging, and exploring creative expression.

 
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Perspective Film Series: Godzilla (1954)
Sep
20
5:30 PM17:30
Film, Events

Perspective Film Series: Godzilla (1954)

 

Perspective Film Series:

Godzilla (1954), dir. Ishirō Honda

September 20

5:30 PM | Dome Theatre

Get tickets

The 1954 classic Gojira (Godzilla) is a haunting, allegorical horror film in which American nuclear testing awakens and mutates a prehistoric sea creature, unleashing destruction on Tokyo. Beyond its terrifying spectacle, the film explores the consequences of humanity’s technological hubris, the ethical dilemmas of scientific discovery, and the lingering fears of nuclear devastation, reflecting postwar anxieties in a society grappling with the power – and peril – of atomic energy.

Country: Japan

96 minutes, in Japanese with English subtitles

Disclaimer: This film contains some difficult subject matter, including violence and nudity, 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

Curated by associate curator Muriel N. Kahwagi, the 2026 edition of Perspective is conceived as a sustained meditation on disaster in its broadest and most resonant terms. While ecological catastrophe remains a central point of reference, the series extends beyond literal scenarios of environmental collapse or speculative visions of planetary ruin, approaching disaster as a condition that permeates both collective structures and private lives, unfolding across social, political, and emotional terrains. In this sense, disaster is understood not only as a single event, but as an ongoing state – slow, uneven, and often normalized through systems of power, habit, and belief. The films in this series examine how moments of crisis reshape perception and behaviour, revealing fractures in meaning, and reflecting on the ways in which hope may persist long after the moment of rupture has passed.

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.

 
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Contemporary Kids: Let Your Light Shine
Sep
20
1:00 PM13:00
Contemporary Kids, Events

Contemporary Kids: Let Your Light Shine

 

Contemporary Kids: Let Your Light Shine

September 20

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

With the Mid-Autumn Festival just around the corner, join us for a special lantern-making workshop to celebrate this beloved season and its traditions. Inspired by the moon and autumn stories, kids will design and craft their own lanterns to light the way for the season ahead.

What to expect: We will begin the session with a story-sharing circle about the fall season followed by a demo and workshop dedicated to lantern-making.

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. 

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

Questions? Please visit our FAQ page.

The same workshop is offered in two sessions for your convenience on September 20. Choose one session that suits your schedule best. 

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

Register Here

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

Register Here

About our Education Facilitators

Teaghan Fetherstonhaugh
(she/her)

TD Education Facilitator

Teaghan Fetherstonhaugh graduated from the Alberta University of the Arts with a Bachelor of Design, majoring in Illustration and Character Design. She is a digital artist whose practice revolves around celebrating Queer experiences through comics and sequential art. She also loves to explore the stories of strange and wonderful characters in worlds that feel imaginative and nostalgic. Teaghan shares her comics online and has built an audience that resonates with her work and her message.Beyond her personal practice, Teaghan is a passionate facilitator who loves delivering fun and engaging programs to connect with her community. Still early in her career, Teaghan embraces opportunities to learn, grow, and evolve. When she’s not drawing, Teaghan enjoys spending time at home with her cats while reading a good book.

Vicky Xingyu Gu
(she/her)

TD Education Facilitator

Vicky Xingyu Gu is a Chinese animator who holds a BFA in Animation from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and an MFA in Digital Arts & Animation from the University of Southern California. During her studies, she explored narrative, documentary, and experimental forms of animation. Her works draw inspiration from cultural conflicts, emotional struggles, and societal issues, while experimenting with both digital and traditional media to create layered, hybrid, and provocative forms of storytelling. Since relocating to Calgary, she has become an active participant in the local arts community. She has been teaching various forms of animation with Quickdraw Animation Society and enjoys guiding participants of all ages through creative practices such as drawing, collage, mixed media, and visual storytelling. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and baking, watching animated movies, and playing horror games.

Supported by

 

Supported by

 
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Contemporary Conversations: Noa Bronstein in conversation with Mona Filip
Sep
19
3:30 PM15:30
Events

Contemporary Conversations: Noa Bronstein in conversation with Mona Filip

 

Jane Jin Kaisen. Burial of This Order (still), 2022.

Contemporary Conversations:
Noa Bronstein in conversation with Mona Filip

September 19
3:30 PM | Heather Edwards Theatre

REGISTER HERE

To mark the opening of Jane Jin Kaisen’s solo show Burial of This Order, please join us for a conversation with Guest Curator Noa Bronstein and Chief Curator Mona Filip. The conversation will reflect on the three video works presented in the exhibition, exploring their central themes that underscore Kaisen’s ongoing interests in ritual, collectivity, and the potential of social and political transgressions. 

The conversation will be followed by a Q&A with the public.

Free with registration.

This program is supported by RBC Foundation as part of the Contemporary Conversations Series.

About the Artist

Jane Jin Kaisen
(she/her)

Jane Jin Kaisen (b. 1980 Jeju Island, lives in Copenhagen) is known for her visually striking, multi-layered, performative, poetic, and multi-voiced feminist works concerning memory, migration, and borders, conceived at the intersection of lived experience and larger political histories. Other long-term commitments revolve around nature and island spaces, alternative cosmologies, sustainability and the preservation of intangible cultures. Kaisen represented Korea at the 58th Venice Biennale and is the recipient of various recognition grants and awards. Recent exhibitions include the 13th Berlin Biennale, the 13th Seoul Media City Biennale, the Hawaii Triennial 2025, and the Korea Artist Prize 2024 at MMCA Korea. 

About the Guest Curator

Noa Bronstein
(she/her)

Noa Bronstein is a writer and curator based in Toronto whose practice is often focused on the social production of space, and thinking through how artists disrupt and subvert systems including those registering across social, political and economic structures. Bronstein has previously stewarded two leading artist-run centres through her role as the Executive Director of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography and Gallery TPW, and in 2018 held the position of Senior Curator for the City of Mississauga. Noa has curated and programmed projects/exhibitions at institutions across Canada, including at the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), The Rooms (St. John’s), Doris McCarthy Gallery (Toronto), and The New Gallery (Calgary). Her writing has appeared in publications including Artforum, Border Crossings, C Magazine, Canadian Art, esse art + opinions, PUBLIC Journal, and The Journal of Curatorial Studies. Bronstein is currently the Assistant Director of the Art Museum at the University of Toronto.

Photo by Victoria Cimolini

About the Chief Curator

Mona Filip
(she/her)

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 new audiences through first local exhibitions. Filip’s 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.

 
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Vethro Zero One: Performance Lecture
Sep
19
2:00 PM14:00
Events

Vethro Zero One: Performance Lecture

 

Curtis Talwst Santiago. When Scales Shimmer, Horns Yield (detail), 2025.

Vethro Zero One: Performance Lecture

In conjunction with Curtis Talwst Santiago: worlds, worlds, worlds

September 19
2 PM | Flanagan Family Gallery

Register Here

At first glance, it could be a person. It wears the uniform, moves through the shift like anyone else on the line. But something is off. What the station was for has always been uncertain, marked in history yet never quite understood, perhaps never fully known even then. All anyone knows it by is Vethro Zero One. 

When the station was abandoned, Vethro Zero One resigned itself to a new task, one with no end date, to guide visitors through what remains. It has been doing this ever since. 

Vethro Zero One moves between roles without warning, one moment a tour guide reciting what little is known, the next something stranger, something that seems to slip out of its own uniform entirely. It pushes a cart of tangled electronic devices everywhere it goes, wires and machines whose purpose is never explained. 

It leads groups toward each chapter of the exhibition, then steps back, letting them wander, look closely, get near. It watches. It responds. 

Communication here moves through many channels at once, speech, static, rhythm, echo, mirroring the exhibition’s own scenography of horns, pipes and circuitry, an operative field where meaning is generated, disrupted and redirected in real time. Long after visitors leave, the station keeps humming. 

Free with registration.

About the Artist

Photo by: Conrad Mirbach

Curtis Talwst Santiago (he/him)

Curtis Talwst Santiago puts entire worlds inside jewellery boxes. The dioramas, intricate handbuilt scenes no larger than a palm, are where his practice began and where it remains anchored, even as it has expanded into painting, sculpture, public art, and film.

Santiago was born in Edmonton and raised in Sherwood Park, Alberta, to Trinidadian immigrant parents. He grew up between two worlds, Caribbean household, Canadian suburb, and that double consciousness never left him. It shows up in the work: a barbershop scene beside a migration crisis, a basement dance party next to a border. Nothing in the Infinity Series stays safely in one world for long.

He came up through music. As a teenager he performed in an a cappella group, opened for Usher by 18, and earned a CBC Star Maker award at 23 before co-founding the funk band HI PHONIQS. His most recent solo full-length was recorded with Grammy Award winning producer Illangelo. Visual art eventually took over, but the musical foundation never disappeared, rhythm, resonance, and interruption run through everything he makes.

Art had always been there, in Vancouver it just took over. Friends who saw the work convinced him it belonged in galleries and museums, and he started to believe them. A flea market street vendor handed him his first ring box, setting the Infinity Series in motion. A knock on the right studio door led to a three-year mentorship with renowned First Nations artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. He later moved to New York, where a solo exhibition at the Drawing Center marked his arrival on the international stage.

His work is held in permanent collections including the National Gallery of Canada, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Lenbachhaus Munich. He is represented by Uffner & Liu, New York, and Martina Simeti, Milan, and lives and works in Potsdam, Germany.

 
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Contemporary Connections: Punjabi Tour
Sep
18
12:00 PM12:00
Events

Contemporary Connections: Punjabi Tour

 

Contemporary Connections: Punjabi Tour

September 18
Ring Gallery | 12-1 PM

Contemporary Connections is a guided tour series designed to make art accessible and engaging for Calgary’s diverse communities. These events create a welcoming and inclusive space for participants to explore our exhibitions and connect with others, fostering meaningful relationships through the shared experience of contemporary art.

Register Here

Admission: Free with advance registration; walk-ins welcome, space permitting

Exhibition Tour: Ghazaleh Avarzamani: Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return

Duration: 30-minute guided tour, followed by a post-tour conversation and optional mini mixer

Guide: Harpreet M Dayal is an author, poet, community convener, and believer in the power of the arts to connect and heal. Harpreet works with numerous non-profit, settlement, and arts organizations and collaborates with local businesses in Calgary through her platform. 

She founded 'Love Notes,' an event that gathers artists from across disciplines to create a performative love note to Calgary and beyond. Since its inception in 2017, Harpreet has collaborated with Arts Commons to bring Love Notes to their Amplify Cabaret Series, Moonlight Market, and cSpace. Her work has featured in HuffPost, Avenue Magazine, CBC, CTV, and the Canadian Mental Health Association.

We welcome your suggestions for future tours in other languages! Email us at info@contemporarycalgary.com

Contemporary Connections is supported by program partner Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation (ICAI)

 

This event is part of Calgary Culture Days, a city-wide celebration of arts, culture and community happening throughout September.

Learn more at calgary.ca/CultureDays.

Contemporary Connections: ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਟੂਰ

ਸ਼ੁੱਕਰਵਾਰ, 18 ਸਤੰਬਰ | ਦੁਪਹਿਰ 12-1 ਵਜੇ | Ring Gallery

ਕੰਟੈਂਪਰੇਰੀ ਕਨੈਕਸ਼ਨ ਇੱਕ ਗਾਈਡਡ ਟੂਰ ਲੜੀ ਹੈ ਜੋ ਕੈਲਗਰੀ ਦੇ ਵਿਭਿੰਨ ਭਾਈਚਾਰਿਆਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਕਲਾ ਨੂੰ ਪਹੁੰਚਯੋਗ ਅਤੇ ਦਿਲਚਸਪ ਬਣਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਤਿਆਰ ਕੀਤੀ ਗਈ ਹੈ। ਇਹ ਪ੍ਰੋਗਰਾਮ ਦਰਸ਼ਕਾਂ ਦਾ ਹਾਰਦਿਕ ਸੁਆਗਤ ਕਰਨ ਵਾਲਾ ਇਕ ਬਹੁਤ ਹੀ ਖ਼ਾਸ ਸਥਾਨ ਹੈ ਜਿੱਥੇ ਉਹ ਸਾਡੀਆਂ ਪ੍ਰਦਰਸ਼ਨੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਦੇਖ ਸਕਦੇ ਹਨ ਅਤੇ ਦੂਜਿਆਂ ਨਾਲ ਮਿਲਜੁਲ ਕੇ ਇਸ ਆਧੁਨਿਕ ਕਲਾ ਦੇ ਸਾਂਝੇ ਅਨੁਭਵ ਦਾ ਅਹਿਸਾਸ ਕਰ ਸਕਦੇ ਹਨ।  

ਇੱਥੇ ਰਜਿਸਟਰ ਕਰੋ

ਦਾਖਲਾ: ਐਡਵਾਂਸ ਰਜਿਸਟ੍ਰੇਸ਼ਨ ਨਾਲ ਮੁਫ਼ਤ; ਜਗ੍ਹਾ ਦੀ ਉਪਲਬਧਤਾ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ, ਬਿਨਾਂ ਰਜਿਸਟ੍ਰੇਸ਼ਨ ਦੇ ਵੀ ਆਉਣ ਦਾ ਸੁਆਗਤ ਹੈ।

ਪ੍ਰਦਰਸ਼ਨੀ ਟੂਰ: ਗ਼ਜ਼ਾਲੇਹ ਅਵਾਰਜ਼ਾਮਾਨੀ: Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return

ਮਿਆਦ: 30 ਮਿੰਟ ਦਾ ਟੂਰ, ਉਸ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਗੱਲਬਾਤ ਅਤੇ ਜੇ ਚਾਹੋ ਤਾਂ ਥੋੜ੍ਹਾ ਮੇਲ-ਮਿਲਾਪ ਵੀ ਕਰ ਸਕਦੇ ਹੋ। 

ਗਾਈਡ:  ਹਰਪ੍ਰੀਤ ਐਮ ਦਿਆਲ ਇੱਕ ਲੇਖਕ, ਕਵੀ, ਅਤੇ ਕਲਾ ਦੀ ਤਾਕਤ ਨੂੰ ਸਮਝਦੀ ਹੈ, ਜੋ ਆਰਟ ਰਾਹੀ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਆਪਸ ਵਿੱਚ ਜੋੜਨ ਦੀ ਸ਼ਕਤੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਵਿਸ਼ਵਾਸ ਰੱਖਣ ਵਾਲੀ ਹੈ। ਉਸਨੇ 'ਲਵ ਨੋਟਸ' ਦੀ ਸਥਾਪਨਾ ਕੀਤੀ, ਇੱਕ ਅਜਿਹਾ ਪ੍ਰੋਗਰਾਮ ਜੋ ਕੈਲਗਰੀ ਅਤੇ ਇਸ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਹਰ ਇੱਕ ਪ੍ਰਦਰਸ਼ਨਕਾਰੀ ਪ੍ਰੇਮ ਪੱਤਰ ਬਣਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਵੱਖ-ਵੱਖ ਵਿਸ਼ਿਆਂ ਦੇ ਕਲਾਕਾਰਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਇਕੱਠਾ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ। 2017 ਵਿੱਚ ਇਸਦੀ ਸ਼ੁਰੂਆਤ ਤੋਂ ਲੈ ਕੇ ਹੁਣ ਤੱਕ ਹਰਪ੍ਰੀਤ ਨੇ ਲਵ ਨੋਟਸ ਨੂੰ ਉਹਨਾਂ ਦੀ ਐਂਪਲੀਫਾਈ ਕੈਬਰੇ ਸੀਰੀਜ਼ (Amplify Cabaret Series), ਮੂਨਲਾਈਟ ਮਾਰਕੀਟ (Moonlight Market), ਅਤੇ ਸੀ-ਸਪੇਸ (cSpace) ਵਿੱਚ ਲਿਆਉਣ ਲਈ ਆਰਟਸ ਕਾਮਨਜ਼ ਨਾਲ ਸਹਿਯੋਗ ਕੀਤਾ ਹੈ। ਹਰਪ੍ਰੀਤ ਨੇ HuffPost, Avenue Magazine, CBC, CTV, ਅਤੇ ਕੈਨੇਡੀਅਨ ਮੈਂਟਲ ਹੈਲਥ ਐਸੋਸੀਏਸ਼ਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਪ੍ਰਦਰਸ਼ਿਤ ਹੋ ਚੁੱਕਾ ਹੈ।

ਅਸੀਂ ਹੋਰ ਭਾਸ਼ਾਵਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਭਵਿੱਖ ਦੇ ਟੂਰਾਂ ਲਈ ਤੁਹਾਡੇ ਸੁਝਾਵਾਂ ਦਾ ਸੁਆਗਤ ਕਰਦੇ ਹਾਂ! ਸਾਨੂੰ info@contemporarycalgary.com ਤੇ ਈਮੇਲ ਕਰੋ। 

ਇਹ ਪ੍ਰੋਗਰਾਮ, ‘ਕੰਟੈਂਪਰੇਰੀ ਕਨੈਕਸ਼ਨ’ ਵੱਲੋਂ, ਇਮੀਗ੍ਰੈਂਟ ਕੌਂਸਲ ਫਾਰ ਆਰਟਸ ਇਨੋਵੇਸ਼ਨ (ICAI) ਦੀ ਸਪੋਰਟ ਨਾਲ ਹੋ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ। 

 
 
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Exhibition Opening | Curtis Talwst Santiago + Jane Jin Kaisen
Sep
17
5:00 PM17:00
Events

Exhibition Opening | Curtis Talwst Santiago + Jane Jin Kaisen

 

[L] Jane Jin Kaisen. Burial of This Order (still), 2022. [R] Curtis Talwst Santiago. Christmas in Durban, 2017.

Exhibition Opening
Curtis Talwst Santiago + Jane Jin Kaisen

September 17
6-9 PM

Please join us on Thursday, September 17, from 6-9 PM, as we celebrate the opening of two solo exhibitions, Curtis Talwst Santiago: worlds, worlds, worlds and Jane Jin Kaisen: Burial of This Order.

Building toward a landmark moment in Contemporary Calgary's evolution—marked by the Centennial Planetarium's highly anticipated transformation—this new exhibition season explores notions of change and world-building throughout all aspects of our lives: social, political, environmental and psychological. Prominent Canadian and international artists engaged in the upcoming projects bring generative perspectives and expansive ways of thinking through our fraught historical moment where ruptures and crises have the potential to lead to new possibilities and ever-evolving realities. 

Meet Curtis Talwst Santiago and take home his work! From 6:30–7:00 PM, Curtis will be meeting with visitors and personalizing his limited-edition 11 × 17 fine art prints. Signed and numbered as part of an edition of 100, prints are available for $70 in limited quantities. Don’t miss this special opportunity to meet the artist and make your print your own.

  • Doors
    6:00 PM

  • Meet the Artist and Personalize Your Print 
    6:30-7:00 PM | Flanagan Family Gallery Hallway 

  • Remarks
    7:00 PM | Atrium

  • Galleries Close
    9:00 PM

FREE to the public. No registration is required. 

About the Artists

Photo by: Conrad Mirbach

Curtis Talwst Santiago (he/him)

Curtis Talwst Santiago puts entire worlds inside jewellery boxes. The dioramas, intricate handbuilt scenes no larger than a palm, are where his practice began and where it remains anchored, even as it has expanded into painting, sculpture, public art, and film.

Santiago was born in Edmonton and raised in Sherwood Park, Alberta, to Trinidadian immigrant parents. He grew up between two worlds, Caribbean household, Canadian suburb, and that double consciousness never left him. It shows up in the work: a barbershop scene beside a migration crisis, a basement dance party next to a border. Nothing in the Infinity Series stays safely in one world for long.

He came up through music. As a teenager he performed in an a cappella group, opened for Usher by 18, and earned a CBC Star Maker award at 23 before co-founding the funk band HI PHONIQS. His most recent solo full-length was recorded with Grammy Award winning producer Illangelo. Visual art eventually took over, but the musical foundation never disappeared, rhythm, resonance, and interruption run through everything he makes.

Art had always been there, in Vancouver it just took over. Friends who saw the work convinced him it belonged in galleries and museums, and he started to believe them. A flea market street vendor handed him his first ring box, setting the Infinity Series in motion. A knock on the right studio door led to a three-year mentorship with renowned First Nations artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. He later moved to New York, where a solo exhibition at the Drawing Center marked his arrival on the international stage.

His work is held in permanent collections including the National Gallery of Canada, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Lenbachhaus Munich. He is represented by Uffner & Liu, New York, and Martina Simeti, Milan, and lives and works in Potsdam, Germany.

Photo by Daniel Zox.

Jane Jin Kaisen
(she/her)

Jane Jin Kaisen (b. 1980 Jeju Island, lives in Copenhagen) is known for her visually striking, multi-layered, performative, poetic, and multi-voiced feminist works concerning memory, migration, and borders, conceived at the intersection of lived experience and larger political histories. Other long-term commitments revolve around nature and island spaces, alternative cosmologies, sustainability and the preservation of intangible cultures. Kaisen represented Korea at the 58th Venice Biennale and is the recipient of various recognition grants and awards. Recent exhibitions include the 13th Berlin Biennale, the 13th Seoul Media City Biennale, the Hawaii Triennial 2025, and the Korea Artist Prize 2024 at MMCA Korea. 

 
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National Gallery of Canada’s Annual Public Meeting
Sep
14
5:00 PM17:00
Events

National Gallery of Canada’s Annual Public Meeting

 

National Gallery of Canada’s Annual Public Meeting

September 14
5-6 PM

Onsite registration
Online registration

You are invited to attend the National Gallery of Canada’s 2026 Annual Public Meeting, held this year at Contemporary Calgary (AB).

Paul C. Genest, Chair of the Board of Trustees, and Jean-François Bélisle, Director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada, will share insights on Canada’s museum scene and highlights of upcoming initiatives, followed by a presentation of the Gallery’s new 2026–2031 strategic plan. A question-and-answer period will follow.

Please note that this is a hybrid event. Participants may attend onsite (5:00–6:00 p.m. MDT in Calgary) or online (7:00–8:00 p.m. EDT). The meeting will be followed by a reception for onsite guests. 

Bilingual event. Simultaneous interpretation available in English and in French. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will also be provided.

 
 
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September | Drop-in Art Making
Sep
5
to Sep 26
Workshop, Events

September | Drop-in Art Making

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Drop-in Art Making

September 2026
Saturdays | 1-5 PM

Embrace creativity and exploration in our Saturday Drop-in Art Making program. This program is offered most Saturdays from 1-5 PM throughout the year. Materials and light instruction are provided, along with rotating themes and activities.

Our program encourages people of all ages to connect with modern and contemporary art through enjoyable and interactive creative experiences.

For September, join us to make:

  • September 5: Decorations for the Pride Parade

  • September 12: NO SESSION

  • September 19: Airdry Clay Sculptures

  • September 26: Felt Bookmarks

In addition to the above activities, there will be both a collage and drawing station available for creative free time during each session. 

These are drop-in sessions running from 1-5 PM. Come anytime — no registration is required.

*If you have questions about this workshop, please reach out to Vanessa Lamb, TD Education Program Coordinator at vanessa@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.

About our Education Facilitators

Vanessa Lamb
(she/her)

TD Education Program Coordinator

Vanessa Lamb graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor’s degree in Art History and a minor in Museum and Heritage Studies. She has a deep passion for art, especially the conversations and change it can spark, leading her to have a people-centred approach in her work, and an unending curiosity to learn more. In her career, Vanessa has experience in arts administration, visitor experience, and both designing and implementing public programs, art workshops and elementary school programs. Her curiosity is visible in her own creative practice where she explores different mediums, subject matters and new techniques. Vanessa’s work often explores themes of memory, grief, and identity. When not working, she can be found embroidering, painting or exploring nature.

Vicky Xingyu Gu
(she/her)

TD Education Facilitator

Vicky Xingyu Gu is a Chinese animator who holds a BFA in Animation from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and an MFA in Digital Arts & Animation from the University of Southern California. During her studies, she explored narrative, documentary, and experimental forms of animation. Her works draw inspiration from cultural conflicts, emotional struggles, and societal issues, while experimenting with both digital and traditional media to create layered, hybrid, and provocative forms of storytelling. Since relocating to Calgary, she has become an active participant in the local arts community. She has been teaching various forms of animation with Quickdraw Animation Society and enjoys guiding participants of all ages through creative practices such as drawing, collage, mixed media, and visual storytelling. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and baking, watching animated movies, and playing horror games.

Supported by

 
 
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Free First Thursday
Sep
3
5:00 PM17:00
Events

Free First Thursday

 

Free First Thursday

September 3
5-9 PM

REGISTER HERE

Join us for a creative evening celebrating Pride! Enjoy a free, all-ages evening with music from a live DJ, and hands-on art-making activities for all ages. 

Please join us as we play the card game Re/Turn: A Gifting Game, conceived and developed by the Play, (Re)Design, and Learn Group at the University of Calgary. Inspired by Ghazaleh Avarzamani's solo show Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return, Re/Turn: A Gifting Game gives players an opportunity to counter the hostile reality of imposed rules and competitive society. It's a collaborative card game where players constantly change rules and goals to gather and share resources within the community and beyond. Centered on communication, collective decision-making, and reciprocity, the game reminds players that individual and collective actions within the community could resist and impact dominant structures.

Explore our exhibitions, make something of your own, and connect with friends, family, and community in a fun and welcoming atmosphere. Come as you are and celebrate through art, music, and togetherness.

Enjoy free admission from 5–9 PM, a curated bar featuring wine, craft beer, and non-alcoholic beverages, and an evening of art, design, and community. All ages are welcome.

Art for All - FREE with registration.

This event is part of Calgary Culture Days, a city-wide celebration of arts, culture and community happening throughout September.

Learn more at calgary.ca/CultureDays.

 
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September | Open Studio for 55+
Sep
2
to Sep 23
Workshop, Events

September | Open Studio for 55+

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Open Studio for 55+

September 2026
Wednesdays | 1-4 PM

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

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. In August we’ll be discussing grant writing. 

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 Vanessa Lamb, TD Education Program Coordinator, at vanessa@contemporarycalgary.com

SEPTEMBER SCHEDULE:

  • September 2

  • September 9

  • September 16

  • September 23

  • September 30* - NO SESSION

*There will be no Open Studio for 55+ on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Sept 30), Contemporary Calgary will be hosting Pokaiks Reconciliation Walk & Event.

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.

 
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BINS by Louise Day 
Aug
27
to Aug 30
Events

BINS by Louise Day 

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BINS by Louise Day 

August 27-30
Heather Edwards Theatre

get tickets

LIVE On Stage in the Heather Edwards Theatre, BINS is a heartwarming story of the power of connection as three unlikely friends struggle to build relationships across differences of both age and ability. Drawing from the playwright's experience; a Vietnam Vet, a retired school teacher and an autistic young man find hope in friendship as they struggle to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the search to reach their own safe havens. 

Tickets: Adults $30, Student + Seniors $24. Receive 15% discount on group ticket purchases of 6 or more. 

 
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Perspective Film Series: A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Aug
23
5:30 PM17:30
Film, Events

Perspective Film Series: A Clockwork Orange (1971)

 

Perspective Film Series:

A Clockwork Orange (1971), dir. Stanley Kubrick

August 23

5:30 PM | Dome Theatre

Get tickets

Stanley Kubrick’s iconic A Clockwork Orange (1971) follows Alex, a charismatic but ultraviolent teenage delinquent in dystopian future Britain, who leads his "droogs" in drug-fueled crime sprees, narrating in futuristic slang (Nadsat). After being caught and imprisoned for murder, he undergoes the controversial Ludovico Technique, a psychological aversion therapy that conditions him to feel physically ill at the thought of violence, effectively removing his free will. Released as a "cured" citizen, he faces societal rejection and political manipulation, asking us to question the ethics of state control, the nature of free will, and whether true morality can exist without the freedom to choose.

Country: UK, US

136 minutes, in English

Disclaimer: This film contains some difficult subject matter, including violence and nudity, 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

Curated by associate curator Muriel N. Kahwagi, the 2026 edition of Perspective is conceived as a sustained meditation on disaster in its broadest and most resonant terms. While ecological catastrophe remains a central point of reference, the series extends beyond literal scenarios of environmental collapse or speculative visions of planetary ruin, approaching disaster as a condition that permeates both collective structures and private lives, unfolding across social, political, and emotional terrains. In this sense, disaster is understood not only as a single event, but as an ongoing state – slow, uneven, and often normalized through systems of power, habit, and belief. The films in this series examine how moments of crisis reshape perception and behaviour, revealing fractures in meaning, and reflecting on the ways in which hope may persist long after the moment of rupture has passed.

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.

 
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A Long Dramatic Pause
Aug
16
2:00 PM14:00
Events

A Long Dramatic Pause

 

Erdem Taşdelen & Cindy Ansah. A Long Dramatic Pause, live performance, 2026. Photo by Victoria Cimolini.

A Long Dramatic Pause

August 16
Grotto | 2-2:30 PM

REGISTER HERE

A Long Dramatic Pause is a live performance that explores strategies of resistance against ultranationalism and far-right politics through the languages of photography and theatre. Performed by Cindy Ansah and co-developed with artist Erdem Taşdelen, the narrative comprises twelve dramatic scenes that describe a photographic image, never showing it directly but rather bringing it to life through re-enactment and visual analysis.

At the heart of the photograph being described is a young woman, a figure of solidarity and defiance with whom the audience can identify. As the performer moves between observing and embodying this antifascist figure, the narrative gradually implicates the audience as if they had been unknowing protagonists in the image all along. With this, their focus shifts away from the performer towards their own agency and collective presence.

A Long Dramatic Pause is a process-based project developed anew with each staging. Every version emerges from a collaboration between the artist and a new performer, guided by a set of graphic scores created specifically for the work.

The first staging of A Long Dramatic Pause took place in London (UK) in September 2025. This second staging at Contemporary Calgary marks the performance’s Canadian premiere.

About the Artists

Photo by: Francis A. Willey

Cindy Ansah (she/her) is a storyteller, a vibrant embodiment of culture. A multidimensional creative, she embodies multiplicity as a dance artist, actress, filmmaker, writer, fashion visionary, and muse, dialoguing in Mohkínstsis (Calgary) and across Turtle Island. Since 2020, Cindy has been devoted to her role as Artistic Director of Not Another Political Playground Y’all (N.A.P.P.Y.), which has produced two acclaimed seasons. She co-founded the all-Black contemporary arts collective with collaborator Tiara Matusin, with the shared aspiration to champion Black artistry and collectivity in all its breadth, depth, and nuance.

Photo by: Sarah Bodri

Erdem Taşdelen (he/him) is an artist based in Tkaronto/Toronto, Canada. Through the use of diverse materials and media, he constructs semi-fictional narratives that incorporate unique historical figures, events and texts to implicate contemporary sociopolitical realities. His projects over the past 15 years have explored themes such as life under authoritarian rule; the theatricality and public spectacles of political discourse; migration, displacement and the haunting presence of the past in contemporary contexts; and the possibilities for self-expression and the limits of authorship within culturally learned forms. Taşdelen has exhibited at venues including The Power Plant, Aga Khan Museum and Mercer Union in Toronto; Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; VOX Centre de l'image contemporaine, Montréal; Framer Framed, Amsterdam; Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg; and Pera Museum, Istanbul. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Delfina Foundation and Studio Voltaire, London; Hangar, Lisbon; Rupert, Vilnius; and KulturKontakt, Vienna. He was awarded the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Visual Arts by the Canada Council in 2016, the Charles Pachter Prize by Hnatyshyn Foundation in 2014, long-listed for the Sobey Art Award in 2019, and selected as a finalist for the Taoyuan International Art Award in 2025.

 
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2026 BUMP Urban Art Conference
Aug
13
to Aug 15
Events

2026 BUMP Urban Art Conference

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
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BUMP Urban Art Conference

OF SIMMERING, AND THE SURGE

August 13-15, 2026

Learn More + Register

This summer, join artists, curators, musicians, writers, journalists, architects, and cultural leaders from around the world for the third annual BUMP Urban Art Conference, our festival's Ideas Hub.

Centered around the theme Of Simmering, and the Surge, this year's program explores how ideas percolate, persist, gain traction, and ultimately transform the world around us. If 2025 asked how cities remember, 2026 asks how they might break or become.

Across three days of keynote talks, artist presentations, and panel discussions, we'll examine the unseen forces shaping culture beneath the surface, from journalism and music to public art, architecture, and grassroots organizing - and how ideas travel from the margins into the public consciousness.

Featuring keynote speaker Faye HeavyShield, special presentations by Sook-Yin Lee and Marigold Santos, and conversations spanning public art, housing and affordability, artificial intelligence, cultural movements, and global creative practice, the 2026 BUMP Urban Art Conference is where the festival gathers to think, debate, and imagine what comes next.

BUMP Festival returns August 3–17, 2026, transforming Calgary through murals, sculpture, music, placemaking, and artistic dialogue. Stay tuned on all our 2026 festival programming and artists at @yycbump.

 
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Contemporary Connections: Spanish Tour
Aug
8
12:00 PM12:00
Events

Contemporary Connections: Spanish Tour

 

Contemporary Connections: Spanish Tour

August 8
Flanagan Family Gallery | 12-1 PM

Contemporary Connections is a guided tour series designed to make art accessible and engaging for Calgary’s diverse communities. These events create a welcoming and inclusive space for participants to explore our exhibitions and connect with others, fostering meaningful relationships through the shared experience of contemporary art.

Register Here

Admission: Free with advance registration; walk-ins welcome, space permitting

Exhibition Tour: Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens: Stacking Crates to Reach a Banana and Erdem Taşdelen: Wounded in Three Acts

Duration: 30-minute guided tour, followed by a post-tour conversation and optional mini mixer

Guide: Eglantina Miranda is a Gallery Attendant at Contemporary Calgary. Passionate about connecting with visitors and encouraging conversation around contemporary art. As a native Spanish speaker, Eglantina is excited to lead this tour, offering participants the opportunity to experience the exhibitions.

We welcome your suggestions for future tours in other languages! Email us at info@contemporarycalgary.com

Contemporary Connections is supported by program partner Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation (ICAI)

 

Contemporary Connections: Tour en Español

8 de agosto | 12-1 PM | Flanagan Family Gallery

Contemporary Connections es un programa de tours guiados diseñado para hacer que el arte sea accesible y atractivo para las diversas comunidades de Calgary. Estos eventos crean un espacio acogedor e inclusivo para que los participantes exploren nuestras exposiciones y se conecten con otros, fomentando relaciones significativas a través de la experiencia compartida del arte contemporáneo.

REGÍSTRATE AQUÍ

Admisión: Gratuita con registro anticipado; también se aceptan asistentes sin registro, según disponibilidad de espacio

Tour por las exposiciones: Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens: Stacking Crates to Reach a Banana y Erdem Taşdelen: Wounded in Three Acts

Duración: Recorrido guiado de 30 minutos, seguido de una conversación posterior y un mini mixer opcional

Guía: Eglantina Miranda es Asistente de Galería en Contemporary Calgary. Apasionada por conectar con los visitantes y fomentar la conversación en torno al arte contemporáneo. Como su lengua madre es español y su pasión es el arte contemporáneo, para Eglantina es un honor liderar este recorrido, ofreciendo a los participantes la oportunidad de apreciar y entender las exposiciones.

¡Nos encantaría conocer tus sugerencias para futuros recorridos en otros idiomas! Escríbenos a info@contemporarycalgary.com

Contemporary Connections cuenta con el patrocinio del programa Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation (ICAI).

 
 
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In Flux
Aug
8
to Aug 16
Exhibitions

In Flux

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
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Photo by: Yukun Hao

In Flux

Andia Bahrami, Ayla Au-Yeung, Bahar Esmaeili, Celina Ma, Charlie Chinprahat, Chris Wang, Claire Wang, Elena Fenemore, Lora Wang, Lucia Burak, Pete Handlovsky, Ruby Li, Sophia Saadat, and Ugochi Otuka

August 8–16, 2026
Bow View Hall

What happens when tomorrow's voices engage with today's questions?

Growing up means constantly moving through new spaces, relationships, expectations, and ideas. As artists, we move through questions too—testing materials, challenging assumptions, noticing what connects us, and imagining new ways of understanding ourselves, each other, and the world around us. Art offers a place to pause, observe, and reconsider the spaces we inhabit, the systems we navigate, and the stories we choose to tell.

In Flux is the culmination of Contemporary Calgary's week-long Summer Intensive: Art Practices for Teens, bringing together works by fourteen young artists. Throughout the intensive, the artists transformed the gallery into a site of experimentation, self-discovery, and social reflection. Together, the works reflect different ways of asking questions, making connections, and responding to the world around them. They capture adolescence as a moment of being in flux—full of curiosity, change, and the possibilities of becoming.

Developed through Contemporary Calgary's ongoing partnership with Arts Umbrella, Summer Intensive: Art Practices for Teens is a scholarship-supported program. The exhibition features works created under the mentorship of artist-educator Andre Seow and members of Contemporary Calgary's Education team.

 
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Free First Thursday
Aug
6
5:00 PM17:00
Events

Free First Thursday

 

Free First Thursday

August 6
5-9 PM

REGISTER HERE

Join us at Contemporary Calgary for Free First Thursday, featuring a special interactive art activation by Calgary artist Michelle Atkinson alongside exhibitions and programming presented by d.talks to kick off Design Week Calgary.

Created exclusively for Free First Thursday, Michelle Atkinson's interactive activation invites visitors to engage with her contemporary art practice, which explores weather, environmental data, and abstraction. 

Throughout the evening, choose from one of three original designs and watch as the artwork is heat-pressed live onto a limited-edition tote bag, creating a unique keepsake to take home. Part artist demonstration and part participatory experience, the activation offers a behind-the-scenes look at Michelle's creative process while giving visitors the opportunity to leave with an original artwork.

Explore Contemporary Calgary's current exhibitions and discover Design Week Calgary installations and activations throughout the gallery, including Lost & Found—a collaboration with Six Degrees and the festival’s flagship installation, which invites visitors to slow down and attune themselves to their surroundings, its ambient sounds, shifting light, and collective movement.

Pop by Design Week Calgary’s interactive workshop Cycles: Rework & Upcycle pop-up by Jonas. An up-cycling space to create, connect, and practice sustainability. Here you will find a clothing swap/donation bin, a Jonas themed photo op area, a hands-on workshop, and good conversation. 

Bring something pre-loved from your closet to donate, swap, or get reworked;and get hands-on at the workshop booth.

Enjoy free admission from 5–9 PM, a curated bar featuring wine, craft beer, and non-alcoholic beverages, and an evening of art, design, and community. All ages are welcome.

Art for All - FREE with registration.

Exhibition tours:

  • At 6 PM, gather outside the Flanagan Family Gallery for a guided tour of Stacking Crates to Reach a Banana by Quebec-based artist duo Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens

  • At 8 PM, gather outside the Flanagan Family Gallery for a guided tour of Erdem Taşdelen’s exhibition Wounded in Three Acts

On view:

 
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Design Week Calgary
Aug
6
to Aug 8
Events

Design Week Calgary

 

Design Week Calgary

August 6-8, 2026

Learn More + Register

Design Week Calgary taking place August 6–8, 2026, is a festival celebrating the city’s exceptional design talent. Created by designers, it invites the public into the creative world of graphic, visual, tech, film, sound, fashion, architecture, urban, landscape, and interior design.

2026 Theme: In Tune

Our 2026 programming asks us to get ‘In Tune’. To notice the rhythms of the city around us—its sounds, its spaces, its people—and to find harmony within them. This year, we explore how design helps us attune to what is often overlooked, revealing new connections between the built world and the lives we lead.

Design Week Calgary 2026 is presented by d.talks.

 
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August | Open Studio for 55+
Aug
5
to Aug 26
Workshop, Events

August | Open Studio for 55+

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Open Studio for 55+

August 2026
Wednesdays | 1-4 PM

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

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. In August we’ll be discussing grant writing. 

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 Tyson Bankert, Program Facilitator, at tyson@contemporarycalgary.com.

AUGUST SCHEDULE:

  • August 5, 2026

  • August 12, 2026

  • August 19, 2026*

    • Off-site activity on August 19 from 1:45-4:00 PM for exhibition tour(s) at AFA art house (150 9 Ave SW) if you are interested please sign up here. 

  • August 26, 2026* 

    • On-site workshop on August 26 from 2:00-3:30 PM with Melisa Centofanti.

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.

About our Education Facilitator

Tyson
(he/him)

Tyson is a community developer; his personal slogan is to edify others, befriend the lonely and promote justice! Tyson is grateful that his vocation matches his values and that he can bring people together through the art of facilitation. Tyson has the delight of being part of several community-based initiatives on Treaty 7, whether by increasing public participation or facilitating change processes through creativity and imagination work. A self-proclaimed troublemaker, his intention is to build communities to share power and effect change.  Tyson co-leads the network Community Development Learning Initiative and Founder of Recess Calgary. 

 
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SOLD OUT | Historic Calgary Week: Exhibition Tours and Performance
Aug
2
2:00 PM14:00
Events

SOLD OUT | Historic Calgary Week: Exhibition Tours and Performance

 

Installation view of Erdem Taşdelen’s The Characters: Epilogue II (2018-2021). Part of Erdem Taşdelen: Wounded in Three Acts. Photo: Victoria Cimolini, courtesy of Contemporary Calgary.

Historic Calgary Week: Exhibition Tours and Performance

August 2
12-3 PM

SOLD OUT

Please join us for a curator-led tour of five solo shows by Canadian and international artists at Contemporary Calgary, reflecting on notions of belonging, power, resistance, evolving social dynamics, and speculative futures.

The tour will be followed by a A Long Dramatic Pause, a performance co-developed by Cindy Ansah and Erdem Taşdelen, one of the exhibiting artists, and performed by Ansah. The performance explores strategies of resistance through the languages of photography and theatre.

Exhibitions on view include Erdem Taşdelen: Wounded in Three Acts; Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens: Stacking Crates to Reach a Banana; Ghazaleh Avarzamani: Churn, Earn, Burn, and Then Return; Haig Aivazian: You May Own the Lanterns, but We Have the Light; and Adelita Husni Bey: Agency.

Free with registration.

 
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A Long Dramatic Pause
Aug
2
2:00 PM14:00
Events

A Long Dramatic Pause

 

Erdem Taşdelen & Cindy Ansah. A Long Dramatic Pause, live performance, 2026. Photo by Victoria Cimolini.

A Long Dramatic Pause

August 2
Grotto | 2-2:30 PM

REGISTER HERE

A Long Dramatic Pause is a live performance that explores strategies of resistance against ultranationalism and far-right politics through the languages of photography and theatre. Performed by Cindy Ansah and co-developed with artist Erdem Taşdelen, the narrative comprises twelve dramatic scenes that describe a photographic image, never showing it directly but rather bringing it to life through re-enactment and visual analysis.

At the heart of the photograph being described is a young woman, a figure of solidarity and defiance with whom the audience can identify. As the performer moves between observing and embodying this antifascist figure, the narrative gradually implicates the audience as if they had been unknowing protagonists in the image all along. With this, their focus shifts away from the performer towards their own agency and collective presence.

A Long Dramatic Pause is a process-based project developed anew with each staging. Every version emerges from a collaboration between the artist and a new performer, guided by a set of graphic scores created specifically for the work.

The first staging of A Long Dramatic Pause took place in London (UK) in September 2025. This second staging at Contemporary Calgary marks the performance’s Canadian premiere.

About the Artists

Photo by: Francis A. Willey

Cindy Ansah (she/her) is a storyteller, a vibrant embodiment of culture. A multidimensional creative, she embodies multiplicity as a dance artist, actress, filmmaker, writer, fashion visionary, and muse, dialoguing in Mohkínstsis (Calgary) and across Turtle Island. Since 2020, Cindy has been devoted to her role as Artistic Director of Not Another Political Playground Y’all (N.A.P.P.Y.), which has produced two acclaimed seasons. She co-founded the all-Black contemporary arts collective with collaborator Tiara Matusin, with the shared aspiration to champion Black artistry and collectivity in all its breadth, depth, and nuance.

Photo by: Sarah Bodri

Erdem Taşdelen (he/him) is an artist based in Tkaronto/Toronto, Canada. Through the use of diverse materials and media, he constructs semi-fictional narratives that incorporate unique historical figures, events and texts to implicate contemporary sociopolitical realities. His projects over the past 15 years have explored themes such as life under authoritarian rule; the theatricality and public spectacles of political discourse; migration, displacement and the haunting presence of the past in contemporary contexts; and the possibilities for self-expression and the limits of authorship within culturally learned forms. Taşdelen has exhibited at venues including The Power Plant, Aga Khan Museum and Mercer Union in Toronto; Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; VOX Centre de l'image contemporaine, Montréal; Framer Framed, Amsterdam; Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg; and Pera Museum, Istanbul. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Delfina Foundation and Studio Voltaire, London; Hangar, Lisbon; Rupert, Vilnius; and KulturKontakt, Vienna. He was awarded the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Visual Arts by the Canada Council in 2016, the Charles Pachter Prize by Hnatyshyn Foundation in 2014, long-listed for the Sobey Art Award in 2019, and selected as a finalist for the Taoyuan International Art Award in 2025.

 
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August | Drop-in Art Making
Aug
1
to Aug 29
Workshop, Events

August | Drop-in Art Making

  • Contemporary Calgary (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
 

Drop-in Art Making

August 2026
Saturdays | 1-5 PM

Embrace creativity and exploration in our Saturday Drop-in Art Making program. This program is offered most Saturdays from 1-5 PM throughout the year. Materials and light instruction are provided, along with rotating themes and activities.

Our programs encourage children, youth, and families to connect with modern and contemporary art through enjoyable and interactive creative experiences.

For August, join us to make:

  • August 1: Origami

  • August 8: NO SESSION

  • August 15: Custom Fabric Badge Making

  • August 22: Paper Weaving

  • August 29: Painted Rock Friends

In addition to the above activities, there will be both a collage and drawing station available for creative free time during each session. 

These are drop-in sessions running from 1-5 PM. Come anytime — no registration is required.

*If you have questions about this workshop, please reach out to Vanessa Lamb, TD Education Program Coordinator at vanessa@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.

About our Education Facilitators

Vanessa Lamb
(she/her)

TD Education Program Coordinator

Vanessa Lamb graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor’s degree in Art History and a minor in Museum and Heritage Studies. She has a deep passion for art, especially the conversations and change it can spark, leading her to have a people-centred approach in her work, and an unending curiosity to learn more. In her career, Vanessa has experience in arts administration, visitor experience, and both designing and implementing public programs, art workshops and elementary school programs. Her curiosity is visible in her own creative practice where she explores different mediums, subject matters and new techniques. Vanessa’s work often explores themes of memory, grief, and identity. When not working, she can be found embroidering, painting or exploring nature.

Vicky Xingyu Gu
(she/her)

TD Education Facilitator

Vicky Xingyu Gu is a Chinese animator who holds a BFA in Animation from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and an MFA in Digital Arts & Animation from the University of Southern California. During her studies, she explored narrative, documentary, and experimental forms of animation. Her works draw inspiration from cultural conflicts, emotional struggles, and societal issues, while experimenting with both digital and traditional media to create layered, hybrid, and provocative forms of storytelling. Since relocating to Calgary, she has become an active participant in the local arts community. She has been teaching various forms of animation with Quickdraw Animation Society and enjoys guiding participants of all ages through creative practices such as drawing, collage, mixed media, and visual storytelling. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and baking, watching animated movies, and playing horror games.

Supported by

 
 
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A Long Dramatic Pause
Jul
25
2:00 PM14:00
Events

A Long Dramatic Pause

 

Erdem Taşdelen & Cindy Ansah. A Long Dramatic Pause, live performance, 2026. Photo by Victoria Cimolini.

A Long Dramatic Pause

July 25
Grotto | 2-2:30 PM

REGISTER HERE

A Long Dramatic Pause is a live performance that explores strategies of resistance against ultranationalism and far-right politics through the languages of photography and theatre. Performed by Cindy Ansah and co-developed with artist Erdem Taşdelen, the narrative comprises twelve dramatic scenes that describe a photographic image, never showing it directly but rather bringing it to life through re-enactment and visual analysis.

At the heart of the photograph being described is a young woman, a figure of solidarity and defiance with whom the audience can identify. As the performer moves between observing and embodying this antifascist figure, the narrative gradually implicates the audience as if they had been unknowing protagonists in the image all along. With this, their focus shifts away from the performer towards their own agency and collective presence.

A Long Dramatic Pause is a process-based project developed anew with each staging. Every version emerges from a collaboration between the artist and a new performer, guided by a set of graphic scores created specifically for the work.

The first staging of A Long Dramatic Pause took place in London (UK) in September 2025. This second staging at Contemporary Calgary marks the performance’s Canadian premiere.

About the Artists

Photo by: Francis A. Willey

Cindy Ansah (she/her) is a storyteller, a vibrant embodiment of culture. A multidimensional creative, she embodies multiplicity as a dance artist, actress, filmmaker, writer, fashion visionary, and muse, dialoguing in Mohkínstsis (Calgary) and across Turtle Island. Since 2020, Cindy has been devoted to her role as Artistic Director of Not Another Political Playground Y’all (N.A.P.P.Y.), which has produced two acclaimed seasons. She co-founded the all-Black contemporary arts collective with collaborator Tiara Matusin, with the shared aspiration to champion Black artistry and collectivity in all its breadth, depth, and nuance.

Photo by: Sarah Bodri

Erdem Taşdelen (he/him) is an artist based in Tkaronto/Toronto, Canada. Through the use of diverse materials and media, he constructs semi-fictional narratives that incorporate unique historical figures, events and texts to implicate contemporary sociopolitical realities. His projects over the past 15 years have explored themes such as life under authoritarian rule; the theatricality and public spectacles of political discourse; migration, displacement and the haunting presence of the past in contemporary contexts; and the possibilities for self-expression and the limits of authorship within culturally learned forms. Taşdelen has exhibited at venues including The Power Plant, Aga Khan Museum and Mercer Union in Toronto; Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; VOX Centre de l'image contemporaine, Montréal; Framer Framed, Amsterdam; Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg; and Pera Museum, Istanbul. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Delfina Foundation and Studio Voltaire, London; Hangar, Lisbon; Rupert, Vilnius; and KulturKontakt, Vienna. He was awarded the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Visual Arts by the Canada Council in 2016, the Charles Pachter Prize by Hnatyshyn Foundation in 2014, long-listed for the Sobey Art Award in 2019, and selected as a finalist for the Taoyuan International Art Award in 2025.

 
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