Detail of High Living. Highway Reflection – The Eraser, 2020 by featured artist Kriss Munsya

Summer Exhibition: SPAO Presents DESCENDANCE

The SPAO Centre Gallery proudly presents Descendance, featuring first-generation and immigrant artists from across Canada. The summer exhibition is co-curated by Myriam Farah Cobb and Darren Pottie in consultation with a wide range of Canadian curators and artists from across the country. The SPAO Centre is situated in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa and on the unceded Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.

About the exhibition:
Descendance explores themes of identity and a sense of belonging that come from one’s personal family history and inherited cultural traditions. Storytelling is prominent within the exhibition whether it is through rediscovering past events, claiming space in the present for diasporic communities, or imagining potential future identities. How does one grow new roots in relation to our stories, our communities and our adopted lands?

I Have Been There, 2018 by featured artist Chun Hua Catherine Dong

The exhibition looks at concepts of memory-keeping and explores the intentional or sometimes unintentional selection of which memories are preserved and which ones are left behind. The exploration of carefully crafted histories can unearth and inform a sense of ‘place’; the way in which one’s history is tied to the land, and to each other. With the solid ground beneath our feet, we may begin to imagine potential futures for generations to come.

Featuring first-generation Canadian and immigrant artists from across the country, this deeply intimate exhibition invites visitors to reflect on their own lineage and how their past impacts their present and influences the future. Artists include:

Ananna Rafa
Catherine Chun Hua Dong
Christina Hajjar
Dainesha Nugent-Palache
Farihah Shah
Kamissa Ma Koïta
Kriss Munsya
Kosi Nnebe
Leila Fatemi
Liz Ikiriko

Melanin, 2015 by featured artist Dainesha Nugent-Palache

The exhibition will be on view from Friday May 20 – Sunday September 18.

The official in-person reception takes place on FRIDAY JUNE 3, from 5PM – 9PM. RSVP on Eventbrite.

SPAO gratefully acknowledges the Canada Council for the Arts, City of Ottawa, Canadian Tulip Festival, Ottawa Community Foundation, Hobin Architecture, and the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. SPAO is an Official Event Partner with the Canadian Tulip Festival.

About the SPAO Centre

Nestled in the heart of the Nation’s capital, SPAO is home to the only two-year Photographic Arts Diploma in Canada, a unique six month Artist Residency and the region’s only independent and critical Gallery dedicated to photographic and video art.

Gallery Hours are Wednesday – Sunday, 12PM – 5PM. The SPAO Centre Gallery has policies in place to best protect the health of our staff and visitors. The SPAO Centre Gallery is fully accessible, and our facility is equipped with accessible washrooms.

Connect with us on social media:
Facebook – spaocentre
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Twitter – @spaocentre

Contact:
SPAO Centre
77 Pamilla St, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 3K7
Tel: 613-562-3824
Email: info@spao.ca