It’s About Time: Dancing Black in Canada on view at the MAG

Sep 04 2020

The Mitchell Art Gallery in MacEwan University is excited to share that they are re-opening on September 15 with the launch of their latest exhibition It’s About Time: Dancing Black in Canada 1900-1970 and Now, which will be viewable in-person and online! 

Curated by Seika Boye, this archival exhibition exposes the representation of Blackness on Canadian stages, as well as audience and media reception of Black performance in Canada during this era. It’s About Time also explores legislation of leisure culture, dance lessons and the role of social dances at mid-century. Featured are individual dance artists such as Leonard Gibson, Ola Skanks, Ethel Bruneau, Joey Hollingsworth and Kathryn Brown.

This is the fourth presentation of the archival materials in It’s About Time. New to this iteration, Boye has invited contemporary performing and visual artists — either from or currently based in Alberta — to respond to the archive and consider what the history of Black people dancing in Canada reveals about our contemporary moment. Not only will the exhibition feature work by dance artists Michèle Moss and Ashley “Colours” Perez, visual artists Braxton Garneau and Preston Pavlis, author Cheryl Foggo, with graphic response by Adriana Contreras and photography by Mike Tan, but there is also virtual programming planned with Seika and each artist.

Virtual conversations with the curator to learn more about It’s About Time will take place on:

  • September 23, 2020 at 6 p.m.
    • with Ashley “Colours” Perez and Adriana Contreras
  • October 21, 2020 at 6 p.m.
    • with Braxton Garneau and Preston Pavlis
  • November 3, 2020 at 6 p.m.
    • with Cheryl Thompson and Mpoe Mogale
  • December 2, 2020 at 6 p.m.
    • with Cheryl Foggo and Michèle Moss

Visit macewan.ca/mitchellartgallery or @mitchellartgallery on social media for more details.