Galleries from around the Ottawa-Gatineau area are jumping in at the opportunity to participate in the National Arts Centre’s (NAC) Northern Scene festival.
The Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) will be hosting two simultaneous exhibitions as part of the city-wide festival, free from April 2-June 2.
Dorset Seen, in the lower floor of CUAG, will present drawings and sculptures on life in Cape Dorset seen through the eyes of more than 20 artists.
Upstairs, Dawson Gold will focus on the Klondike Gold Rush and the Yukon’s Dawson City. Audiences can expect a multimedia narration of Dawson’s history and society.
CUAG curator Heather Anderson said she is confident that the exhibitions will debunk myths about Northern culture.
“We were invited like many other public galleries in the Ottawa-Gatineau area to partner up by presenting visual arts programming,” Anderson said.
As the curator for the Dawson Gold exhibition, Anderson was able to speak with artists who had experienced Dawson City.
“Artists go there with this expectation that they’re going to have some epiphany or some great experience that will create gold in the artwork,” she said.
“It’s exposure to a different culture — looking at images through art is another way to gain knowledge and perspective on another culture.”
Without a dedicated gallery space, the Ottawa-Gatineau area is dependent on galleries able to host these visual exhibitions.
Education and community outreach manager Fiona Wright is excited for what is to come for CUAG.
“I think Inuit art is something that [CUAG] really excels at — we have a lot in our collection and showcase often,” Wright said.
“Northern Scene is a really great opportunity to do that again,” she said.
“Ottawa has the largest Inuit population of any southern city.”
The gallery is set to display drawings directly from Cape Dorset, artworks that have been unseen in any other gallery.
SWARM is one of the highlighted events nearing the end of the festival on April 26, according to Northern Scene’s associate programmer Laura Taler.
“We partner up with galleries around Ottawa so that Northern Scene can have a full compass of art and culture — that can include music, theatre, and the visual arts,” Taler said.
SWARM takes the form of a complimentary three-part, shuttled gallery-crawl.
The objective is to attend as many galleries as possible in a short window of four hours, including CUAG.
“The CUAG is one of the best galleries in the city to show contemporary works,” Taler said.
Following the gallery-crawl, audiences can take a shuttle to the NAC for a fashion show and other performances.
An after-party at Club SAW will wrap up the evening of art.
“As a student, I would be so happy to have Northern Scene in my backyard, and go and enjoy all this programming,” Taler said.
“Expect the unexpected.”
The Northern Scene festival officially kicks off April 25 and runs until May 4 at the NAC.
