2021 marked a transformation in Agnes’s artistic direction.

No longer tethered to period galleries, historical shows inhabited “contemporary spaces” and vice-versa. More importantly, we worked across time periods and diverse world views in single exhibitions.

This video documents the outcomes of this first year of experimentation. We take a tour through Agnes’s galleries to see the ground-breaking curatorial work we are currently undertaking.

Thinking about our exhibition galleries as interconnected lines of inquiry, we are learning how exhibitions—not just artworks—can be “curated” into reciprocal conversation. It is in-between these exhibitions—at their “vibrating edges”—where new connections are ignited across Agnes’s collections and commissions. Our entangled approach to curating across concurrent exhibitions empowers us to work with/in history in future-oriented ways, taking museum practices in new directions through dialogue, collaboration and a commitment to polyvocality.

As we move away from museum practices that categorize and separate, Agnes creates opportunities for participation and exchange across communities, cultures, histories and geographies.

–Emelie Chhangur, Director and Curator

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Spirit Banter: Ezi Odozor
Curated by Emelie Chhangur, Director and Curator

27 November 2021–30 January 2022
Supported by the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.
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With Opened Mouths
Traditional West African masks, face coverings, hoods, helmets and crests remixed with contemporary work by Oluseye.
Curated by Qanita Lilla

7 August 2021–30 January 2022
Supported by the Justin and Elisabeth Lang Fund.
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History Is Rarely Black or White
Cotton garments in the Queen’s Collection of Canadian Dress, tintypes, and artifacts alongside the work of contemporary artists Karin Jones, Gordon Shadrach, and Damian Jöel.
Curated by Jason Cyrus

27 November 2021–20 March 2022
Supported by Bader Philanthropies, Inc. Jason Cyrus would like to thank the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario through the Curatorial Projects: Indigenous and Culturally Diverse program for supporting this exhibition.
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Studies in Solitude: The Art of Depicting Seclusion
Curated by Dr Suzanne van de Meerendonk

4 September 2021–26 June 2022
Supported by the Bader Legacy Fund.
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Lii Zoot Tayr (Other Worlds)
Amy Malbeuf, Suzanne Morrissette, Tannis Nielsen, Tiffany Shaw-Collinge and Jessie Ray Short
Curated by Amy Malbeuf and Jessie Ray Short

7 August 2021–30 January 2022
Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts: Creating, Knowing and Sharing: the Arts and Cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples Program. Research was undertaken with residency and development support from the AGYU, Toronto (2018–2019). Jessie Ray Short would like to acknowledge support received for the development of this project from Calgary Arts Development.
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Sandra Brewster: Blur
Images of three prominent members of the Kingston community—Edward Thomas, Judith Brown and Nathan Utioh.
Curated by Sunny Kerr

7 September 2019–4 December 2022
With funds from Chancellor Richardson Memorial Fund, 2018, Agnes acquired Blur 4 (63-009), from this commission.
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Videography: Jay Middaugh

Image: Tannis Nielsen, “Creation” (detail), in Lii Zoot Tayr “(Other Worlds),” Agnes Etherington Art Centre 2021. Photo: Paul Litherland2021 marked a transformation in Agnes’s artistic direction.

No longer tethered to period galleries, historical shows inhabited “contemporary spaces” and vice-versa. Mor …