Joi T. Arcand First Artist-in-Residence at Expanded SAW Gallery
Joi Arcand's neon signs hang on the wall of Club SAW. (Photo Joshua Soucie)
How Ottawa's Nordic Lab is creating new opportunities for Northern art
SAW Gallery's expanded space is promoting cultural exchanges between Indigenous people in circumpolar nations
Article excerpt:
Despite the delay in the launch of the Nordic Lab's physical spaces, the program is well underway. In the fall of 2018, they welcomed their first artist-in-residence, Sobey Art Award-shortlisted artist Joi T. Arcand. Club SAW therefore features a neon sign that was commissioned by the gallery over the course of Arcand's residency.
During her residency, Arcand took on a hybrid role with the gallery, becoming the Nordic Lab's first program director. Arcand says she looks forward to seeing some of the international partnerships she has helped foster come to life as she moves on to her next residency at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre.
On November 7, SAW will be hosting an afterparty in collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada for the launch of the Àbadakone | Continuous Fire | Feu continuel exhibition, which will be showcasing the works of over 70 Indigenous artists from around the world. At their afterparty, the Nordic Lab's second artist-in-residence, Norwegian Sámi artist Elle Márjá Eira, will be performing Joiks, which the artist describes as Europe's oldest singing tradition.