Perspective Film Series:

Solaris (1972), dir. Andrei Tarkovsky

March 23

5:30 PM | Dome Theatre

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

166 minutes, in Russian and German with English subtitles

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

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

About Perspective Film Series

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

About the Curator

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

Supported by

Artist Talk: Miruna Drăgan and Maggie Tiesenhausen

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

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

About the Artists

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

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

Free First Thursday

March 6
5-9 PM

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

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

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

Art for All—FREE with registration.

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

• Remarks
  7:00 PM | Atrium

Drop-in exhibition tours:

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

On view:

• Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen: Hummingbird Guided Meditation

• Lauren Crazybull: Wish you were here

• Rajni Perera & Marigold Santos: Efflorescence/The Way We Wake

• Exposure 2025 Photography Festival

  • International Open Call

  • Emerging Photographers Showcase

  • Stasia Schmidt: Ephemerality

  • Vivek Shraya: Niche

About Our FFT Partners

Exposure Photography Festival

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

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

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

Click here to visit the Exposure Photography Festival website.

Supported by

Exhibition Opening
Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen: Hummingbird Guided Meditation

March 6
5:00-9:00 PM

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

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

• Doors
  5:00 PM

• Remarks
  7:00 PM | Atrium

• Galleries Close
  9:00 PM

FREE to the public. No registration is required.

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

Miruna Drăgan & Maggie Tiesenhausen
Hummingbird Guided Meditation

March 6—June 29, 2025

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

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

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

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

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

About the Artists

Miruna Drăgan
(she/her)

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

Maggie Tiesenhausen
(they/them)

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

Artist talk: Tanya Lukin Linklater

Whether we weather, whether we become weathered

February 27
Heather Edwards Theatre | 6-7:30 PM

In this talk, Tanya Lukin Linklater will address weather and embodiment. She is moved by and with weather in her artistic and writing practices.

This talk is presented by the Department of Art and Art History and International Indigenous Studies at the University of Calgary, in partnership with Contemporary Calgary.

About the Artist

Tanya Lukin Linklater's artistic practice spans video, sculpture, and dance in museums. Sensation, embodied inquiry, scores, rehearsal, and being in relation (to ancestral belongings, communities, and weather) structure her work. Through citation of Indigenous peoples' lived experience and cultural work, she honours practices and lineages that exceed dominant ideas of who we are. Her work reckons with histories that affect Indigenous peoples’ lived experiences, (home)lands, and ideas. She continues to write in relation to what she has come to call felt structures. Her work has been internationally exhibited at venues including the National Gallery of Canada, the Gwangju Biennale, the New Museum Triennial, and the Wexner Center for the Arts. Lukin Linklater teaches as a faculty mentor in the Institute of American Indian Arts’ (Santa Fe) low-residency MFA in Studio Arts and was invited faculty at The Banff Centre’s spring visual arts residency program in 2023. Her book Slow Scrape (2nd edition, Talonbooks, Vancouver 2022), draws on documentary poetics, concrete-based installations, event scores, and can be read alongside her practice of choreography.  Her Sugpiaq homelands are in southwestern Alaska. She is a tribally enrolled member of the Native Villages of Afognak and Port Lions in the Kodiak archipelago.

Exhibition Opening
Lauren Crazybull: Wish you were here

February 20
6:00-9:00 PM

Join us for the opening of Lauren Crazybull: Wish you were here on Thursday, February 20, from 6–9 PM.

As the second artist in our Ksahkomiitapiiks residency, Crazybull invites us to reflect on the commodification of sacred Indigenous sites and what it means to witness and inhabit ancestral lands. Guided by mentor Faye HeavyShield, this exhibition challenges us to rethink our relationships with the land and its histories.

• Doors
  6:00 PM

• Remarks
  6:30 PM | Atrium

• In-Conversation with artist Lauren Crazybull 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 Lauren Crazybull and mentor Faye HeavyShield will be first come, first served.

Lauren Crazybull
Wish you were here

February 20—November 2, 2025

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

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

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

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

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

About the Artist

Lauren Crazybull

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

About Ksahkomiitapiiks (Earth Beings)

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

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

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

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

About the Mentor

Faye HeavyShield

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

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

About the Advisory Committee

Clarence Wolfleg Miiksika’am: Warrior, Leader & Teacher

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

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

Adrian A. Stimson

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

Star Crop Eared Wolf

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

The Black Pride Experience: Black Power Queer Magic

Presented by Black Pride YYC and The Cabaret Company

February 13
Heather Edwards Theatre | 5:45-9 PM

Tickets: $10 | This is an 18+ event.

It’s more than an event, it's a movement. February 13th we’re bringing you The Black Pride Experience – a powerful celebration of Black History Month. Prepare to be inspired, uplifted and connected as we honour the incredible legacy of Black excellence, resilience and culture.

Join us for an unforgettable journey through history, art, music and community. We will begin our evening with a special screening of Lovers Rock (2020) by director Steve McQueen. Afterwards join us for a panel discussion with local community leaders Deva Dave, Tyson Bankert and Cheryl Foggo. 

The experience doesn’t stop there! Stick around after for an incredible evening of performances, food, drink and dance. Hosted by musician and hip-hop artist Tea Fannie, this evening is jam-packed with dance by Afro Hause, poetry by Mel Vee, drag by Dmitri Dmitria, and burlesque performances by Prairi Cherri, Stemzzz and Melody Rysing.

Mark your calendars, because you don’t want to miss The Black Pride Experience.

• Doors: 5:00 PM

• Film: 5:45 PM

• Panel: 7:00 PM

• Performances: 8:00 PM

Sponsored by Annex Ale Project & Simply Caribbean

Panelists

Performers

About Our Partners

The Cabaret Company

The Cabaret Company is Western Canada’s largest cabaret company. Providing world-class entertainment and building vibrant community spaces by embracing diversity in the cabaret arts. Our shows include burlesque, drag, comedy, live music, circus, and more.
From grand ballrooms to your neighbourhood pub, The Cabaret Company offers polished, professional productions with unmatched style and character designed for each unique audience and event.

Snug as a glove and smooth as silk, we offer a world of captivating cabaret, made for you.

Website: www.thecabaretcompany.com

Black Pride YYC 

Black Pride YYC is a Calgary-based organization dedicated to celebrating, uplifting, and empowering the Black 2SLGBTQI+ community. Founded to create safe and inclusive spaces, Black Pride YYC works to amplify Black queer voices and promote a sense of belonging through advocacy, events, and community-building initiatives.

With a mission rooted in equity, intersectionality, and representation, Black Pride YYC curates programs and partnerships that promote visibility, support mental and emotional well-being, and celebrate the richness of Black queer culture.

Wesbite: https://www.blackprideyyc.org/

Comprised of two parts, but housed in one body: Mother tongues, adopted tongues, and the limits of translation

Marigold Santos and Bianca Miranda in conversation with Muriel N. Kahwagi

February 12
Heather Edwards Theatre | 5:30-7 PM

How does our mother tongue inform our sense of self, but also our sense of place? In what ways is our body informed and impacted by the language we speak – and the language we are forced to leave behind?

Please join us for a conversation with artist Marigold Santos and performer Bianca Miranda about the role that writing plays in both of their practices; the poetics of translation; and the limitations of language.

Santos and Miranda were both born in the Philippines, Tagalog being their mother tongue. In her more recent work, Santos has collaborated with Miranda on the translation of some of her poetry from English into Tagalog, reflecting on her own relationship to the language she once was fluent in; and on the fragmentation of the self that occurs when one speaks (or is forced to speak) multiple languages. In this talk, the artists will discuss their collaborative process, reading excerpts from their writings and translations. The conversation will be moderated by associate curator Muriel N. Kahwagi.

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

About the Speakers

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

Born and raised in the Philippines, Bianca Miranda (she/her/they/them) is a queer Filipino theatre artist who is grateful to be living and working in Moh’kins’tsis, Treaty 7. She is the Producer at Downstage, “theatre that creates conversation around current issues.” As a theatre-maker and playwright, their works most often start from a personal place and examine the intersections of her identities, born out of the necessity to tell stories of her communities that are underrepresented on stage. She is the writer of Kisapmata (Chromatic Theatre & Lunchbox Theatre, 2024 Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding New Play) and co-writer and performer of The F Word (Downstage; presented by Alberta Theatre Projects) with Keshia Cheesman. They believe in the transformative power of storytelling.

Contemporary Kids: Translation of the Environment into a Medley

February 9

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

Join us for a fun and interactive kids' workshop with the imaginative musician Ado Nkemka (A.N.)! Explore music and words as Ado leads a journey to express thoughts and feelings through voice. This playful workshop provides an opportunity for kids to discover more about Mia + Eric’s exhibition, In a Strange Place, while exploring relationships, interactions, and the surrounding environment.

No experience needed—just bring your curiosity and have fun!

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

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

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

The same workshop is offered in two sessions on Sunday, February 9th.

Sunday, February 9
1:00-2:30 PM

Sunday, February 9
3:00-4:30 PM

About The Artist

Ado Nkemka/A.N. is a musician and multidisciplinary writer (theatre, poetry, journalism, video) based in Calgary, AB. Her writing credits include the CBC, artsUnite, Best Health, and Mount Royal University. In 2022, A.N. received Calgary Arts Development funding to work on her album “I’m Not Afraid to Die Anymore” (released November 8th 2024) co-produced with James Bunton. From 2022-2024, she was an Artist-in-Residence at Mount Royal University's Trico Changemakers studio, resulting in a collaboration with Alcove Centre for the Arts for her project "Letters to my Younger Self; Exploring Inclusivity in the Arts." She was a part of the 2023-2024 TD Incubator program offered by Arts Commons, performing at Wakefield Brewster Presents Pt 2 in February 2024. In August 2024, she completed MacEwan University’s TD Artist in Residence program where she honed her arts administration and performance abilities. A.N. has also performed at Sled Island Music Festival, SoundOff Summit, and FoundFest (Cochrane, AB) among other events. The singles from her album INATDA have earned radio play on CBC, CKUA, CJSW, CKUA, UMFM among other stations. A.N. has produced 3 music videos for this record, two of which were created as a Black2theFuture resident at Emmedia in late 2024.

About our TD Educational Facilitators

Poppy Ghasemi (she/her)

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

Dandan Gu (she/her)

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

Supported by

Supported by

Film Screening:
This Planted Place (2022)

February 9
Heather Edwards Theatre | 12-5 PM

In conjunction with Mia + Eric: In a Strange Place, currently on view in the Morris & Ann Dancyger Observatory Gallery, we’ll be showing This Planted Place (2022), an earlier work by the artists, over the course of the exhibition.

This Planted Place will be shown on loop in the Heather Edwards Theatre during our opening hours on December 8 and 22, 2024; as well as on January 5 and 26, and February 9, 2025. This screening is free with gallery admission.

This Planted Place examines the ecological complexities and human and more-than-human relationships in the Heidewald, a small woodland in Maxdorf, Germany. The Heidewald is the largest planted robinia forest north of the Alps. This species is controversial because of its ability to aggressively overtake native species, but it is also an important resource for the region as the annual blossoms attract beekeepers and their colonies from all across Germany each spring. In many ways, the Heidewald is the perfect representation of the idyllic German woodland. But this setting of contemplation is continually disrupted by the human world: chainsaws, airplanes, sirens and a human voice amplified by a megaphone. The Heidewald is a wholly unique landscape, but also a place where questions of global significance can be asked. 

This Planted Place was commissioned by Matchbox: The Itinerant Art and Culture Project in the Rhine-Neckar Region as part of a multi-year engagement process called 3 WOODS.

About the Artists

Mia + Eric

We are Mia Rushton and Eric Moschopedis, a neurodivergent, interdisciplinary artist team from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Eric has a background in theatre and performance and Mia has a background in craft, printmaking and the visual arts. Together we create long-term research and community engagement processes that lead to socially engaged exhibitions, performances, temporary public art, participatory works, interventions, and publications. Thematically our practice deals with multi-species ethnography, interspecies relationships, biodiversity and place-based knowledge production in cities, small towns, and rural spaces. Since 2008 we have created and presented our projects, artist talks, lectures, and workshops at both formal and DIY galleries, festivals, residencies, conferences, and post-secondary institutions regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Mia + Eric have presented projects and exhibitions at The Bentway (Toronto), GIFT Festival (Gateshead, UK), Buenos Aires International Festival (AR), Matchbox (Mannheim, DE), Festspillene i Nord-Norge (Harstad, NO), Take Me Somewhere (Glasgow), Confederation Centre of the Arts, (Charlottetown), Parks Canada Discovery Centre (Woody Point, NL), ESKER Project Space (Calgary), Fierce Festival (Birmingham, UK), Grand Union (Birmingham, UK), Battersea Arts Centre (London, UK), Luminato Festival (Toronto), Flux Night (Atlanta), Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton), and Stromereien Performance Festival (Zürich). 

Artist talk: Vivek Shraya

February 7
Heather Edwards Theatre | 5-6 PM

Join us for an artist talk with Vivek Shraya, exploring the main themes explored in her practice. This program is organized in conjunction with Shraya’s exhibition Niche, presented at Contemporary Calgary as part of the Exposure Photography Festival.

About the Artist

Vivek Shraya (she/her) is an artist whose body of work crosses the boundaries of music, literature, visual art, theatre, TV, film, and fashion. A three-time Canadian Screen Award winner, Vivek is the creator and writer of the new CBC Gem Original Series How to Fail as a Popstar, which had its international premiere at Cannes. She was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize and has collaborated with musical icons Jann Arden, Peaches, and Jully Black. Her best-selling book I’m Afraid of Men was heralded by Vanity Fair as “cultural rocket fuel.” Vivek has been a brand ambassador for MAC Cosmetics and Pantene, a guest host on The Social and CBC’s q, and she is a director on the board of the Tegan and Sara Foundation.

FREE First Thursdays x Exposure Festival Exhibition Opening

February 6
5-9 PM

Join us on February 6th at Contemporary Calgary for FREE First Thursdays, offering complimentary admission from 5-9 PM! Dive into the dynamic world of contemporary art as we extend our hours, inviting you to explore our galleries, stop by the opening of the 2025 Exposure Photography Festival, enjoy curated beats by DJ Hannah, and sip on a thoughtful selection of wine, craft beer, and refreshing non-alcoholic beverages. This is an all-ages event.

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

FREE with registration.

Drop-in exhibition tours:

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

• Flanagan Family Gallery Tour (Paola Pivi) at 8 PM

Exhibitions on view:

• Paola Pivi: Come check it out

• Rajni Perera & Marigold Santos: Efflorescence/The Way We Wake

• Mia + Eric: In a Strange Place

• Exposure 2025 Photography Festival

  • International Open Call

  • Emerging Photographers Showcase

  • Stasia Schmidt: Ephemerality

  • Vivek Shraya: Niche

About Our FFT Partners

Exposure Photography Festival

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

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

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

Click here to visit the Exposure Photography Festival website.

DJ Hannah

World disco, searing techno and explosive voguing tracks are some of the flavours you can expect from DJ Hannah, one of Calgary’s most versatile selectors. DJ Hannah's zeal for eclecticism was the product of a Montreal upbringing and an unending curiosity with the hidden gems of music history. Her earliest sets at house parties around Calgary were coloured with the authenticity of an old soul, drawing the attention of the community at large. Since her club debut in 2017, DJ Hannah has become one of Calgary's most in demand DJs, playing shows around the country ranging from underground raves to larger festivals, such as Shambhala and Bass Coast Festival. She currently holds down a Saturday night residency at Calgary nightclub Sweet Loretta Bar, and hosts a radio show on Tuesday evenings on Calgary's university radio station, CJSW 90.9 FM. DJ Hannah’s ability to captivate audiences across diverse mediums has upended the tech bro monotony and made her synonymous with memorable nights.

Supported by

Film Screening:
This Planted Place (2022)

January 26
Heather Edwards Theatre | 12-5 PM

In conjunction with Mia + Eric: In a Strange Place, currently on view in the Morris & Ann Dancyger Observatory Gallery, we’ll be showing This Planted Place (2022), an earlier work by the artists, over the course of the exhibition.

This Planted Place will be shown on loop in the Heather Edwards Theatre during our opening hours on December 8 and 22, 2024; as well as on January 5 and 26, and February 9, 2025. This screening is free with gallery admission.

This Planted Place examines the ecological complexities and human and more-than-human relationships in the Heidewald, a small woodland in Maxdorf, Germany. The Heidewald is the largest planted robinia forest north of the Alps. This species is controversial because of its ability to aggressively overtake native species, but it is also an important resource for the region as the annual blossoms attract beekeepers and their colonies from all across Germany each spring. In many ways, the Heidewald is the perfect representation of the idyllic German woodland. But this setting of contemplation is continually disrupted by the human world: chainsaws, airplanes, sirens and a human voice amplified by a megaphone. The Heidewald is a wholly unique landscape, but also a place where questions of global significance can be asked. 
This Planted Place was commissioned by Matchbox: The Itinerant Art and Culture Project in the Rhine-Neckar Region as part of a multi-year engagement process called 3 WOODS.

About the Artists

Mia + Eric

We are Mia Rushton and Eric Moschopedis, a neurodivergent, interdisciplinary artist team from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Eric has a background in theatre and performance and Mia has a background in craft, printmaking and the visual arts. Together we create long-term research and community engagement processes that lead to socially engaged exhibitions, performances, temporary public art, participatory works, interventions, and publications. Thematically our practice deals with multi-species ethnography, interspecies relationships, biodiversity and place-based knowledge production in cities, small towns, and rural spaces. Since 2008 we have created and presented our projects, artist talks, lectures, and workshops at both formal and DIY galleries, festivals, residencies, conferences, and post-secondary institutions regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Mia + Eric have presented projects and exhibitions at The Bentway (Toronto), GIFT Festival (Gateshead, UK), Buenos Aires International Festival (AR), Matchbox (Mannheim, DE), Festspillene i Nord-Norge (Harstad, NO), Take Me Somewhere (Glasgow), Confederation Centre of the Arts, (Charlottetown), Parks Canada Discovery Centre (Woody Point, NL), ESKER Project Space (Calgary), Fierce Festival (Birmingham, UK), Grand Union (Birmingham, UK), Battersea Arts Centre (London, UK), Luminato Festival (Toronto), Flux Night (Atlanta), Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton), and Stromereien Performance Festival (Zürich). 

The Future Forest: Between Crisis and Speculation

With Audrey Lane Cockett, Josh Killeen, Eric Moschopedis, and Nicolas Nolet

January 11
Heather Edwards Theatre | 2-3:30 PM

What possible futures can we imagine for our planet's forests? How can the labor of forest-care be translated into political action?

Join us for a panel discussion exploring the speculative futures of the lands we inhabit, from rewilding initiatives to sustainable management practices. Panelists will discuss policies that support long-term ecological health and the critical role of forests in combating the climate catastrophe.

The panel will also include short film screenings by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and Nicolas Nolet.

FREE with registration.

This panel is organized in conjunction with Mia + Eric: In a Strange Place, on view in the Morris & Ann Dancyger Observatory Gallery until February 9, 2025.

About the Panellists

Audrey Lane Cockett (they/them) is a poet, filmmaker, ecologist, and educator settled in Moh’kinstsis/Calgary AB. Audrey Lane brings care, curiosity, professionalism, presence, and a diverse skillset into all projects they are involved in. Their projects ignite conversations, offer visibility for queer, disabled, and neurodiverse folks, and empower climate art advocacy and imaginative place-making. Their award-winning poetry and films have been showcased on stages, screens, and publications, both locally and internationally. They have completed residencies at the Banff Spoken Word Program, the Banff Adventure Filmmaking Workshop, and the Canadian Wilderness Artist Residency in the Yukon. They are invested in the healing and transformative power of film, story, poetry, music, science, love, and collaboration between communities and across disciplines.

Josh Killeen (he/him) is a professional biologist with a background in environmental consultancy, academia, and wildlife biology. He holds degrees in biology and evolutionary biology from University College London (UK), The University of Groningen (Netherlands), and Université Montpellier 2 (France). He moved from the UK to Alberta in 2014 and soon fell in love with the province, its people, and its wild spaces. Josh believes that effective conservation, protection, and access to our natural spaces must be a priority for our society. Outside of work, Josh loves to cook, garden and spend time hiking, scrambling, and climbing in the mountains.

Eric Moschopedis (he/him) is one half of Mia + Eric, a neurodivergent, interdisciplinary artist team from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Eric has a background in theatre and performance and Mia has a background in craft, printmaking and the visual arts. Together we create long-term research and community engagement processes that lead to socially engaged exhibitions, performances, temporary public art, participatory works, interventions, and publications. Thematically our practice deals with multi-species ethnography, interspecies relationships, biodiversity and place-based knowledge production in cities, small towns, and rural spaces. Since 2008 we have created and presented our projects, artist talks, lectures, and workshops at both formal and DIY galleries, festivals, residencies, conferences, and post-secondary institutions regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Nicolas Nolet (he/him) is a filmmaker from Calgary, Alberta, whose work explores the intersection of environmental and social issues through a visual and narrative lens. Born and raised in the province of Quebec, Nicolas moved in 2014 to explore the Rocky mountains of Alberta. The past ten years in Alberta's landscapes inspired his artistic journey, driving him to pursue film as a medium to express the urgent need to protect the natural world.His most recent work, ASSEMBLY: Growing together to protect an ecosystem, delves into the issue of clear-cut logging in one of Alberta's most ecologically significant regions. The film captures the tension between economic development and environmental conservation, featuring interviews with Indigenous activists, environmental scientists, and mountain lovers.

Film Screening:
This Planted Place (2022)

January 5
Heather Edwards Theatre | 12-5 PM

In conjunction with Mia + Eric: In a Strange Place, currently on view in the Morris & Ann Dancyger Observatory Gallery, we’ll be showing This Planted Place (2022), an earlier work by the artists, over the course of the exhibition.

This Planted Place will be shown on loop in the Heather Edwards Theatre during our opening hours on December 8 and 22, 2024; as well as on January 5 and 26, and February 9, 2025. This screening is free with gallery admission.

This Planted Place examines the ecological complexities and human and more-than-human relationships in the Heidewald, a small woodland in Maxdorf, Germany. The Heidewald is the largest planted robinia forest north of the Alps. This species is controversial because of its ability to aggressively overtake native species, but it is also an important resource for the region as the annual blossoms attract beekeepers and their colonies from all across Germany each spring. In many ways, the Heidewald is the perfect representation of the idyllic German woodland. But this setting of contemplation is continually disrupted by the human world: chainsaws, airplanes, sirens and a human voice amplified by a megaphone. The Heidewald is a wholly unique landscape, but also a place where questions of global significance can be asked. 
This Planted Place was commissioned by Matchbox: The Itinerant Art and Culture Project in the Rhine-Neckar Region as part of a multi-year engagement process called 3 WOODS.

About the Artists

Mia + Eric

We are Mia Rushton and Eric Moschopedis, a neurodivergent, interdisciplinary artist team from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Eric has a background in theatre and performance and Mia has a background in craft, printmaking and the visual arts. Together we create long-term research and community engagement processes that lead to socially engaged exhibitions, performances, temporary public art, participatory works, interventions, and publications. Thematically our practice deals with multi-species ethnography, interspecies relationships, biodiversity and place-based knowledge production in cities, small towns, and rural spaces. Since 2008 we have created and presented our projects, artist talks, lectures, and workshops at both formal and DIY galleries, festivals, residencies, conferences, and post-secondary institutions regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Mia + Eric have presented projects and exhibitions at The Bentway (Toronto), GIFT Festival (Gateshead, UK), Buenos Aires International Festival (AR), Matchbox (Mannheim, DE), Festspillene i Nord-Norge (Harstad, NO), Take Me Somewhere (Glasgow), Confederation Centre of the Arts, (Charlottetown), Parks Canada Discovery Centre (Woody Point, NL), ESKER Project Space (Calgary), Fierce Festival (Birmingham, UK), Grand Union (Birmingham, UK), Battersea Arts Centre (London, UK), Luminato Festival (Toronto), Flux Night (Atlanta), Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton), and Stromereien Performance Festival (Zürich). 

Film Screening:
This Planted Place (2022)

December 22
Heather Edwards Theatre | 12-5 PM

In conjunction with Mia + Eric: In a Strange Place, currently on view in the Morris & Ann Dancyger Observatory Gallery, we’ll be showing This Planted Place (2022), an earlier work by the artists, over the course of the exhibition.

This Planted Place will be shown on loop in the Heather Edwards Theatre during our opening hours on December 8 and 22, 2024; as well as on January 5 and 26, and February 9, 2025. This screening is free with gallery admission.

This Planted Place examines the ecological complexities and human and more-than-human relationships in the Heidewald, a small woodland in Maxdorf, Germany. The Heidewald is the largest planted robinia forest north of the Alps. This species is controversial because of its ability to aggressively overtake native species, but it is also an important resource for the region as the annual blossoms attract beekeepers and their colonies from all across Germany each spring. In many ways, the Heidewald is the perfect representation of the idyllic German woodland. But this setting of contemplation is continually disrupted by the human world: chainsaws, airplanes, sirens and a human voice amplified by a megaphone. The Heidewald is a wholly unique landscape, but also a place where questions of global significance can be asked. 
This Planted Place was commissioned by Matchbox: The Itinerant Art and Culture Project in the Rhine-Neckar Region as part of a multi-year engagement process called 3 WOODS.

About the Artists

Mia + Eric

We are Mia Rushton and Eric Moschopedis, a neurodivergent, interdisciplinary artist team from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Eric has a background in theatre and performance and Mia has a background in craft, printmaking and the visual arts. Together we create long-term research and community engagement processes that lead to socially engaged exhibitions, performances, temporary public art, participatory works, interventions, and publications. Thematically our practice deals with multi-species ethnography, interspecies relationships, biodiversity and place-based knowledge production in cities, small towns, and rural spaces. Since 2008 we have created and presented our projects, artist talks, lectures, and workshops at both formal and DIY galleries, festivals, residencies, conferences, and post-secondary institutions regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Mia + Eric have presented projects and exhibitions at The Bentway (Toronto), GIFT Festival (Gateshead, UK), Buenos Aires International Festival (AR), Matchbox (Mannheim, DE), Festspillene i Nord-Norge (Harstad, NO), Take Me Somewhere (Glasgow), Confederation Centre of the Arts, (Charlottetown), Parks Canada Discovery Centre (Woody Point, NL), ESKER Project Space (Calgary), Fierce Festival (Birmingham, UK), Grand Union (Birmingham, UK), Battersea Arts Centre (London, UK), Luminato Festival (Toronto), Flux Night (Atlanta), Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton), and Stromereien Performance Festival (Zürich). 

Film Screening:
This Planted Place (2022)

December 8
Auditorium | 12-5 PM

In conjunction with Mia + Eric: In a Strange Place, currently on view in the Morris & Ann Dancyger Observatory Gallery, we’ll be showing This Planted Place (2022), an earlier work by the artists, over the course of the exhibition.

This Planted Place will be shown on loop in the Auditorium during our opening hours on December 8 and 22, 2024; as well as on January 5 and 26, and February 9, 2025. This screening is free with gallery admission.

This Planted Place examines the ecological complexities and human and more-than-human relationships in the Heidewald, a small woodland in Maxdorf, Germany. The Heidewald is the largest planted robinia forest north of the Alps. This species is controversial because of its ability to aggressively overtake native species, but it is also an important resource for the region as the annual blossoms attract beekeepers and their colonies from all across Germany each spring. In many ways, the Heidewald is the perfect representation of the idyllic German woodland. But this setting of contemplation is continually disrupted by the human world: chainsaws, airplanes, sirens and a human voice amplified by a megaphone. The Heidewald is a wholly unique landscape, but also a place where questions of global significance can be asked. 

This Planted Place was commissioned by Matchbox: The Itinerant Art and Culture Project in the Rhine-Neckar Region as part of a multi-year engagement process called 3 WOODS.

About the Artists

Mia + Eric

We are Mia Rushton and Eric Moschopedis, a neurodivergent, interdisciplinary artist team from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Eric has a background in theatre and performance and Mia has a background in craft, printmaking and the visual arts. Together we create long-term research and community engagement processes that lead to socially engaged exhibitions, performances, temporary public art, participatory works, interventions, and publications. Thematically our practice deals with multi-species ethnography, interspecies relationships, biodiversity and place-based knowledge production in cities, small towns, and rural spaces. Since 2008 we have created and presented our projects, artist talks, lectures, and workshops at both formal and DIY galleries, festivals, residencies, conferences, and post-secondary institutions regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Mia + Eric have presented projects and exhibitions at The Bentway (Toronto), GIFT Festival (Gateshead, UK), Buenos Aires International Festival (AR), Matchbox (Mannheim, DE), Festspillene i Nord-Norge (Harstad, NO), Take Me Somewhere (Glasgow), Confederation Centre of the Arts, (Charlottetown), Parks Canada Discovery Centre (Woody Point, NL), ESKER Project Space (Calgary), Fierce Festival (Birmingham, UK), Grand Union (Birmingham, UK), Battersea Arts Centre (London, UK), Luminato Festival (Toronto), Flux Night (Atlanta), Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton), and Stromereien Performance Festival (Zürich). 

FREE First Thursdays

December 5
5-9 PM

Join us on December 5th at Contemporary Calgary for FREE First Thursdays, offering complimentary admission from 5-9 PM! Dive into the dynamic world of contemporary art as we extend our hours, inviting you to explore our galleries, enjoy live music from The PACC featuring Jonny Chavez (5:45-8 PM) and sip on a thoughtful selection of wine, craft beer, and refreshing non-alcoholic beverages. This is an all-ages event.

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

FREE with registration.

*FREE First Thursdays will take a break in January returning on February 6, 2025, for the first event of the new year. We hope to see you there!

Exhibitions on view:

• Paola Pivi: Come check it out

• Rajni Perera & Marigold Santos: Efflorescence/The Way We Wake

• Mia + Eric: In a Strange Place

The PACC, featuring Jonny Chavez  

December 5
5:45-8:00 PM 

Jonny Chavez - Guitar, Vocals, Keys, Drums, Trumpet 
Jonny Chavez is a Calgary-born multi-instrumentalist rooted in jazz and gospel music. Inspired by the rhythms of Central America, Jonny Chavez combines different styles from 90’s hip hop to house music with traditional jazz influence.

Peter Strietman - Guitar  
Born in the Netherlands he started pkaying guitar at the age of 12 playing rock, pop and later jazz . After moving to Vancouver he joined funk band Moustache Verticale. Since 2005 he has lived in Calgary and does freelance funk and jazz work as well as with various original bands . His two albums Flow and Freeform are on streaming platforms.

Doug Paddock - Drums, Upright Bass 
Originally from southern Ontario, Doug arrived in Calgary in the early 80’s and never looked back. Doug’s passion from a young age was developing his craft as a jazz drummer, (and recently upright bass) studying with some of the world’s best and backing bands covering genres including jazz, funk, fusion, pop, country, folk, latin and hip hop. 

Supported by

Calgary on Purpose

November 27

7 PM
Dome Theatre

Celebrate the final Calgary on Purpose event of 2024 with an evening of meaningful conversation and community connection! On November 27, gather with us in the Contemporary Calgary Dome Theatre for the last "Evening of Conversation and Connection" of the year—a night dedicated to thought-provoking dialogue, shared ideas, and new connections.

The event begins promptly at 7 PM with three talented Calgarians showcasing their work, followed by insightful interviews led by the incomparable Dave Kelly. We’ll conclude the formal program by 8:30 PM, though the bar will remain open for those who wish to continue the conversation.

Enjoy an enchanting lineup, featuring the incredible skills of three-time world hoop dancing champion and musician Dallas Arcand, the evocative poetry of Calgary’s own poet laureate and “feminist folk poet” Shone Thistle, and the soulful blend of blues, country, and rock and roll from Erin Ross, crafted in southern Alberta. Dave Kelly will share a new story reflecting on our shared sense of place, and then invite us to join in an open forum, discussing our collective hopes, concerns, and dreams.

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

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

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

About the Speakers

Supported by

Perspective Film Series:

Pendatang (2023), dir. Ng Ken Kin

November 24

5:30 PM
Dome Theatre

2023 | Malaysia | 98 mins

Produced by Kuman Pictures in collaboration with Tapir Films, Pendatang (2023) tells the story of a Cantonese-speaking Chinese family forced to move to a rural kampong (village) following the implementation of the fictional Segregation Act in Malaysia, which enforces strict racial segregation among the country’s ethnic groups. As they confront the challenges of adapting to unfamiliar surroundings, each character grapples with their past and the harsh realities of their present. 

Pendatang was entirely crowdfunded. Director Ng Ken Kin expressed concerns that the Film Censorship Board might not have approved the movie for local release.

This film is in Cantonese, Malay, and Tamil with English subtitles.

The screening will be followed by a moderated conversation and Q&A with Dr. Yoke-Sum Wong, Associate Professor of Liberal Studies at the Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts).

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

About the Speaker

Dr. Yoke-Sum Wong is an Associate Professor in the School of Critical and Creative Studies at AUArts. Her background is in history and sociology, with a focus on cultural histories and historiography. Having written on postcolonial built environments in Singapore and Malaysia, and architecture and design (including the eurocentrism of the mid-century modern and Isamu Noguchi), she is now working on a new project on the contemporary Asian cultural reckoning with a post-World War II conflict called The Malayan Emergency and the Cold War in the Global South.

About the Curator:

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

Supported by

Exhibition Opening
Rajni Perera & Marigold Santos: Efflorescence/The Way We Wake

November 21
6:00-9:00 PM

Join us at Contemporary Calgary as we celebrate the opening of Rajni Perera & Marigold Santos: Efflorescence/The Way We Wake on Thursday, November 21, from 6-9 PM. This highly anticipated exhibition brings together the powerful, otherworldly works of two visionary artists, exploring their diasporic experiences, and research into their respective cultural heritages, art-making, and motherhood, while delving into the transformative potential of identity.

• Doors
  6:00 PM

• Remarks
  6:30 PM | Atrium

• In-Conversation with Rajni Perera, Marigold Santos & Cheryl Sim
  7:00 PM | Dome

• Galleries Close
  9:00 PM

FREE to the public. No registration is required.

Seating for In-Conversation with Rajni Perera, Marigold Santos & Cheryl Sim will be first come, first served.

Rajni Perera & Marigold Santos
Efflorescence/The Way We Wake

November 21, 2024—April 6, 2025

Contemporary Calgary is pleased to present Rajni Perera and Marigold Santos: Efflorescence/The Way We Wake. 

In 2020, the PHI Foundation presented a major group show called RELATIONS: Diaspora and Painting, which included the work of Rajni Perera and Marigold Santos. When Perera visited the exhibition and encountered Santos’s paintings for the first time, she felt an instant, deeply resonant connection. This moment of mutual recognition sparked the beginning of a relationship that would manifest itself in Perera’s invitation to Santos to collaborate on a duo presentation at The Armory Show in New York, in September of 2023. As one of the very best offerings at this thirty-year-old art fair, it was the spark that ignited the organization of this exhibition.

Born in 1985 in Sri Lanka, Rajni Perera was raised between Colombo, Sydney and then Scarborough and North York, Ontario. Her work explores hybridity, futurity, ancestorship, migrant and marginalized identities/cultures, monsters, and dream worlds. These areas of inquiry are embraced through a multi-disciplinary practice that includes painting, drawing, and sculpture, and incorporates materials such as clay, wood, textile, and most recently, synthetic taxidermy. Subverting oppressive discourses related to the idea of the “Other,” the beings and objects she creates are invested with power, dignity, and heroism.

Marigold Santos was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada in 1988. Her early childhood experience of immigration provides a starting point for her work that investigates the interrelated notions of “home” and the multiplicity of an identity in constant evolution, to ultimately explore the potentialities of transformation. Through an interdisciplinary practice that includes drawn, painted, and printed works, sculpture, tattooing, and sound, Santos creates a personal mythology. In her otherworldly environments that transcend time and place, hybrid creatures are capable of thriving in the precarious realm of the “in between.”

This duo exhibition showcases recent paintings and sculptures produced by each artist from 2021 to 2024 and begins with the collaborative piece after which the show is named. Efflorescence/The Way We Wake speaks to the artists’ diasporic experiences, research into their respective cultural heritages, art making, and motherhood. This large-scale sculpture consists of a masked humanoid, with a larger-than-life body whose legs are detached and splayed out in an impossible position, while the arms prop up the torso with the help of elongated breasts. On and around the body are small, flourishing outgrowths of fabricated plants and flowers. The mask, hands, and breast points are richly ornamented, and the eyes gaze out with purpose and fierce calm. Fashioned from a large variety of materials, including polymer clay and styrofoam, as well as metallic powder, synthetic hair, pearls, and floral foam, this work was produced over the course of a mere six, albeit marathon work sessions in Montréal during the summer of 2023. This major work welcomes us in, to contemplate and marvel at their distinct and shared cosmologies.

Presenting over thirty works, this exhibition is organized for us to appreciate each artist’s individual practices and to revel in their formal and conceptual affinities. What emanates throughout are vibrations of female power, that reverberate with instincts towards constant care, protection and the honouring of each of their personal stories and heritages. Through many entry points, Efflorescence/ The Way We Wake invites us into a pantheon of kindred spirits.

Curated by Cheryl Sim.

Produced and circulated by PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art

About the Artists

About the Curator

Cheryl Sim, Managing Director and Curator, PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art

Cheryl Sim is the Managing Director and Curator at the PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art in Montreal. She began her career in 1992 at Studio D, the feminist studio of the National Film Board of Canada, which led her to discover video art and artist-run culture. Prior to joining the PHI Foundation in 2007, she was the Director of Activities and Communications at OBORO, one of Canada’s foremost artist-run centres, overseeing exhibitions, public events, residencies and publications. At the PHI Foundation, she has organized over twenty major exhibitions, most notably, STAN DOUGLAS: Revealing Narratives, YOKO ONO: GROWING FREEDOM and the group show RELATIONS: Diaspora & Painting which met with critical praise and touring engagements. Cheryl received a PhD in the études et pratiques des arts program at UQÀM (Université de Québec à Montréal) and her dissertation became the book Wearing the Cheongsam: Dress and Culture in a Chinese Diaspora published by Bloomsbury Academic UK in 2019. She has guest lectured at universities across Canada and has animated numerous panels and artist conversations in arts institutions, festivals and fairs including Papier Art Fair, MUTEK, Ars Electronica and Art Toronto. She has served on several peer review juries for the Canada Council for the Arts as well as the jury for the Sobey Art Award (2022) and the Claudine and Stephen Fellowship in Contemporary Art (2018). She is currently President of the Board of CAMDO (Canadian Art Museum Directors Organization) where she is also a member of the Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Committee. She also serves on the Boards of MOMENTA Biennale de l’image and the Association of Art Museum Curators.