Three new exhibitions and a new shop will be on display at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG) this weekend.
Gabi Dao will present a tour and discussion of their What breaks on the horizon? exhibition on Oct. 14, from 2-3 p.m. as part of the gallery’s Articulations lecture series. The exhibition focuses on the figure of the bat, using videos, sculptures and a series of ceramic and textile marionettes.
“Dao considers the bat at a unique set of intersections between ecology and economy, pestilence and good fortune, sight and sound, and alienation and belonging,” reads a news release from SAAG. “Dao’s bat marionettes are posed throughout the gallery and feature prominently in their videos, drawing upon a long history of puppetry as an educational, satirical, and transgressive dramatic medium.”
Elisa Harkins will present Teach Me a Song, an ongoing project where the artist asks Indigenous friends to teach her one song.
“Each song is performed for video and the resulting audio is transcribed into sheet music, preserving the songs for possible future performances. Since 2021, Harkins has recorded nine songs with singers and musicians from Osage, Cree, Seminole, Cherokee, Kiowa, and Blackfoot traditions,” the gallery says. “Part performance and part song preservation, Teach Me a Song is based on an exchange between artist and performers, of sharing and vulnerability in the common pursuit of playing and listening to contemporary Indigenous music.”
Megan Feniak will present In honoured dust, a collection of sculptures of caterpillars, Glacier Lilies and trapdoor spiders that are meant to “disgust and attract.”
“Through the approach of a craftsperson, Feniak depicts these caterpillars, lilies, and trapdoor spiders in laboriously hand-rendered materials of carved wood, cast aluminum, and bronze,” the release says. “The negative subconscious stimulation from insects and other ground-dwellers is thought to come from their association with filth, decomposition, and mortality. Considering Feniak’s sculptures, this psychic impulse is a bridge to remembering our connection with the ground and the transformations possible within it.”
Indig Busy-ness is the featured artist at the SAAG shop. Cheyenne McGinnis’ work features prints created at Casa around the theme of Blackfoot cultural retention and Indigenous futurisms as well as apparel and jewelry created with other Indigenous Artists.