Exhibitions and Events
Stitched Stories: The Family Quilts
As a descendant of Black Loyalists, Black Refugees, and Jamaican Maroons who came to Canada during the 18th and 19th centuries, Shauntay Grant’s love of language stretches back to her storytelling roots in Nova Scotia’s historic Black communities. This exhibition features a handful of quilts selected by Grant from the heritage holdings of her family, prominently those of her grandmother, the Reverend Alfreda Smith.
Opening of Three Exhibitions
Opening Reception for the exhibitions "And yet we still remain, going around, and again in dominion's plot", Lisa Hirmer: Dirt Piles, Landscapes/Displacement, Respect the Dress: A Selection of Regal Garments from the Collection of The Honourable Mayann Francis, ONS, the 31st Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Nova Scotia and Stitched Stories: The Family Quilts.
From the Vault
Continuing our look at the emergence of artist-run culture and the changing cultural landscape in Halifax in the 1970s and early 1980s, this exhibition focusses on artworks acquired by the Dalhousie Art Gallery during that era. A move into a purpose-built, professional gallery space, and an annual budget for the purchase of artworks, initiated a vital period of growth for the Gallery and its collection.
The Easter Rising: Ireland One Hundred Years Later
2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, long considered the inciting incident that led, eventually, to Irish independence. The three films in this short series all look at that extraordinary moment, also timed to coincide with Saint Patrick’s Day.
15 March - Odd Man Out
Archives of the Future
Archives are not just a haphazard repository of records and objects that serve to preserve institutional memory. They can only be effective in that they submit themselves to an organizational system, ostensibly to facilitate access to information but really to underscore a way of understanding, of seeing the world. This second stream of media works resists easy categorization. It is only when they become part of CFAT’s past, when they are archived, that new patterns will emerge, giving us insight into our present.
Revolution or Reinventing the Wheel
Alongside Dalhousie Art Gallery’s exhibition "Why are we saving All these artist publications + Other Galleries stuffs?" Becky Welter-Nolan digs into Eyelevel Gallery’s archives to find patterns in the gallery’s programming and conversations. By revisiting and recreating these repetitions, Welter-Nolan asks if the artist-run centre is evolving or revolving.
Opening reception
Opening reception for What were we going to call this show? and Archives of the Future.
African Heritage Month: First Films by Black Filmmakers
SCREENINGS TUESDAYS AT 5 PM. FREE ADMISSION
2 February - She’s Gotta Have It
Spike Lee, USA, 1986, 84 minutes. An independently minded 80s African-American female must choose between multiple suitors–one of them played by the director himself–in this precise and energetic debut feature from the now legendary filmmaker Spike Lee.
9 February - Dear White People
The Art of Film Noir II
Now recognized as one of the most sharply defined of all popular cinematic styles, Film Noir’s reach moved past its Southern California origins to influence filmmakers around the world. In this second series of Noirs presented by the Dalhousie Art Gallery, that global reach is represented by films from England, France, and Japan, with a concentration on films by American directors who were ultimately blacklisted in Hollywood, including Abraham Polonsky, Frank Tuttle, Dalton Trumbo, Edward Dmytryk, Cy Endfield, Jules Dassin, and Joseph Losey.