HOME: A Space of Sharing and Strength

Recent acquisitions on view at the National Gallery of Canada

OTTAWA, ON, July 30, 2024 /CNW/ - The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) presents HOME: A Space of Sharing and Strength, an exhibition highlighting recent acquisitions made by the NGC that explore the idea of home as a powerful but fragile site. Opening on August 2, the exhibition will run until December 15, 2024.

The six artists featured in the show – Sarah Anne Johnson (Winnipeg-based), Jimmy Manning (Inuk, based in Kinngait [Cape Dorset]), Siwa Mgoboza (Hlubi, based in Cape Town), Curtis Talwst Santiago (Trinidadian heritage, based in Edmonton) Frank Shebageget (Anishinaabe, based in Ottawa) and Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum (born in Botswana, and now based in The Hague) – depict the global reach of art practices based in local and community concerns.

The 16 works on view, spanning photography, sculpture, painting and print, were acquired by the National Gallery of Canada between 2020 and 2024. 

HOME: A Space of Sharing and Strength suggests that home is a place of respect, enriched through shared experiences, values and memories. The artists depict how communities resist destructive legacies of government agendas by embracing cherished memories of home and community, and how home can be a non-human, natural site that is shared between species.

"This show invites visitors to spend time and reflect on the meaning of home in today's context and understand how it might have a different definition for different people. The artists we highlight express home in diverse ways, inspired by their own experiences and roots," said Andrea Kunard, Senior Curator, Photographs Collection at the NGC. "This exhibition is also a unique occasion to discover in a shared space how NGC's newest acquisitions reflect some of the most pressing concerns in contemporary artistic practice."

"This exhibition presents these newly acquired works together in dialogue with decolonial curatorial methods and dynamic critical art practices rooted in concepts of place making and belonging," said Rachelle Dickenson, Associate Curator, Indigenous Ways and Decolonization at the NGC. "From Inuk, Anishinaabe, Canadian and Hlubi artists comes an assemblage of unique perspectives of the meaning of home, and we are pleased to bring well-deserved attention to these artists at the NGC."

HOME: A Space of Sharing and Strength is supported by the Scotiabank Photography Program at the NGC. It is the result of a curatorial collaboration between the NGC's Contemporary Art, Indigenous Ways & Decolonization (IWD) and Photography curatorial departments represented by Andrea Kunard, Senior Curator, Photographs Collection; Wahsontiio Cross, Rachelle Dickenson and Jocelyn Piirainen, Associate Curators, IWD; Ooleepeeka Eegeesiak, Curatorial Assistant, IWD; Stephanie Burdzy, Assistant Curator, Contemporary Art and Jasmine Inglis, Assistant Curator, Contemporary Art and Photographs. 

About the National Gallery of Canada

The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) is dedicated to amplifying voices through art and extending the reach and breadth of its collection, exhibitions program, and public activities to represent all Canadians, while centring Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Ankosé—an Anishinaabemowin word that means "everything is connected"—reflects the Gallery's mission to create dynamic experiences that open hearts and minds, and allow for new ways of seeing ourselves, one another, and our diverse histories, through the visual arts. NGC is home to a rich contemporary Indigenous international art collection, as well as important collections of historical and contemporary Canadian and European art from the 14th to the 21st century. Founded in 1880, NGC has played a key role in Canadian culture for more than 140 years. For more information, visit gallery.ca.

SOURCE National Gallery of Canada

Pénélope Carreau, Officer, Public Relations, National Gallery of Canada, [email protected]; Josée-Britanie Mallet, Senior Officer, Media and Public Relations, National Gallery of Canada, [email protected]