THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA TEASES ITS 2025 EXHIBITIONS

Women artists at the forefront in 2025

OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 19, 2024 /CNW/ - The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) looks ahead to its 2025 lineup of exhibitions. Of note, next year, all major solo exhibitions presented at the NGC will highlight the work of women artists such as Nadia Myre, Skawennati and Erica Rutherford. Announcements on additional exhibitions will be made once details have been confirmed.

Nadia Myre: Waves of Want
May 30 – September 1, 2025
Nadia Myre, an Algonquin member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinaabeg First Nation, is a contemporary visual artist who lives and works in Montreal. Myre is a recipient of numerous awards, notably the Compagne des arts et des lettres du Québec (2019), Banff Centre for Arts Walter Phillips Gallery Indigenous Commission Award (2016) and Sobey Art Award (2014). For over two decades, her multi-disciplinary practice has been inspired by community-engaged participation and relations, exploring such themes as resilience, language, memory and longing. This exhibition considers how the artist maps exchange, distortion, oppression and adaptation between Indigenous and settler peoples over time and place.

Skawennati: Welcome to the Dreamhouse
May 30 – September 1, 2025
This solo exhibition tells the story of Skawennati's dynamic artistic trajectory as she envisioned Indigenous people in the future. Beginning with Imagining Indians in the 25^th Century (2001), a catalytic web-based work, this survey continues through her exploration of technology until her most recent works, such as the 3-channel music video and fashion collection, They Sustain Us (2024). Rooted in Haudenosaunee storytelling, her avatars, costumes, machinimas (movies made in a virtual environment such as a game) and prints playfully imagine and create a place where Indigenous people thrive.

Erica Rutherford. Her Lives and Work
June 13 – October 13, 2025
Organized by the Confederation Centre for the Arts (CCAG) in collaboration with the NGC
This exhibition traces the fascinating and multifaceted career of Erica Rutherford (b. Edinburgh, 1923 – d. Charlottetown, 2008), whose work explores themes of persona and gender, home and landscape, and whose life was shaped by the search for identity and community. The show, curated by the CCAG's Pan Wendt, includes over 100 works, accompanied by memorabilia and photographs that support the stories told by the work itself. Erica Rutherford was the first Prince Edward Island artist to have works featured at the prestigious La Biennale di Venezia (2024).

2025 Sobey Art Award
October 2025
Following the announcement of Nico Williams ᐅᑌᒥᐣ as the winner of the 2024 Sobey Art Award in November, Canada's richest prize for contemporary visual arts returns next year with an exhibition featuring the works of the six regional finalists. Call for nominations will be announced in January 2025. The 2024 exhibition is on view until April 6, 2025.

Winter Count [working title]
November 21, 2025 – March 8, 2026
This exhibition explores the season in Canada from the perspective of Indigenous Peoples and Canadian settlers, including paintings by Northern and Central European artists who inspired their Canadian counterparts. Winter Count delves into material culture, customs and rites, and highlights artists' fascination with its related motifs, through objects, paintings, sculptures and works on paper. Spanning from the early 19th to the mid-20th century, the exhibition also features prominent Indigenous contemporary voices who address their respective communities' relationship with winter since time immemorial.

CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA

The end of the year is the ideal time to rest and reenergize, which is a great occasion to visit the Gallery. In addition to our current exhibitions, from December 21 to January 5, the NGC will offer daily activities for all ages, including:

• Open Studio – Create with oil pastels and glow-in-the-dark paint, and then watch your artwork transform under black light.
• Inspiration Space – Looking for a comfortable space to relax and express your creativity? The Inspiration Space features fun activities for you to take part in all season long.
• Cozy mornings and afternoons – Slow down and settle into some cozy furniture with puzzles and books in the Scotiabank Great Hall.
• Winter installation – Experience your voice transformed into music and light through an interactive installation in the Scotiabank Great Hall.
• Glow Party – For one night only, a Free Thursday Night, presented by BMO, will again be transformed into a black-light experience, where visitors of all ages can glow, craft and immerse themselves in a world of vibrant colour (January 2, 2025).
• Explore new exhibitions Gathered Leaves: Discoveries from the Drawings Vault and Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction and express your creativity with sketching and weaving activities in-gallery.

For more information, visit gallery.ca.

LAST-MINUTE GIFTS

Are you still looking for a Holiday gift? Give the gift of inspiration, creativity and art with a membership to the National Gallery of Canada. Starting at only $35, memberships include unlimited admission to the collection and special exhibitions, as well as various discounts on food and drink.

The NGC's Boutique and new online store also offer a wide array of gifts for all ages including books and exhibition catalogues, art supplies and small items perfect to fill Holiday stockings. Shop now at boutique.gallery.ca and enjoy free shipping on orders over $100 within Canada (before tax).

About the National Gallery of Canada 

Founded in 1880, the National Gallery of Canada is among the world's most respected art institutions. As a national museum, we exist to serve all Canadians, no matter where they live. We do this by sharing our collection, exhibitions and public programming widely. We create dynamic experiences that allow for new ways of seeing ourselves and each other through the visual arts, while centering Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Our mandate is to develop, preserve and present a collection for the learning and enjoyment of all – now and for generations to come. We are home to more than 90,000 works, including one of the finest collections of Indigenous and Canadian art, major works from the 14^th to the 21^st century and extensive library and archival holdings.  

Ankosé  –  Everything is connected – Tout est relié  

SOURCE National Gallery of Canada

For media inquiries, please contact: Pénélope Carreau, Public Relations Officer, National Gallery of Canada, [email protected]